Need a Smart Car? 2 dumped on my parking strip

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  • #608799

    towheeacres
    Member

    Anyone needing a Car2Go smart car can have one of the two dumped on our parking strip Sunday noon. It’s Thursday noon and they are still there. Neighbors are complaining. C’mon all you Smart Car Users – do your duty and keep your Car2Go service from becoming a nuisance. Located on SW College Street between 51st and 52nd SW in North Admiral on the little winding road that goes to the beach.

    #796391

    funkietoo
    Participant

    Are they actually ‘on your parking strip’ or parked on the street?

    #796392

    Flower Lab
    Member

    We had 2 parked in front of our store for 3 days in the 1 hour parking. I called Cars to Go, they said they would come move them.

    #796393

    towheeacres
    Member

    The cars are on our parking strip next to our hedge. The road is narrow with no shoulders or sidewalks. Our parking strip, incidentally, is the only safe place for pedestrians and is now blocked by these cars. I have called Cars2Go 3 times and e-mailed once – with no results. Also called Seattle Parking Enforcement and requested they be impounded and towed- no action yet. My opinion of the Car2Go business model is about as high as my opinion of airline travel.

    Our garden service is here now, mowing around the cars.

    #796394

    annaeileen
    Participant

    That is ridiculous to leave a car in front of a business in one hour parking or on a planting strip for days.

    I like the idea of car sharing (I once belonged to FlexCar) but they should have the same parking rules as the rest of us. They also need to educate their members better on rules for parking. This aren’t the first complaints on the blog and I bet other neighborhoods have similar issues.

    My first encounter with Cars2Go was one boxed me in – the car was an inch from my bumper – and I did not feel bad tapping it to get out.

    #796395

    WSB
    Keymaster

    send us a photo? can’t get there. just crossed town to cover a crash and falling behind on other stuff. editor@westseattleblog.com

    #796396

    KBear
    Participant

    Is there an exemption to the law prohibiting the storage of commercial vehicles on city streets that applies to car sharing businesses? Car rental companies and dealerships aren’t allowed to park their fleets on city streets, for example.

    #796397

    skeeter
    Participant

    If the cars are parked illegally are you allowed to call a tow company yourself and have them towed? Or can only the city authorize a tow?

    #796398

    trickycoolj
    Participant

    Parked in front of one the other day at lunch and noticed in the window there’s a sticker from SDOT that grants them unlimited parking in any zone for unlimited time, meaning it doesn’t matter if it’s 1hr limit parking they can park there as long as they want. I’ve heard in the initial news surrounding their start up that they payed special fees to SDOT to essentially pay for the percentage of unlimited parking they take up around the city.

    I’m guessing there’s still a lot of kinks around the plan though because it’s not very fair to a business to have their spots blocked off for days on end when their customers need places to legitimately park, nor is it fair to homeowners to have their streets completely filled up with them (especially those on RPZ streets).

    The idea is good, but hopefully these unforeseen problems start to get worked out between SDOT and C2G. I have car free friends that were going to buy cars and have been able to put off that purchase with the convenience of C2G in their neighborhoods though they say it’s pretty expensive so it’s really only worth it for time sensitive errands or when the bus schedule is few and far between during late-late hours or Sunday. Though I tend to steer far away from them on the freeway since they tend to drive like inexperienced teenagers since they’re behind the wheel so infrequently in an urban setting.

    #796399

    Vanessa
    Participant

    Car2NotGo when you need it to.

    #796400

    cwit
    Participant

    trickycoolj – I think one of Car2Go’s parking rules is that it has to be a parking spot that has a minimum limit of 2 hours. So it looks like Flower Lab’s case is one or more of their customers not paying attention to that rule.

    #796401

    SarahScoot
    Participant

    KBear, apparently the Enterprise management on 35th just north of Morgan interprets that law to mean they *can* park their cars on the sidewalk. Not on the street, so it’s OK, right? ;-) I have a few pictures of Enterprise cars parked two abreast across the sidewalk, forcing pedestrians into the street to go around. Ridiculous.

    #796402

    sam-c
    Participant

    I always thought the Car2Go concept was interesting. a while back, there was a spot in pigeon point (on 21st across from the green belt) where a car2go collection grew to 3 in about a week. like a person at that house only used it one way. finally, we saw some car2go employees coming to collect and move the cars.

    yeah, I thought car2go could get away with (almost) anything. I was surprised to drive by a Lincoln tow lot and see a collection of cars2go locked up

    #796403

    Bonnie
    Participant

    I drove down on 45th just north of Endolyne Joe’s (across from Wildwood) and there was about 4 of those cars parked on the street there. So they don’t have a lot, they just park them wherever they want?

    #796404

    jissy
    Participant

    “Neighbors are complaining.” That’s funny b/c I’m sure it’s 1 or 2 of your neighbors who parked them there!

    #796405

    VBD
    Participant

    It’s very frustrating when the cars are abandoned. It’s a problem that I’ve brought up before that often occurs here in Fauntleroy, because ferry riders will take them to the boat, then not retrieve them the next day. I have noticed, however, that the Car2Go employees are getting better about retrieving cars that have been left parked for more than a few days.

    We still have days when there are over a dozen cars in a very small area though. Maddening because we have to pay money for zone permits to park, but the Car2Go users do not.

    #796406

    velo_nut
    Participant

    Is it your your parking strip… Or the city’s?

    #796407

    yes2ws
    Participant

    Is the city maintaining it, or the homeowner? From a previous post, it’s obvious the homeowner is the one caring for it’s appearance; not the city.

    #796408

    yes2ws
    Participant

    Not only that, but since when is it okay to block pedestrians?

    #796409

    amalia
    Participant

    They can park in front of my house. I appreciate anyone who’s reducing their carbon footprint. Plus, it makes it look as if someone’s home when there are no other cars there.

    #796410

    singularname
    Participant

    I am kinda sorta indifferent to this issue, but I do take back my private eye roll I made upon first reading this thread. Today I passed a Car2Go parked on a parking strip up on 21st. It was on the east side of 21st, next to “[Cooper Park]”–I’ve never ever seen a car parked on that side in the 15ish years I’ve lived here, so it really stood out. Not sure if parking is legal or not legal there–certainly not gonna go out of my way to drive up there just to find that out. … And this prompts me to relay a response to my feedback I gave to Cars2Go two Saturdays ago at the Fremont Market on behalf of the OP and some others here.

    They had a booth, this thread was fresh, so I just casually mentioned that the WSB had a discussion about “several Cars2Go parked on a parking strip at a locale somewhere near Alki Beach and also near the ferry terminal–that they might want to check into it–no skin off my nose, am just sharing some info they might want to check out.” The (seemingly) head woman at the booth took a pretty aggressive attitude with an immediate, “Well if there were three or four or five gray Hondas parked in front of your house would that be a problem for you?” Whoa! … I reiterated that the post mentioned illegally parked on a parking strip, and that I was just really–in truly–trying to share some neighborly info, and have an awesome day!”

    Sorry you have to deal with these folks. I doubt I’ll be bothered until someone parks in the bed of my truck–on the other hand, that would probably amuse me to no end with a profound and evil delight in torturing them to get their car back.

    Edited: To correct street number.

    #796411

    Genesee Hill
    Participant

    I hope they park under a plum tree.

    #796412

    JanS
    Participant

    as long as they ask before they pick..

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