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Not birds of a feather
By adamg on Thu, 07/18/2019 - 4:14pm
One of the geese that frequents Jamaica Pond hit the salad bar this afternoon while one of the rolling Brookline eyesores that keeps winding up at the pond just sat nearby, taking up space.
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Comments
Rolling eyesore that takes up space??
Surely you must mean the motor vehicles that are left all over on the sides of streets sometimes double or triple parked. Not that tiny non polluting device?
No, I think he means the
No, I think he means the privately owned death trap abandoned on a walkway in a public park.
I don’t see any ...
burning cigarettes tossed on the walkway either.
Geese are privately owned?!
Geese are privately owned?!
Private geese
Well, some are. My best friend, he shoots water rats, and feeds them to his geese.
eyesores
It is really interesting that folks complain about bikes and scooters around but not the thousands of cars lying around all over the place
My eyesight is going
But on my walk around the pond this afternoon, I did not see a single car abandoned on the path.
Nonetheless....
.... you breathed in the exhaust of the motor vehicles speeding around you and were subjected to their noise. To get to the pond you had to wait for traffic signals timed for the convenience of drivers and were expected to cross only in the sparse narrow crosswalks also installed for the convenience of drivers.
Your eyesight is definitely going. You have tunnel vision.
Pedestrian access
to the Pond has greatly improved with the new lights at Eliot St. installed a few years ago, and the new lights at Parkman/Perkins and at Cabot Estates, installed this year.
The lights at Parkman/Perkins and the path pictured above make the Pond accessible at the Northern end for the first time.
Not sure what you mean by narrow crosswalks. They are sized correctly. Yes, there are still roads around the Pond with cars.
Also the Pond pathways are being redone for the benefit of walkers, runners, and on the Jamaicaway side, cyclists.
No, I'm even worse
I drove to the pond, all the way from Roslindale. How evil am I, even in my Prius?
You’re the one who mentioned evil...
.. and your sainted Prius in the same sentence.
However, the pond is just a hop skip and a jump on bike or bus, and probably scooter too, from Roslindale.
Depends where in Roslindale, though
Some of us live in redoubts on a ridge along the Hyde Park frontier, and getting to Jamaica Pond by car is way, way, way easier than waiting for a 50 to Forest Hills and then catching a 39 (or maybe one of those wacky 38s).
As for scooters, interesting question: Would the batteries even last going up all the hills around here?
Brookline
has plenty of hills. It even has a Green Line stop called "Brookline Hills". The most notorious one is Corey Hill (Summit Avenue), but there are plenty more.
One of the most tiring bicycle tours I ever did was just
714 miles long, but its theme was Ten Hills of Brookline, and we climbed every one. (Route map)[note: I edited this post after doing a web search to jog my memory about the ride, which was 11 years ago]
abandoned
Saw one in the middle of the Harvard bridge aka Mass Ave at Charles River after the giant T storms on Wednesday evening. I did wonder how it got there since neither Boston nor Cambridge allow them?
what's wrong with using a scooter here?
If anything, it's less intrusive than a bicycle, and those are welcome at the pond, provided that you don't ride them on the pedestrian path.
Two things, both related
One is that they're currently illegal in Boston. Second is that the Brookline ones are currently geo-fenced, so once you bring one into Boston, they won't start again and so will just sit there until somebody comes and picks them up.
Third (OK, I'm over the limit now) based on where they've been turning up at the pond so far, riders WILL ride them around the pond, on that path that is meant just for pedestrians, once Boston does legalize them. So? I'd rather spend my time walking around the pond looking at the water or for birds than having to look for scooters.
Quit yer bitchin’...
...and just pick up that scooter, throw it in the back of your Prius and drop it off in Brookline next time you make a Trader Joe’s run or whatever.
Trader Joe's?
Pshaw. We shop strictly local, and by local, I mean the Hyde Park Shaw's, the Dedham or Hyde Park Stop & Shop and, of course, Roche Bros.
Yeah, OK, the Toyota salesman looked at us funny when going down the Prius criteria list with us (Nope, no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods runs, no sandals, etc., etc.) but what are ya gonna do?
I'd rather dodge a cyclist
I'd rather dodge a cyclist than a person on an electric scooter. The park isn't a race track for people w/ motorized toys. The Emerald Necklace has a ton of these scooters that riders inconsiderately dump anywhere and everywhere: against benches, on ramps meant for people with mobility issues.
I agree with you, Ron.
Scooters used at pedestrian speed are A-okay with me. Anyone who has ever had a temporary or permanent injury or has heart disease that limits walking but doesn’t warrant a seated device probably understands what I’m talking about.
I really don’t get the attitude around these.
I’ve spent this week zipping around San Diego on these, and it’s been awesome and crazy convenient. The city and operating companies also do a great job managing and enforcing. Actually disappointed they won’t be an option again when I get home.
As a city resident, parks
As a city resident, parks provide an oasis free of cars, hectic crazy, pollution, noise, traffic, hust-bustle. When you're walking in a park and 4 or 5 people on motorized devices scream at you to get out of their way, then that defeats the purpose of chilling out and taking a nice walk in the park. If you can't get that, then I can't help you.
about that "great job" at enforcing
If these scooters are showing up in JP, where they are not legal and where the operating companies have promised they *wouldn't* end up, then I question how great the enforcing is.
When Bird tried dropping scooters in Cambridge (knowing they didn't have permission), they ignored the city's requests to remove them, forcing the city to impound them until Bird got the legalities squared away.
I want additional transport options too, but the big corps who want to dump them everywhere for free and with no controls need to accept that their thirst for profit should be balanced by usefulness to the community.
Yeah so
I was talking about San Diego doing a great job regulating and managing. They have drop off zones (that don’t take away sidewalk or parkland space) and I’ve seen police writing tickets.
Lyft, at least, also has geofenced no parking areas where you can’t leave a scooter-your ride literally won’t end and you’ll continue to be charged; and they adjust it based on events, etc. They also seem to cut the throttle speed in high traffic areas, I’ve had it change street by street this week.
Bottom line is these are actually super useful in a city and no different than Blue Bikes if done right.
i dont get the attitude
from the companies and shortsighted, selfish users that "using and obstructing public space for private profit-making devices is the best thing evarrr"
So
not a Blue Bikes fan either?
I get what you're trying to do
But, two differences: designated parking that was planned in advance, and clear rules and guidelines for their use.
They weren't just plopped down to "deal with the consequences later", and their operational model does not depend upon what is, essentially, littering.
Yeah so
they didn’t do it right to start. But that doesn’t mean they can’t work with the city to implement a plan. The whole argument about them being for private gain in general is stupid. Like yeah, they’re a business. Offering a service to people, with some public benefit.
The whole argument against is typical Boston “I don’t like this thing so nobody should be able to do or have this thing!!!!!111!” It’s the same with cars, ride hailing, bike lanes, etc.