Thursday question: Coneheads

You should talk to the neighbor. Perhaps s/he is handicapped -- or someone in the home is? Perhaps a recent injury -- in which case, the cones should no longer be used, once the injury has healed. After talking with the neighbor, though, I would talk with other neighbors on the block. If possible, circulate a flier with a brief, succinct text promoting a policy that allows everyone equal access to the limited of parking spaces available -- and get a number of neighbors to sign on. I would think that should do it. If not -- this is just one of those difficult people. You can be glad you are not this person -- and leave it at that!

Throw the cones in the trash. The street is PUBLIC. He'll get over it, or waste a fortune on parking cones.

The street is public space and it is inconsiderate and unneighborly to claim it as one's own; call Public Works to have the cones removed, they are street garbage after all.

There is no reserved street spots period. Trash them.

I'm in a similar situation. I call the cops when I see residents hogging spots. Sometimes they come take the cone away, and sometimes they don't. Your neighbor won't know it's you calling and quite frankly the cops *should* be taking these cones away as they do neighborhood patrols.

Easy. S/he's just trying to get away with whatever they can get away with, testing what the market will bear. Happens all the time here in the North End. Don't get mad; just, if you need the space, calmly get out of your car, place the cones on the sidewalk (sometimes I put them three or four buildings away, just to communicate a slight degree of irritation), and take the space. The person who put out the cones will see, OK, this person didn't buy it, I can't fake them out of not taking the space...but maybe it'll still work on other people! So you get all the spaces you need, he or she still gets some others to not take the space, and there's no need for face-to-face confrontations. Everyone wins -- except the people who don't understand how this part of the local culture works...

This topic of parking irks me. I live in a neighborhood where everyone has driveways but continue to put things in the front of their house so no one will park there. Irritates me. They do this in the winter when driveways are very important.

Communication is very important. How well do you know this person? I would move the cones next time you need to park. Put them on the sidewalk. This person is being selfish. I grew up in Charlestown MA and on some of those streets parking is very limited, especially in the area of the monument. Good luck.

I used to live in Brighton where a neighbor across the street did the same thing. All the rest of the people in the neighborhood used to take turns tossing the cones out of the way. One day, he stepped it up by putting a chair and two trash cans out. I finally called the police, who came over and told him to knock it off. No more cones or trash cans,

The neighbor is handicapped.

It is the result of a century of very terrible policing.

In Massachusetts, nobody has any rights, according to a very significant number of people, except for the almighty I. Since we do not have meaningful traffic enforcement from a very large number of police departments, those who need policing rule the world.

We have a society where the meanest and the nastiest get what they want, and it is a direct result of a century long tradition of terrible policing.

We need police. We need police. We need police.

Ask your neighbor over for a little vino and put on some jazz music and see what develops. You may find that you have some chemistry and find that things end up in the boudoir. He wins, you win, everyone is happy and smiling. Don't stress in life, and have fun!

Real parking cones? How chic! In Charlestown they use dented galvanized garbage cans and steel kitchenette chairs chained to cement blocks. And woe be to the paint job on the car of anyone even suspected of interfering with those icons. I agree with the suggestion to communicate directly with the neighbor recommended by Mariah229, but before you take it any farther (with other neighbors or the city), remember: your car is parked in public, too!

If somebody needs "handicapped" parking, they can get a placard and have the spot out front of their house designated as handicapped only.

Maybe you can print out the web site saying so, and an application, and then approach the neighbor to "help" with his/her problem. This makes you the good guy, but leaves a clear, unsubtle message that UNLESS he or she is actually in need of a close spot, then cones are not acceptable.

After that? Call the police.

As someone who has faced this kind of problem more than once, here is my suggestion: just call the cops. Very likely your neighbor already knows that his cones are not supposed to be there. He just doesn't care, and he has already shown how inconsiderate he is. If you talk to him about it, he will probably get angry at you, and keep doing the same thing. Then if anyone make an official call, or if someone takes away his cones, he will probably blame everything on you, and he may even retaliate. I would call the police, and not even tell other neighbors that I made the call unless I trust them to keep it to themselves. Then you can only hope that this guy is not in cahoot with your local police officers!

boblat, your post should be re-read thirty times.

The former dean of the University of Toronto Law School once asked me how it was possible that a state or city could have bad drivers. Lack of police is no excuse, because fines for violations can simply be raised to cover the added cost of enforcement.

Putting out cones is not a private offense against the letter-writer. It is a public offense, and it should be handled by those paid to respond to public offenses--the police. There is no need for the writer to single him- or herself out as an enemy, and certainly no need to have a kumbaya session with neighbors to "touch base" about their feelings. The neighbors do not make the traffic laws and their feelings about the law are of no consequence.

Your neighbor is not very neighborly. If special access such as handicapped parking, is required, your neighbor might consider requesting a reserved space from the city. As a society we have agreed that there are certain exceptions when in comes to sharing "the commons." Otherwise, this person is laying claim to something intended to be shared.

Unfortunately solutions to such problems are not so simple. Your neighbor does not follow the expectations of society, so reasoning may get you nowhere. Likewise, simply removing the cones and parking in this spot may lead to more unsocial behavior and cost you a paint job or tire if it comes back to the neighbor that you were the one who removed the cones. Calling the police is a reasonable solution. There will likely be no fine if the person agrees to remove the cone. They may just leaflet the neighborhood with a reminder not to reserve spots. If the cones have a company name or city owned markings, you can call the owner to pick up their "abandoned" property littering your street. More cynically, you could post to craigslist offering free "parking cones."

One last point: this winter after you have dug your car out from a heavy snow, don't forget the action you took over the summer.

I live in a surburban area , there's one neighbor runs a business ( not zoned for business) & the employees vehicles block the front of my house . So taking pictures of my garden or family I have this big vehcile in my pictures... yeah, it's a public street and it's also rude. I went to the driver of the vehicle and said, it's probably legal but it's not right; please park where you work. They abided by my wishes, thankfully. If I had cars constantly parking in front of my house; I'd sell my home. If it continued nobody would want to live there and how good is that for the town. There should be laws regarding that..

Technically, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to spot sit with cones, chairs or whatever you feel like putting out there. You can call the police if they are being egregious. If you feel you can, do try to talk to them. Or move the cones and park there anyway (which is a little passive-aggressive, but...). Or just move the cones whether or not you're parking there.

There are many more cars than there are parking spaces in places like Back Bay and the North End. Parking is first come first served.

Call it in and have the public works dept. trash them. Do not get directly involved, or next week you will be figuring out how to prove that he "keyed" your car. Some people are just jerks, you can't legislate or demand niceness. It's one of the drawbacks of tight quarters of living in the city.

And if he *were* disabled... he could EASILY call city hall and they would put a handicap parking space in front of his house. Whether or not he is or isn't really doesn't matter - you can't tell (many disabilitIes are hard to detect) but at the end of the day, it's his problem and business, not yours. If he truly had a problem, getting the marked space would be easy.

Here's a couple thoughts 1- Buy yourself 2 parking cones and sva eyour own space. 2-Deal with it, people in Boston have been doing it for years and it's yuppy's like you that move in and try to change something that never will. As far as throwing the cones in the road and parking there, hopefully you don't care too much about your car.

cones are ok during the winter after you shovel out other than that they are not acceptable. I have no idea what BRyan is trying to get at. Obviously he/she does not actually live in the city. Cones in the summertime? THAT is what gets your car keyed up.

The streets are for public use, we pay taxes to maintain them. Most urban streets have restrictions posted be it a loading zone, bus stop or a handicaped space.
If your neighbor is handicaped and has a handicap space is designated. He will have to keep setting the cones because any driver in a handicaped designated car can still park in that space. "Call the Police" we pay taxes to maintain them too.

Yeah, those stupid yuppies trying to enforce THE LAW. If you "townies" don't like the law why don't you have your friends in government change it? The law is the law--what the neighbor did is illegal, period.

I use to live in Brighton a long time ago and only saw people doing this if they shoveled snow out of a spot on the street The thinking was if you shoveled that spot, it should be yours since you made the effort to clear it. Is it right? I don't know but when there is no snow and people are doing this, that's not right. I would just park in their yard!

Call the police anonymously so your idiot neighbor won't know it's you - and call multiple times but block your number and use different phones. The more the police hear from you the more likely they are to do something about it.

I work in Providence RI where on-street parking is at a minimum and my biggest pet peeves is about drivers who hog space because they don't know how to parallel park, and also the huge SUV drivers who leave miles of space between their car and others simply because they don't know how to maneuver into or out of a spot. LEARN HOW TO PARALLEL PARK - PRACTICE, PRACTICE , PRACTICE!!! - AND DON'T WASTE SPACE FOR OTHERS WHO NEED TO PARK!! Often times if a driver were able to parallel park properly and not leave so much space between other cars, the correct amount of space between cars would eventually lessen enough to create at least one other space for one other car - hopefully mine. Those drivers are the selfish ones.

I have had the privilege of living in Brighton, Charlestown and now Southie and have dealt with this problem in all three areas. During the summer I feel this practice is very unnecessary. If direct confrontation is not desired, try leaving a note on the window simply asking them not to put the cones out. Its worked for me before. Otherwise, I usually just move the cones, even if im not parking there. Calling the city could work, but its the City and they will only get around to it when they feel like it, however its a good way to document that you tried doing it legally if any altercation does come about.

In the winter I am a firm supporter that if you shovel out your spot, you get it until the streets taken care of properly. Which is usually 2 days after the storm hits. (I actually believe that's when the city starts to collect/ toss out space savers anyway)

Agree with those say that this is not your problem, it is the city's problem. He doesn't own those parking spaces and if he needs reserved parking, then he needs to pay for it. In Boston, there is an ordinance that says that in case of snow, you can leave your traffic cones/chairs/whatever for 48 hours after you shovel out the space. There is absolutely NOTHING to back up this guy using cones to save his space at any other time of the year. What he is doing is illegal and you have every right to toss the cones and park there (if you dare). I would report him but avoid any situation where he can identify you as being upset about the cones or you will have your car keyed or worse.

Your neighbor is a class-A jerk. Report him to the police. Do not otherwise get involved. Despite what BRyan (19) says, it's illegal in Boston to do this except during a snow storm.

Apparently BRyan subscribes to the school of "two wrongs make a right". And its hardly just yuppies moving in from out of town who are frustrated by this behavior(by the way, who said the writer was a yuppy or that he only just "moved in"?), its also local people who have always lived here.

I have to agree with Marcus here. While there are certain circumstances where local culture and history should be respected (shoveling out spaces in winter comes to mind), to be "reserving" a public space in any other season is just nonsense. The most personal interaction I would have with the neighbor would be a pleasant, non chalant conversation where you ask in a concerned way if the neighbor is sick or ill (you noticed the cones and were wondering if everything was OK, gosh is there anything you can do to help?). Aside from that, let someone else handle it. There is no need to involve yourself personally, when the offense that has been made is one against the public, not just you. No need to flier the neighborhood and write petitions. You will just mark yourself as a "yuppie" and put your own car's finish in imminent danger.

Normally I would say that, with problem neighbors, it's best to talk to the person directly. But, who doesn't know that putting out cones to mark your spot is illegal? This person knows that they are being selfish and they don't care. I'm having a hard time envisioning a scenario where the cone user realizes the error of their ways when confronted by a polite neighbor.

Safety often trumps etiquette and I would say that, in this case, the safety of the cars of anyone who might park in that spot should probably come first. I'm not saying that everyone that tries to save their own spot is a vandal, but there is a fairly strong correlation, especially here in Boston. If you call the police, they will know about the situation. And it will be much harder for your neighbor to retaliate against anyone who parks in front of their house.

Be careful. We parked in someone's so called "reserved spot" in a historical neighborhood and almost got ourselves killed. They came after us with brooms and fists!!

there are certain residents on HENCHMAN STREET in the north end do this every single day with a handicap space, and i don't think any of them are even handicap!! while it may be possible that every member of the family is handicap, i very much doubt it considering i see the two youngins leaving do something active (see: golf or working out) all the time. i suspect they're using using the handicap of some hapless dead relative to obtain handicap cards for their multiple cars or they're just faking it like the BFD. and to add insult to injury, they even put the cone in the space when their two other cars are already parked on the street in non-handicap spaces. on top of it all, if someone tries to move the cone and park in the space and they see it happening, they resort to threats and fake police badges!!

BRyan,
well said. Changing really dumb "neighborhood rules" is such a waste of time. Let me guess, you also double park next to open spaces and eff up traffic? Heaven forbid we try to make the place we live a little more livable. Smarten up...and stop living in the past.
And Drew, saving a space you shovel in the winter is actually allowed by the city for something like 48 or 72 hours.

Hey BRyan,

I've lived (and owned a car) in Boston my whole life, and I'm completely against the parking cone spot sitting. Here's a couple thoughts from a non-yuppie:

1 - Buy yourself a monthly parking pass to a garage/lot and pay for your very own reserved space, or fight for the free residential spots like everyone else. What makes you so special?
2 - Stop living in the past. The city has grown, more people live here, yet there are now less residential street parking spots in some areas than there were 30 years ago. If everyone did this, there would be no parking remaining anywhere on Boston streets. Of course, you would only care about this if you weren't one of the ones that staked claim to public property.

If you think that's how the game is played, then sure - go ahead and put your cones in the road. You'll probably make someone else very happy by saving them a space. I love finding a perfectly good parking space that someone abandoned two orange cones in - I get to park, and I get free cones!

Oh, and the tough guy "hope you don't care about your car" line is lame. Go ahead - I've got insurance. Chances are, if you pull that today with camera phones and digital cameras everywhere, you will get caught. There's a security camera facing out my window onto the street 24/7, and it's recorded more than one person tampering with neighboring cars on my street. If you don't think your neighbors will rat you out just because you wave to each other when you get your paper, think again - that car you just damaged might belong to their friend or family member.

Why limit ourselves to reserving parking spaces? Cambridge artist Peggy Nelson's Cones Project features photographs of Bostonians using traffic cones to reserve seats at a bar, on the T, on a sofa, etc.

Boston.com posted an article about this last March. It's at:
http://www.boston.com/community/photos/raw/2009/03/sorry_this_space_is_taken.html

Go on boston.gov and look up the phone number to report this type of stuff. Do not speak directly to your neighbor! Call and report it. If the police/public works types do not remove the cone - call again until they do. I keep the number in my phone during the winter and use it as needed when people try to claim public space as their own to my detriment.

If I had to deal with a jerk like BRyan I would:

1) Take the cone and throw it in the river. I wouldn't even park in the space, but I would hope eventually someone else would.

2) If my car got keyed, or my tire got slashed, I would put a brick through his windshield.

People who do this are one thing, selfish. They seem to think they are more important than the people he/she 'shares' the neighborhood with, and quite frankly, they deserve to be put in their place. The best way to deal with a bully is to bully back. Usually they are just used to getting whatever they want because no-one has ever had the nerve to confront them about it.

I mean, let's just say BRyan has his spot 'stolen' and goes over and keys someone's car. I bet he goes to bed feeling like the king of the mountain. But how do you think he feels when he wakes up the next morning to find every window in his car blown out? Doesn't the thought just put a smile on your face.

What goes around comes around BRyan.

BRyan, this is not a pet peeve of yuppies moving in, or some quaint local tradition. I've lived in Boston my entire life and always found such behavior to be rude and ignorant, (regardless of whether they have shoveled out the spot). The jerks who hog a spot under an implied threat of damaging someone's car should have thier own cars "dealt with". Since the City implicitly supports this criminal behavior in some neighborhoods, the locals need to take it upon themselves. I don't reccomend throwing the cones on the road. Better to throw them at the offender, or at his front door.

Damn yuppies, insisting we obey laws and act with consideration for others.

Is this in the North End? I had the same problem, too and I am a native Bostonian-not a transplant! Those who dared to move the cone and actually park in the spot had their cars keyed, mirrors broken, etc. Half of the offenders didn't even live in the North End, they were from Revere and the North Shore! I would proceed with caution. On one occasion the thug actually had his meter maid friend write me a ticket when I was legally parked! I finally moved out of Boston.

One option that has not been suggested yet is pinning one of their parking cones to their front door with a trident. I have found that even if the message is not fully understood, they will rarely leave their home from that point on, thus eliminating any further infractions.

My sympathies and I'll go you one better, from the 'burbs. How about neighbors who place cones in the street so their kids can play? This is a new and frequent occurrence on our street, where everyone has a half-acre or larger yard, big paved driveway and plenty of open space. The cones impede parking, mail delivery and large vehicles, prevent two cars from passing despite the wide road; meanwhile the kids have no little to no supervision and are all over everyone's lawns, screaming and yanking branches out of trees.

Whether the cones are for parking or playing, the bottom line is the same: Clearly some people are much more important than others, hence the area in which they live is not so much a neighborhood as their own private empire in which to behave any way they choose. The rest of us are peasants allowed to co-exist in this empire as long as we don't expect common courtesy or, heaven forbid, plain old decency.

OK, sports fans, let's face it. The Boston Police only show up if the call mentions a lethal weapon, or if they've set up a speed trap. They are certainly not going to come by and pick up cones since they don't respond to calls about neighbors' burglar alarms going off or out-of-control teenagers lighting fires in dry wooded areas. The Boston Police are the weakest link in this city, so relying on them will only increase your frustration.

You are just going to have to talk to your neighbor. Yeah, it's not easy and it's a sensitive issue. Let them know you will try to honor their parking cones, but if you can't find a reasonable space, you will need to move them and take the spot. It opens the door for a conversation to find out if there is a good reason why they are doing it. Communicate, it will feel good!

Call the police or public works, but DO NOT say anything to your neighbor first. If you approach the neighbor and say something and then call the cops, he is going to know who called the cops. Likewise if you say something and then move the cones. If worst comes to worst, move the cones & park in the spot, but put a video camera in the window to watch the spots, making sure it also covers the entrance to your neighbors house (to make sure you get him on film coming out and going back in after keying/slashing your car). Video cameras can be had for real cheap nowadays, check CL. And make sure your neighbor isn't a cop or firefighter first. Then you are in for some real trouble. They can make life a lot worse without even touching your car.

Yup your right call the cops they'll get right on it.

Oh yeah, you could print this out after people have a chance to add comments for a few days and leave it in his mailbox or mail it to him anonymously. That's nice and passive-aggressive, but it will get the message across.

Unfortunately, BRyan comes across as one of those stereotypical working class Southie denizens parodied and emulated in Boston lore who wishes for the good ole' days when white Irish ruled everything in Boston and where the rules were what they wanted them to be and how they wanted them to be enforced. In case you hadn't noticed, hose days are long gone, only some people insist on living in the past because it only benefited them. The disparaging remark about yuppies just demonstrates his class-warfare mentality and self-serving prejudices. I wish him luck in coping with a changing world where true equality under the law isn't just reserved for the likes of him.

My mom parked in the North End with her sister (both in their 70's) for dinner one night.. They came back to the car and a gentleman was double parked next to them, he was in the car and made them sit there for an hour. They were very intimidated and scared. This person could be a real jerk and flatten tires or worse, just call the police.

This happens all of the time on Rosemary Street in JP, as well. I can't tell you how many times I have come home to find FIVE spots on the odd side of the street saved. All other available spots are taken, and yet these three houses on the odd side find it necessary to save spots. I counted 5 trash barrels saving spaces the other day. Infuriating. I will certainly check out that number to call...One woman on my street has a handicapped spot. Perfectly acceptable, as she is, in fact, in a wheelchair. I'm glad she has a spot. But the dbags who live in the houses down from her are all able bodied and just selfish. I want to put a note on their windshields that say, "if you want your own parking space, buy a house with a driveway". I haven't, but I'd love to. I'd also love to park in the spaces that are saved (once time I did, I just parallel parked in between the garbage cans!), but I think that my car would definitely get keyed...I'll start calling!

Well, this topic has already been beaten to death, but may I take the opportunity to post my own vent?

We live on a very narrow street. The elderly gentleman who lives across from us has emphysma. The city put in no-parking signs in front of our house and his, so that the truck that delivers his oxygen can make their frequent deliveries, or an ambulance can get to his house. You won't believe how many people ignore the no-parking signs and park there anyway!! They park, then jump the bus and leave their car all day long. I have called the police repeatedly and they do respond and tow the cars, but it gets so old.

We also had a neighbor who had a big truck for his business, and would park it on the street, leaving little room for others to pass (including the snow plow). He did this despite the fact he had a perfectly useable and long driveway! When confronted, he explained that he did not like backing in and out of his driveway. Personally, I think he was just too lazy to shovel it. So the driveway remained empty while he hogged up the street. That fortunately ended one day this winter, when a police car came down the street and got stuck in a pile of snow that hadn't been removed because the plow couldn't get around his truck. The police man turned on his flashing lights and horn and left it on until the man came and moved his truck. :-)

My other beef is with the city giving out too many residential spots. If you are just visiting, it is hard to find a spot these days. I am not very sympathetic to residents: if you choose to live in the city, get rid of your car and use public transpo, or pay for a private spot. This hurts our city in lost income from visitors who don't want to bother circling forever looking for a legal spot.

And please, if you live in the city or a place like Brighton, get a small car NOT an SUV!!! These streets were never designed to accomodate SUVs.

End of rant, thanks for listening

Oh that's just so Boston! I had my own set of cones to protect 'my' shoveled out space during the years I lived in Dorchester. When I moved to the Bronx, I asked my landlord what the 'protocol' was for saving shoveled out spaces in the winter. She looked at me as if i had three heads and told me that anyone who thought they owned a parking spot on the street was crazy. I remember once getting into an argument over a space I shoveled out and telling the guy that "Dorchester isn't a socialist utopia" where we all help each other out with shoveling and parking access. But apparently the Bronx is...

After snowstorms there is a 48-hour rule (written or unwritten, not sure which), but it allows that you can hold on to your sweat-equity shoveled space for a while. I always honor someone else's dug-out space. It is right. That said, there is no legal right to hold a space for personal use, unless you get a special permit such as a handicap placard spot. Not easy but can be done with review.
Now, when the city was enforcing the "no holding even shoveled spaces" rule, they went around with trucks hauling away the chairs, cones, couches, etc. people used to mark the spaces. I had some plumbing fixtures which the city refused to take during trash collection, so I used them to mark a neighbor's shoveled space. Problem solved!

Have a friend who does not live in the neighborhood or yourself "Secretly" post a letter on his door, yours and the other surrounding neighbor’s doors and also light posts (Use neon paper so that it is visible that he is not the only one getting it).
Kindly and boldly explain that it is inappropriate to reserve a public parking spot with cones. If this behavior continues then higher actions will be taken. (Except during winter after you broke your back from shoveling)
You can also provide in the letter information on where to get a “handicap only spot”.
Sign it, "City" Neighborhood Committee Patrol.
The same day you do this, make sure you throw out the cones without being noticed, and DON’T park in that spot for the first week while the cones are gone.
I would not approach him in fear that he could retaliate on you or your car if someone else moves the cones. You don’t even need your neighbors help on this one.

This neighbor is only asking for a Challenge (if he’s not handicapped). Who will challenge him with Respect or use his same Behavior.

If he puts cones in a public street, they're not his cones any more. Take them and dispose of them. You'll only get one shot at this, cause he'll set up a video camera after that.

Of course, you could always dispose of the next set of markers he chooses to use, but in that case, I'd suggest pre-emptively slashing his tires, so you'll be even when he gets yours.

In Boston you can call the Mayor's constituents' help line and report it. They'll alert the trash collectors to get rid of them. That keeps you, technically, out of the fray. Placeholders are permitted for a certain amount of time after a snow storm. But otherwise, not. Confrontations on this subject have been known to get ugly. Best to leave the removal to an official third party.

This is a great example of why I'll never live anywhere without a driveway. Too many inconsiderate people out there who think they are entitled to something that is not theirs and resort to low-life tactics to enforce their erroneous logic.

Contrary to what was posted this is not some yuppy moving i thing, it is a simple matter of claiming as yours what is public. How would you feel if someone put a cone on the route you use to drive to work? This is essentially the same tactic. It is a public parking spot, end of story.

Even in the winter when people have shoveled, nobody has any right to put cones or chairs or whatever in the street to reserve a space. I'd call the police, from a payphone if I could find one. The sort of people who put things in the street might well vandalize your car.

Ask your neighbor first. If he's handicapped or has someone that needs the close spot, you should have him get a special HC sign in front of his place.

Most likely he's not. He's the one not being neighborly. He shouldn't be saving spots. I would toss it in the trash and park there. IN fact I did just that three weeks after the snowstorm.

I have a driveway now and will never go back.

I'd definitely toss the cone though.

I have a couple of neighbors who have been putting out cones for at least two years. When I came home once and there was no other parking on the whole street, I moved the cones and parked. The next morning there was an unsigned letter on my car threatening to tow my car if I ever took their spot again. I left a very polite note taped to the cone explaining that they can't have me towed since I didn't do anything illegal, I will contact the police if they leave another threatening note, and that they should direct their energy toward stopping the illegal parking (those without resident stickers) that causes parking to be a problem on our street.

Hmm you might have something there only you'll be the only one looking for a parking space.

The funny thing about North Enduhhh's remark about the neighbors reserving a handicap space in the North End on Henchmen street even though they are not handicapped, is that I just looked up Henchmen street on google maps and in the street view you can see exactly the spot reserved with cones because the cones are in the picture, check it out:
Link: Google Map of Henchmen St.

When I lived in Somerville the 86 yr old man across the street use to save the spot infront of his house with a recycling barrel. And then he and his wife would watch that spot all day long. I likened it to a dog p*ssing to mark his territory. This is what happens to you if you live for 86 yrs in a crowded city. You turn into a dog marking your postage stamp of the world

The city has too many cars; you should both take the T.

Boston has a web form and phone number specifically for reporting this kind of thing. Here's the link to the information: http://www.cityofboston.gov/mayor/24/

And yes, they do actually respond! I've used the service a number of times, such as to get streetlights repaired, illegally parked cars removed, etc.

"Hmm you might have something there only you'll be the only one looking for a parking space. "

BRyan, I dare you to touch my car.

Gid rid of your car. Better yet, get rid of your car AND your neighbor's car. Your whole dense historic neighborhood will keep up with the Jones' and next thing you know, the city, the state, the country will follow. Power to the people.

Or just get rid of your neighbor. Whatever.

move the cones. Only call the cops if you feel threatened. Please don't waste my tax payer dollars on calling the cops to move cones

I agree with #6. Don't get mad, just move the cones and park as you please. There's no harm in the neighbor TRYING to save a spot. My parents live near a school so the street is always packed when there is a basketball game, etc. They often put a chair or garbage can in front of the house. If it gets moved, it gets moved. Not the end of the world.
Now when people actually steal the chairs that is a different story...

Elle, you seem to be under the impression that it's only appropriate to call the police when a violent crime has been threatened or committed. But there is a whole theory of policing, championed by former Boston police chief William Bratton, that mandates responding to exactly the kind of seemingly low level neighborhood issues like this. It's often called the 'broken windows' theory. The idea is that lawlessness is a slippery slope, and once it takes hold, it grows.

From the 1982 Atlantic Monthly article "Broken Windows" by Kelling and Wilson that first formulated the theory:

“Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars."

Or consider a neighborhod in which people feel free to claim parts of the public roadway as their own private fiefdom. When their ownership is challenged, cars are vandalized; elderly ladies are intimidated (see above). Over time, as others mimic the behavior, a climate of mingled lawlessness and vigilantism develops in the community. I think there are posters here who would vouch for the corresponding drop in quality of life as this kind of behavior takes hold.

And that's why it's not a waste of your tax payer dollars to call the authorities over this, and why it is exactly this kind of thing that the mayor's hotline was set up for.

Clearly, the answer is to fund better public transportation so we can get rid of all the cars!

What if every snowy morning was declared a snow delay for everyone, and we all spent a couple hours shoveling out everyone's parking spots on the street...I help the old lady down at the corner, the kids two doors up help me out. Then while everyone's at work, the plows come through and clear out the center of the street where all the snow's been shovelled. Someone in the neighborhood brings hot chocolate and bad 80s music to throw snow along to. Could be more fun than arguing about parking spots. And no one would have to raise ANY taxes to get the job done.

I have a neighbor who agreed to have a handicap sign our handicap sign paritally on his pavement, after 8 years of borrowing everything possible and, when I told him enough is enough, he said move the sign off his f - - - ing pavement. We have agreed the other side of our house is a renter what can we do? i was told good, no more borrowing, but now we still need the space.