Guess who I saw on T.V. today!! Detroit on "Parking Wars"

**bragaboutme** · October-20-09, 11:56 PM

Yea folks, Detroit is on Parking Wars on A&E. I didn't even know they were taping in Detroit.

**Searay215** · October-21-09, 07:50 AM

Old news.....
http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread....t=Parking+wars

**ASR89** · October-21-09, 09:21 AM

Hey Bragaboutme, I didn't know about the show so I'm glad you posted about it. =) I watched a couple episodes last night.

**milesdriven** · October-21-09, 09:48 AM

I can only watch a few minutes of this, it raises my blood pressure to see the faces of the same ignorant a$$#oles that gave me tickets back in the day when I used to deliver food. Last night I saw a guy getting a ticket for $100 for parking a commercial vehicle on a residential street. He was bringing a window to his friend's house on a trailer, it wasn't even a commerical vehicle, and it looked to be around 7 Mile/Hayes. When I lived in SW Detroit, they started to come through the alleys to give tickets to people who have been parking in the same places for 25 years. When they tried to come through again, we all stood in the alley and wouldn't let them drive through. That was the last time we saw them come around!

**EastsideAl** · October-21-09, 10:05 AM

This is a mistake. They did this in Philly, and the city fathers were happy enough to take the network's money, until they saw how ugly and petty it made their city and its workers look on TV. Then they got an earful from the visitors and convention people about it and a bunch of bad publicity.

This show is edited to make the parking workers look as petty, rude, and uncaring as possible [[which, honestly, doesn't take a lot of editing), and makes the government of the city it's set in look like parasitic profiteering assholes [[also not a stretch). Not good for a place like Detroit that already has a terrible reputation in the media.

**punky1** · October-21-09, 10:27 AM

I had heard they were going to tape in Detroit earlier this year. I found it hard to believe that the City would approve it, but they did. Another smart move on the part of the city. I have been watching the show since last year. The folks in the office at the impound in Philly are a piece of work. They tell the camera how much they try to help the people but on numerous occasions they tell someone that all they need is one certain document. The people go get it and when they come back they are told they need another document, rather than telling them up front that they needed both documents. They clearly are deliberately messing with people. Of course some of the drivers are a trip too.

**detroitbred** · October-21-09, 11:36 AM

I watched it also....I thought it painted an ugly picture of Detroit, as if what people think of this city isn't bad enough already. The parking guy kept telling the people who he was handing tickets to, that if they had come out sooner, he would have given them a break. Way to really piss people off!! And the incident with the man and his trailer in front of his friends house was absolute BS. I don't blame that guy for being so upset. More bad p.r. for a city that doesn't need it.

**dtowncitylover** · October-21-09, 12:29 PM

I never heard they were doing this until I saw an episode a week or so ago. And I never knew Detroit had that yellow boot. It was cool to see the city though.

**Gannon** · October-21-09, 11:08 PM

I contributed almost three hundred dollars to this bullshit.

They wrote tickets nearly EVERY GODDAMN DAY for two weeks, and the one targeting me finally left after I put a piece of paper over my license plate threatening to sue them for the harassment!

She KNEW I was the manager of the restaurant with the pickle, and would come in just before ten with the daily groceries.

From Foran's owner, I learned that they would all be thrown out. Due the pressures of running that place daily, it didn't happen immediately.

I didn't know there was a time limit before I could take them all to court.

But the excessive fines and usury penalties were all waived, whoopee.

They didn't get the nine HUNDRED dollars out of me they would've, though.

It was all bullshit, and I'd like to investigate the RICO standards to see if they apply here. Collusion to extort monies out of civilians. From what I saw in court there were LOADS of senior citizens learning a hundred dollar lesson on remembering their Handicapped placard who would love to join in to get their money back, too.

We almost had a riot downtown those two rush weeks, I heard some people talking about doing some nasty things to the meters...and worse to the drivers of those little white cars.

This stunt did NOTHING positive for anyone involved.

**Ray1936** · October-22-09, 11:02 AM

Comparing Detroit with Philly is an apples and oranges thing. While I've never been to Philly, I clicked on Google Maps, brought up Philadelphia, then randomly clicked an area for "street view". Man, those streets in Philadelphia are NARROW! And nearly all of them are one-way streets. Detroit streets, by comparison, are wide boulevards. I can't think of one street in Detroit that is as narrow and congested as nearly any street in Philly.

Don't believe me? Go to Google maps and randomly do what I did.

**courtney** · October-22-09, 02:17 PM

Detroit parking enforcement is absolutely nothing compared to San Francisco.

This was the first time I'd seen this show and it was amusing, although not enough to set a season pass on the Tivo. As for the trailer segment, I was curious and looked up the actual ordinance. It's pretty crystal clear that the unhooked trailer wouldn't be allowed.

Sec 55-6-21 - "[[a) It shall be unlawful to park any commercial vehicle, bus, taxicab, trailer [[coupled or not), pole trailer [[coupled or not), semi-trailer [[coupled or not), motor home, pickup camper, trailer coach [[coupled or not), recreational equipment, or limousine on any residential street or service drive in the city at any time, including Sundays and holidays...." and
"[[c) The prohibitions in this section shall not apply to the following:

[[1) The expeditious loading or unloading, delivery, or pick-up of goods, wares, merchandise, or passengers at an address within the block where the vehicle is parked; or

[[2) The performance of business or commercial service by a licensed contractor or service establishment at an address within the block where the vehicle is parked for the time needed to complete the service, provided, that, while parked, the vehicle shall prominently display a written notice of the location where the service is being performed"

So, perhaps those that find their "blood boiling" by people doing their job, which is paid for by your tax dollars [[would you rather them waste the money and sit around doing nothing all day?), should instead attempt to get the ordinance repealed.

**Meddle** · October-22-09, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by courtney

It's pretty crystal clear that the unhooked trailer wouldn't be allowed.

[[c) The prohibitions in this section shall not apply to the following:

[[1) The expeditious loading or unloading, delivery, or pick-up of goods, wares, merchandise,

Why do you say that when the exception clause clearly DOES allow it?

**courtney** · October-22-09, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

Why do you say that when the exception clause clearly DOES allow it?

Sorry, not only am I not in charge of Detroit city ordinances, I wasn't even alive when this one was created.

If you read the ordinance [[and yes, sometimes ordinances read like stereo instructions) you will likely see that a vehicle parked that is being actively unloaded/loaded is allowed. A trailer with no one anywhere to be seen, no truck connected to it AND in violation of [[c)[[2) [[no notice of where service is being performed) is not allowed.

A lot of ordinances in a LOT of cities are absolutely stupid. That being said, the guy who got the ticket acted like a 2 year old throwing a temper tantrum, when he was the one in the wrong. He'd have gotten a lot more sympathy by pleading ignorance than flying off the handle.

**CMooreBMoore** · October-22-09, 02:51 PM

I don't know if you all saw the episode where the man was ticketed for having a hitch parked in front of a house. The Ticket guy [[the one who lost 60 lbs) told him that commercial vehicles could not be parked on the street. I didn't know that was a law.
Please advise.

Let's say someone is receiving a delivery of some sort and there's no room in the driveway, whereby the delivery person might park on the street, and proceed to deliver said goods...this merits a ticket, now?

**CMooreBMoore** · October-22-09, 02:53 PM

my bad, Milesdriven... it looks like you've already beat me to the punch, with a message already addressing the same question I posed above!

)

**Meddle** · October-24-09, 03:18 PM

Just saw the trailer episode. If it were up to me, I would probably suspend the ticket writer and require retraining. I might even terminate him. He's totally out of line. I don't even understand why he's on residential streets.

**Joe W** · July-04-12, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by courtney

Sorry, not only am I not in charge of Detroit city ordinances, I wasn't even alive when this one was created.

If you read the ordinance [[and yes, sometimes ordinances read like stereo instructions) you will likely see that a vehicle parked that is being actively unloaded/loaded is allowed. A trailer with no one anywhere to be seen, no truck connected to it AND in violation of [[c)[[2) [[no notice of where service is being performed) is not allowed.

A lot of ordinances in a LOT of cities are absolutely stupid. That being said, the guy who got the ticket acted like a 2 year old throwing a temper tantrum, when he was the one in the wrong. He'd have gotten a lot more sympathy by pleading ignorance than flying off the handle.

The gentleman who wrote the ticket was wrong. The citizen was being issued an illegal citation, and had every right to be angry. He could have handled it better, though.

The ordinance in question is intended to prevent large commercial vehicles from causing traffic and safety problems on residential streets, not to prevent private citizens from going about their business.

The exception clause noted in [[c) does not say "actively," it says "expeditiously." Additionally, at the end of the section it says this:

[[d) Motor homes, pickup campers, and coupled trailer coaches may be parked on any residential street for up to twenty-four [[24) hours, only during the loading and unloading of such vehicle for the purpose of trip preparation or completion.

The man could have parked a big-rig trailer there if he needed to, as families do when they are moving.

This was not a commercial situation, it was a private citizen using a trailer to load materials from his friend's home. It would have had to have been parked there for over 24 hours to be in violation of this ordinance.

The intent of the law is clear, and I don't doubt that the judge promptly dismissed that ticket as soon as it was contested. The enforcement officer needs to worry more about understanding the law than the amount of weight he lost.

**Meddle** · July-04-12, 01:27 PM

And your intent in bumping a 2 1/2 year old thread?

**Wheels** · July-04-12, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

And your intent in bumping a 2 1/2 year old thread?

Wow! Slap down on first post LOL.

Welcome aboard Joe W.

**downtownguy** · July-04-12, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by Meddle

And your intent in bumping a 2 1/2 year old thread?

Why not? Still seemed like a relevant comment. And it got me to read a thread I missed the first time around. Welcome, Joe W.

**milt721** · July-05-12, 11:04 AM

I saw them filming around Zeidman's about a week ago.

**downtown_racine** · July-05-12, 12:24 PM

Love those film credits.
MOAR ! Hardcore pawn !

**compn** · July-05-12, 03:48 PM

this show makes me have road rage while i'm sitting on my couch. its not healthy to watch.

has anyone done a scientific study on the effect of parking meters on a city and its populace? i wonder if theres any benefits to getting rid of that whole nonsense. i avoid places with parking meters, just because of the hassle and possible ticket because they changed the days/hours of enforcement on a whim.

**cramerro** · July-06-12, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by compn

this show makes me have road rage while i'm sitting on my couch. its not healthy to watch.

has anyone done a scientific study on the effect of parking meters on a city and its populace? i wonder if theres any benefits to getting rid of that whole nonsense. i avoid places with parking meters, just because of the hassle and possible ticket because they changed the days/hours of enforcement on a whim.

Take a step back and think about how parking works in areas where it is in demand. You pay for it, right? A monthly pass, cash, whatever. You park in a lot, the closer the lot, the more you pay.

With that in mind, think about the situation if the meters were not there. The street would be choked with people parking there all day... whoever got there first takes the spot.

The whole point of meters, parking pricing, etc, is to have convenient spaces available for customers for retail and office uses where they are going to be in and out relatively quickly. Part of the system actually working is enforcement, just like any other law. If people know you don't enforce, then they're useless.

I did a parking study and redevelopment plan for a Michigan downtown that had funded a municipal parking deck 2 blocks off main street that had meters in it [[to help offset the cost of the deck), and then had no meters [[only varying time limits of 1-10 hours) on parking along Main Street. Guess what? Customers complained that there were never spots open for customers. We did some legwork and found that many business owners and/or employees took up many of the spaces on Main Street and conneting side streets because they were free and didn't have to walk... and nobody parked in the deck other than a bank that had bought the right to use part of it.

Think about your frustration. Is it because you want to park there all day but can't without a ticket? Is it because you don't want to have to pay to park? Just unclear limits/pricing?

Detroit's meters are a STEAL at $1/hour. They are a STEAL considering you can park there and pay a $10 ticket for a whole day. Any private lot at least where I work is $15-20 a day. The whole point is to have those spaces turning over and open for customers to use... not to supplement or replace monthly parking for your office employees.

One idea that I have seen in some locations [[Ferndale?) is meters that have an ID that you can log into and pay/re-up online. Then you don't have to pay for 4 hours "just in case", you can just re-up from you meeting or wherever you're stuck. That wouldn't help in places that limit your parking to an hour or two, you'd still get a time limit ticket. But, at least they're trying.

**compn** · July-06-12, 07:10 PM

i'm complaining that meter maids often ticket people in 10 minutes or less after a meter expires. or they ticket people when there are plenty of other open spaces [[if no open parking spaces was the 'problem' , why ticket people when there are spaces available?). or they ticket people even when the car owners run out and put another quarter in the machine while the ticket is being written. did you even watch 'parking wars' ??

the tickets arent that big of a deal. its the boots and the towing that bugs me. i've heard lots about people who leave their cars at bars overnight [[to avoid drunk driving), only to get towed. or multiple people who parked in a 'wrong area' and got towed [[there was a huge towing story in the news recently about this). or that they can be towed for just about any reason. the towers dont have to leave a note or anything and you have to call the cops to see if your car was stolen!

then taxpayers have to pay for these meters [[in some cases) ? and then pay to have meter maids, towers, boots, impound yards, etc? i'd rather cut meter maids and pay for more firefighters...