4 ms·

Psfft, tiny violins. The author apparently wants me to sympathize because his car was towed only 15 minutes into the no-parking period in downtown SF. Probabl

Psfft, tiny violins. The author apparently wants me to sympathize because his car was towed only 15 minutes into the no-parking period in downtown SF. Probably all of the people who were on delayed buses waiting for his car to be towed out of the way thought that the fine should have been a million dollars, plus having his car dropped into the Bay. Fact is that authentically poor people do not drive. The population of people who drive and park cars in cities skews hugely toward higher incomes.

ebiester 12y ago
The authentically poor do drive. They drive over an hour and a half a day to their jobs, praying that their car doesn't break down that day. Because it has before, and they're still paying off the payday loan. Some are commuting daily from as far as Tracy. There are places there you can rent for as low as 800. With a roommate or three you can afford the car to get in to the city or the east bay to work.
- thrownaway2424 12y ago
  Those people drive to Pleasanton and take BART. All actual data (not your ridiculous anecdote) points to the fact that poor people use transit.
  - Hytosys 12y ago
    So what's your conspiracy theory? The author was lying about all the citizens waiting at the impound lot?
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
Cookingboy 12y ago
That is total bullshit, did you not read the article? Plenty of people work in the city and have to drive, because they cannot afford the rent to live there, or needs vehicles since they are part of their livelihood. What do you know about "authentically poor people"? You think everyone drives BMWs and Teslas in SF and our amazing public transportation (note: sarcasm) manages to service everyone with a low-income job in the city but don't live there?
- thrownaway2424 12y ago
  You can call it bullshit if you want, but it's a fact. First of all, you are absolutely right, BMW and Porsche and Tesla and all other luxury marks are hugely over-represented in SF. Also, I have data and you don't. Mode share to work, by income: < $30k: 10% by car > $100k: 26% by car Mode share, other than work, by income: < $30k: 15% > $100k: 33% Parking and towing fines are practically irrelevant for the lower income people because they are highly reliant on transit and walking. Lets see an article that complains about injustice in transit fares. http://archives.sfmta.com/cms/rbikes/documents/SFMTA-ModeShareSurvey_FinalJULY.pdf http://archives.sfmta.com/cms/rbikes/documents/SFMTA-ModeSha...
  - fleshweasel 12y ago
    What does this have to do with the observation that when a poor person gets towed, it can throw their whole life off the rails, and when a rich person gets towed, they don't even feel it? Do you think that because more poor people take public transit to work than rich people, that these stories don't matter?
    - thrownaway2424 12y ago
      Anything can do that including a health crisis (a far more common cause of financial despair), an arrest, or natural disaster. The entire premise of the article, the title of which states outright that towing fees are the worst part of inequality in America, is completely ridiculous. The worst part about inequality in America is that a million black men are in prison, and parking enforcement isn't even in the top 50 worst things about inequality in America.
      - Cookingboy 12y ago
        What a freaking straw man's argument. Where in the article did the author state it's the "worst part of inequality of America", he merely says it's a part that's under reported and not many people are aware of. And did you just compare horrible car towing companies to natural disasters? One is OBVIOUSLY WORSE than the other since last time I checked, tornadoes and earthquakes are not caused by greedy men working with corrupt government officially trying to squeeze money out of everyone.
tatterdemalion 12y ago
You don't have a clue what you're talking about & are behaving incredibly unpleasantly. Please stop.

ebiester 12y ago

The authentically poor do drive. They drive over an hour and a half a day to their jobs, praying that their car doesn't break down that day. Because it has before, and they're still paying off the payday loan. Some are commuting daily from as far as Tracy. There are places there you can rent for as low as 800. With a roommate or three you can afford the car to get in to the city or the east bay to work.

thrownaway2424 12y ago
Those people drive to Pleasanton and take BART. All actual data (not your ridiculous anecdote) points to the fact that poor people use transit.
- Hytosys 12y ago
  So what's your conspiracy theory? The author was lying about all the citizens waiting at the impound lot?

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

Cookingboy 12y ago

That is total bullshit, did you not read the article? Plenty of people work in the city and have to drive, because they cannot afford the rent to live there, or needs vehicles since they are part of their livelihood. What do you know about "authentically poor people"? You think everyone drives BMWs and Teslas in SF and our amazing public transportation (note: sarcasm) manages to service everyone with a low-income job in the city but don't live there?

thrownaway2424 12y ago
You can call it bullshit if you want, but it's a fact. First of all, you are absolutely right, BMW and Porsche and Tesla and all other luxury marks are hugely over-represented in SF. Also, I have data and you don't. Mode share to work, by income: < $30k: 10% by car > $100k: 26% by car Mode share, other than work, by income: < $30k: 15% > $100k: 33% Parking and towing fines are practically irrelevant for the lower income people because they are highly reliant on transit and walking. Lets see an article that complains about injustice in transit fares. http://archives.sfmta.com/cms/rbikes/documents/SFMTA-ModeShareSurvey_FinalJULY.pdf http://archives.sfmta.com/cms/rbikes/documents/SFMTA-ModeSha...
- fleshweasel 12y ago
  What does this have to do with the observation that when a poor person gets towed, it can throw their whole life off the rails, and when a rich person gets towed, they don't even feel it? Do you think that because more poor people take public transit to work than rich people, that these stories don't matter?
  - thrownaway2424 12y ago
    Anything can do that including a health crisis (a far more common cause of financial despair), an arrest, or natural disaster. The entire premise of the article, the title of which states outright that towing fees are the worst part of inequality in America, is completely ridiculous. The worst part about inequality in America is that a million black men are in prison, and parking enforcement isn't even in the top 50 worst things about inequality in America.
    - Cookingboy 12y ago
      What a freaking straw man's argument. Where in the article did the author state it's the "worst part of inequality of America", he merely says it's a part that's under reported and not many people are aware of. And did you just compare horrible car towing companies to natural disasters? One is OBVIOUSLY WORSE than the other since last time I checked, tornadoes and earthquakes are not caused by greedy men working with corrupt government officially trying to squeeze money out of everyone.

tatterdemalion 12y ago

You don't have a clue what you're talking about & are behaving incredibly unpleasantly. Please stop.