Chicagoist: The Boot Business

electHIM

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:32:02 -0600

boots should be the very last thing YO. not the first thing the city does to MAKE MONEY!

Scooter Libbby

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:33:58 -0600

I don't care how many they boot. I don't have a car!

royce76

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:02:43 -0600

Can't you just cut the padlock with a grinder if they boot you and you've paid? Also, if it keeps my taxes down, fine BOOT BOOT BOOT what about passenger vehicle on off days like they do in mexico city if your plate ends in an odd number, you don't drive two days a week??

dopplerd

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:55:28 -0600

I do not have any direct experience with having a car booted. I have had friends who have. Every single one of them was well aware that they were in danger of being booted and had been irresponsible with how and where they park their cars. The streets need to be swept so pay attention and move your car. When it snows the plows are more important than the fact that you where running late and couldn't find another spot. So what that you forgot to put your registration sticker on the plate? Grow up and pay your ticket or get booted. Owning a car and parking it on a city street is not right. I agree that booting-as-revenue is not a good model. What happens when people get with the program and ticketing declines? The money that comes in from tickets should not go into the general fund but into some fund for extras (Millennium Park for instance). Kind of like a ticketing TIF. That way the mayor can spend the money but it is not base for the budget.

via chicago

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:02:27 -0600

"i got an old civil war boot ... with a foot in it." Its scary that I even know thats a Jerky Boys reference..

jmagic

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:54:12 -0600

i got an old civil war boot ... with a foot in it.

ktr

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:32:31 -0600

i have no qualms with it at all. boot them all after one ticket, what do i care?

Albanyparkour

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:21:58 -0600

The fine and punishment revenue generation system is a losing game. It's raising taxes without the political fallout. The fines and fees are far out of whack with any actual "criminal" behavior. Come on, 50 dollars for an overstay at a quarter an hour meter? Think about that, it's not rational, fair or proportional. At the heart of this is the simple question, has all this ticketing and towing and booting made parking any easier or the streets less congested? Absolutely not. Combine all those efforts with the ridiculous permitting system (in which well-to-do homeowners in tony neighborhoods can section off streets at their own little lots, and you see why the trucks say REVENUE on the side.