urbanMSP

I believe he was referring to this data: http://www.startribune.com/local/west/246624851.html

I would strongly agree that the primary reasons behind tows are education (knowing the rules) and awareness (knowing when a snow emergency has been called).

Do more cars get towed from areas closer to the impound lot? Probably to some degree. But I doubt the correlation is that strong. One still has to be in violation of the snow emergency to get ticketed/towed in the first place.

David's "tow around the corner" scheme could work if we implemented the one-side parking ban after the first snow emergency. (Full disclosure: I'm a big fan of the one-side parking restrictions and wish they'd be implemented sooner each winter, rather than waiting until February)

David's "tow around the corner" scheme could work if we implemented the one-side parking ban after the first snow emergency. (Full disclosure: I'm a big fan of the one-side parking restrictions and wish they'd be implemented sooner each winter, rather than waiting until February)

That's a good thought. I too like the one-sided restrictions. Anything to get better plowing.

I made the comment about Uptown because there are *always* cars in the way of plows in the Wedge and they sit there for days or weeks. Plows repeatedly work around them over multiple snowfalls. Maybe it's different in other Uptown areas but south of 26th or so in the Wedge is a plowing nightmare and has been for the decade I've lived there.

Last year I had to contact Bender's office just to stop people from parking on the restricted side so emergency vehicles could get through. They weren't even being ticketed, though after I called Bender's office (they told me multiple people called them), cars got ticketed pretty quickly but not towed as far as I could tell.

Do more cars get towed from areas closer to the impound lot? Probably to some degree. But I doubt the correlation is that strong. One still has to be in violation of the snow emergency to get ticketed/towed in the first place.

While I was at the U, one of my professors was showing us a project they worked on at the Pioneer Press. It essentially was a data-driven project that looked at towings throughout the city. The correlation was actually pretty strong: towings were incredibly heavy near impound lots, but light or even nonexistent in areas further away. No doubt Minneapolis has the same issue.

I think the airport would be a great area to bring cars except for one issue: it's quite far from many areas of the city. Instead of heading to a fairly central location, you'd have tow trucks taking cars going a much farther distance. I get the feeling it would shift a decent chunk of enforcement closer to the airport area and leave many areas unenforced. Who's going to want to pick up a car in, say, Northeast Minneapolis and then drive to the airport and back? Much easier to hit up the Nokomis area and zip to the airport and go get some more.

No reason we couldn't have four temporary lots, using the river/35W and 394/94 to split things up. Make them pop-up lots, accepting cars only on the emergency days, with an additional charge if left unclaimed for over a week after the snow emergency (when the car is towed to the central impound).

We wouldn't even need one for the southwest, because we know they won't tow there. *rimshot*

Well, really is parking on the wrong side during a snow emergency as much of a problem in areas like Southwest? Without knowing the towing rate vs the rate of ticketing (or unticketed lawbreaking) how can we know it's not being done fairly? Also, with private companies doing the towing, I guess I can't blame them for choosing the neighborhoods with the highest density of tickets and the shortest distance to haul to the impound lot. I'm not saying that's fair, but that's the way it is right now unless we regulate it differently.

Also, with private companies doing the towing, I guess I can't blame them for choosing the neighborhoods with the highest density of tickets and the shortest distance to haul to the impound lot. I'm not saying that's fair

It's more than not fair, it's the very definition of structural racism. We've set up a system where the impound lot is located in a poor area dominated by people of color, leading to a situation where towing is more strictly enforced in those neighborhoods vs. the almost totally white Southwest. No one intended for this kind of racialized outcome but it happened anyway.

Outcomes matter.

It's more than not fair, it's the very definition of structural racism. We've set up a system where the impound lot is located in a poor area dominated by people of color, leading to a situation where towing is more strictly enforced in those neighborhoods vs. the almost totally white Southwest. No one intended for this kind of racialized outcome but it happened anyway.

Outcomes matter.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but aren't Bryn Mawr (which is >90% white) and the southern portions of Harrison - both of which are closest to the impound lot - less racially concentrated? I'm not saying that redevelopment of the impound lot and some surrounding terrible land uses isn't a good thing (particularly for bridging neighborhoods north to downtown), but the presence of the lot hasn't kept those immediate areas from having less racial concentration than areas further north..

Also, if you look at the Strib map, the highest concentration of tows appears to be from the University area, which is (as we all know) inhabited by college students living in luxury apartment buildings. And also isn't particularly close to the impound lot.

As others have suggested, I don't think you can run a single impound lot from any single distant corner of the city. Running two impound lots like St. Paul does (one year-round operation, plus a second location just for snow emergenies) is probably the way to go. St. Paul simply divides the city along I-94 and you know which location to find your car.

For example, Minneapolis could have one location on/near the airport, and other at Shoreham Yards (or wherever) in Northeast.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but aren't Bryn Mawr (which is >90% white) and the southern portions of Harrison - both of which are closest to the impound lot - less racially concentrated?

Bryn Mawr probably is, but while Harrison may be less concentrated that neighborhoods further north, it's still pretty concentrated. But I don't think it's correct to say Harrison and Bryn Mawr alone bear the burden of extra tows. But I haven't dug into the numbers at all, so I can't say for sure.

26th and Minnehaha? Near Hiawatha, the city has it for sale on the google street view. Anyone know if it still is? It's large enough for at least some lot

Just tow them out to our many Park and Ride lots. Plenty of space and easy transit access.

wah wah... http://finance-commerce.com/2014/10/no- ... pound-lot/

Move the impound lot to Dinkytown. They seem to like parking lots.

Without access to the whole article, I'm wondering what % of this decision is the market to support said development at VW isn't there vs extreme difficulty in finding another location. I'm not advocating for a re-hash of 3C/3A, but this certainly points to there being at least something to the idea of routing transit where people are vs where some small area plan hopes there will be development.

I still really like the idea of buying out a parking garage in DT to support cars there. Or we could just not impound as many cars..

this certainly points to there being at least something to the idea of routing transit where people are vs where some small area plan hopes there will be development.

I'd say this absolutely gives credence to the idea that we should put transit where people are. Our "hopes for development" seem to come to fruition rarely.

Maybe we should come up with a ratio for hypothetical development with hypothetical people compared to real development with real people when planning transit.