Opponents of nocturnal on-street parking tend to regard the practice as something akin to a threat to Western Civilization. But with many people expressing frustration about the status quo of parking in Providence, it may be an idea whose time has come.

As it is, the need for Providence residents to berth their vehicles overnight in a driveway or lot results in the transformation of front yards and even buildings into additional parking spots, adding more visual blight to the local landscape. Critics tend to cite fears about crime, but some other urban communities, including Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts, have experienced success with permitted on-street parking programs. Another argument against overnight on-street parking -- that it would block emergency vehicles -- is pretty specious since their passage is hardly restricted during the day.

A city council subcommittee has been mulling the overnight on-street parking idea. Ward Six Councilman Joseph DeLuca says a proposal under consideration would result in a certain number of spaces, based on need, being allotted to individual properties across the city. A vote on the concept could take place later this year.

Residents of East Side neighborhoods near Brown University have called for a dramatic increase in parking fines, since some workers find it cheaper to park in residential areas, even while attracting tickets, than to dock their vehicles in a lot. But DeLuca believes the council will be reluctant to dramatically increase fines. "I think some parking fines will be increased, but they're not going to be doubled or tripled because that's ridiculous," he says, adding that the basic $10 ticket may go to $15 or $20.

Jennifer Cole Steele, Rhode Island coordinator for the Conservation Law Foundation, believes steadier parking enforcement is another important part of improving the parking situation, adding that a variety of approaches are needed.

In the end, it's a classic supply-and-demand situation, with too many cars chasing too few spaces during peak hours of activity and a lack of appealing alternatives. "It's like a big morass, this parking thing. We have this culture of driving everywhere," Cole Steele says, acknowledging that she, too, falls prey to the practice. "We live in a city so small you can walk across it. But to get a bus from Atwells Avenue to the East Side Market, it's like a three-hour job."

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.

Issue Date: June 27 - July 4, 2002