Street sweeping
Dec. 11th, 2020 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaWhen I lived in Oakland, my street got swept twice a month, once for each side, and anyone not moving their car off the designated side on the designated day got a ticket. Back when I owned a car (18 years ago!) I would forget once every year or two and end up with a ticket.
In Portland, my street gets swept twice a year, once in November and once in December, to pick up the abundance of soggy leaves. Both sides of the street get done the same day, and moving cars is optional. They use big sweepers, so the area in front of my house only gets cleaned if the neighboring spots are clear as well, so the sweepers can line themselves up to the curb.
For the last 10 years or so, my neighbors have used either the spots in front of my house, or their house, or the corner house on the other side of me to park a variety of working and non-working vehicles for up to a year at a time. For a few years the city was charging each household $40/year for leaf sweeping, so not only was the area in front of my house still slimy with leaves, but I had paid for the privilege! A couple of years ago the city discontinued the extra fee, at least.
I really care about this. Not only are slimy leaves treacherous on a bike, but I have clients and guests coming (in non-pandemic times) who appreciate a clean street to step into. Over the years, I've learned that my neighbors are extremely defensive about the whole thing. Asking them to please move their vehicles gets me a rant about why do I care and how dare I tell them what to do blahblah.
So it's been an ongoing exercise in accepting that I care, and also accepting that my neighbors are going to do what they're going to do and there's not a damn thing I can do to make them respect that I care. Eventually I realized I could clean up the street myself with a rake and dust pan.
This summer, a neighbor from further down the street cleaned the street all the way up to the corner past my house. Said it gave him something to do. I thanked him! He's a relatively new neighbor and rents part of his house via airbnb (in non-pandemic times?) so maybe he just wanted it all to look better.
This year's November leaf sweeping, my next door neighbors had miraculously discontinued using the corner house for long-term parking, but a neighbor across the street who also has a lot vehicles, randomly parked one on my side, blocking the trucks. *sigh*
Today was the December leaf sweeping. Yesterday, that same neighbor from across the street had left a car on my side, making me wonder if it wasn't random after all?! But today. The entire street was clear. Both sides. Except a car parked long term in front of my next door neighbor's house, but it's mostly off the street and towards their other neighbor's side. At least it's in front of their own house!
I just watched the sweepers finish up. The entire street is clean. Yay. Except I don't feel celebratory. I feel a queasy mix of grateful and resentful that I have to be grateful that people have been community minded enough to move their piles of metal out of the way this one time.
I know, it's just street sweeping, no big deal. But in terms of people acting collectively or individually, it does feel like a big deal.
In Portland, my street gets swept twice a year, once in November and once in December, to pick up the abundance of soggy leaves. Both sides of the street get done the same day, and moving cars is optional. They use big sweepers, so the area in front of my house only gets cleaned if the neighboring spots are clear as well, so the sweepers can line themselves up to the curb.
For the last 10 years or so, my neighbors have used either the spots in front of my house, or their house, or the corner house on the other side of me to park a variety of working and non-working vehicles for up to a year at a time. For a few years the city was charging each household $40/year for leaf sweeping, so not only was the area in front of my house still slimy with leaves, but I had paid for the privilege! A couple of years ago the city discontinued the extra fee, at least.
I really care about this. Not only are slimy leaves treacherous on a bike, but I have clients and guests coming (in non-pandemic times) who appreciate a clean street to step into. Over the years, I've learned that my neighbors are extremely defensive about the whole thing. Asking them to please move their vehicles gets me a rant about why do I care and how dare I tell them what to do blahblah.
So it's been an ongoing exercise in accepting that I care, and also accepting that my neighbors are going to do what they're going to do and there's not a damn thing I can do to make them respect that I care. Eventually I realized I could clean up the street myself with a rake and dust pan.
This summer, a neighbor from further down the street cleaned the street all the way up to the corner past my house. Said it gave him something to do. I thanked him! He's a relatively new neighbor and rents part of his house via airbnb (in non-pandemic times?) so maybe he just wanted it all to look better.
This year's November leaf sweeping, my next door neighbors had miraculously discontinued using the corner house for long-term parking, but a neighbor across the street who also has a lot vehicles, randomly parked one on my side, blocking the trucks. *sigh*
Today was the December leaf sweeping. Yesterday, that same neighbor from across the street had left a car on my side, making me wonder if it wasn't random after all?! But today. The entire street was clear. Both sides. Except a car parked long term in front of my next door neighbor's house, but it's mostly off the street and towards their other neighbor's side. At least it's in front of their own house!
I just watched the sweepers finish up. The entire street is clean. Yay. Except I don't feel celebratory. I feel a queasy mix of grateful and resentful that I have to be grateful that people have been community minded enough to move their piles of metal out of the way this one time.
I know, it's just street sweeping, no big deal. But in terms of people acting collectively or individually, it does feel like a big deal.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-12 12:22 am (UTC)We're spending so much time in our houses that the microbiome of the street outside is becoming as personal as our digestive systems.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-12 12:32 am (UTC)