Nice problem to have: too many new followers to keep up with last night. If you’d like me to follow you, and I haven’t, please reply so I know to! And still welcome introductions, mine is pinned to my profile. Thanks!

@Dbrauer Hello, I'm the same April King here as there. :)

(I'm on the UPDC in Saint Paul, and hate parking.)

@april hello, I hate parking too! Enjoy following you.

@Dbrauer @april I'm a former UPDC board member. When someone says, "I hate parking," I hear, "I hate poor people."

@Bertrecords @Dbrauer that's weird because there are absolutely immense amounts of studies that have shown that car-dependent cultures and excess parking hurt the poor more than any other group of people.

what do you base your "I hate poor people" understandings on?

@Bertrecords @Dbrauer for example, poor people are considerably less likely have cars and be dependent on walking, bicycling, and public transportation and so the benefits of "free" parking disproportionately benefit people who are wealthy.

@april @Dbrauer The studies say that car ownership is worth $10,000 per year in wages.

Also, think about where development does not include sufficient parking. It is only in poorer areas. Parking regulations have no impact on the wealthy. Business makes sure there is sufficient parking where the demographic brings enough money.

@april @Dbrauer Here is a journal article, a study showing the impact of providing cars to 30 individuals who were without a car. There were major quality of life impacts. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0739456X20950428

@Bertrecords @Dbrauer wow, that is shocking stuff. giving a people access to free cars improved their quality of life? did they also give a different 30 people $15000 and checked to see if that helped too? most poor people don’t have access to people giving them free cars, and parking is completely useless to those without them.

@Bertrecords @Dbrauer fully half the space in my grid is devoted to street parking and parking lots. half! That is space that isn’t generating much in the way of taxes to improve city services, it’s space that isn’t housing or businesses or parks. it sits empty 90% of the time, draining wealth from the area and from the city.

@april @Dbrauer Allianz Field? Some of us predicted that would happen.