RPZ myth: the RPZ devalues your home

One of the funniest "residents parking ... " claims is that being in an RPZ devalues your house.

As noted before, the RPZ lets you buy the option to use your car on a weekday.

It's hard to say that this devalues a house.

After all, people will spend thousands of pounds putting in a driveway for having that option. That's if the council will let them -pesky "listed building" and "conservation area" rules stop you knocking down walls in the core of the city just to park a couple of vehicles.

Take, Clifton, for example. In one house they had to stick in the driveway, then apply for retrospective permission to widen the gates to fit a double push chair in, one that turns out to be smart-car shaped.



Why would anyone go to the effort of filing multiple (refused) planning requests to put in a driveway, then sneak one in -along with a dropped kerb- just to get a car in? It's because having that driveway lets you park a car near a house.

That's why having a driveway is considered so valuable that Estate Agents mention it in their listings of houses in Clifton.

An RPZ can deliver that guarantee of parking to an area -by removing weekday commuters, and by placing an upper limit on vehicle ownership per household.

Given that guaranteed parking increases the retail value of a house, it's hard to defend a claim that an RPZ will decrease the value of households.

Films@59 making Cotham Hill a Shared Space

It's lovely to see a company -here Films at 59- taking on an idea like "shared space" and embracing it.

Here on a weekday we can see them doing it perfectly.

The white van X548DJR over the yellow lines and the buildout mark the entry to the zone

Further on, the paveparked car LD07NYF, the van KU59DLJ that's claimed the driveway  and the white vanRD04NXU  half up on the pavement rounds it off -this area is shared with pedestrians and cyclists -we hope they appreciate this sharing!
 
The cycle logo on the floor shows this is national cycle route 4 -introducing cyclists to the shared space concept -and the forced swerve makes them slow down for the shared zone

The way they've managed to remove all visibility acts as a lovely piece of traffic calming, as even cars have to slow down.
 
Congratulations, Films at 59, for this selfless action.

The last time we had some coverage of this shared space area, there was a blip in traffic with a referrer of some server in the films at 59 domain -as if someone saw the coverage, agreed that having one van block the pavement made it harder for other vans to drive up it, and raised the issues with their colleagues.

Clearly the "shared space" approach is the solution to this problem.

Problem Bus Stops

Our commentary yesterday hinted at bus problems in Crow Lane, as a result of criminal activity in the area.

Over here leafy Redland Road this is less of a problem, and the brave owner of EF59VBA is even comfortable leaving the Volvo half on the pavement. 

The problem here is not muggers, but bus stops. This bus stop in particular, and the one nearly opposite it, where poor people, the young, the old, students and those awful busy bodies from Transition Bristol stand and wait to catch their sustainable transport down to Temple Meads.

This means that those of us with a proper job, and car to match, have to suffer huge tracts of perfectly good parking provision removed from use, just to accommodate a bus stop. Just how selfish can these people be?

Recycling problems

This is not what it seems: a car on the road, a car half on the pavement, and a car across the pavement.

No, this is not a demonstration of thoughtful parking, it's not even an example of how to get as many cars as possible into the smallest possible space.

No, this is a recycling problem. As we can see, the bin men have been, they collected the bottles and paper, but they forgot to collect all the tin.

We suspect BMW R255KAB has been left out for collection, but was just too big to fit on the lorry. After all, the scrappage scheme is now over.

UPDATE

Just heard that the scrappage scheme has been extended until the end of March 2010, so there's no need to leave any unwanted cars on the pavement until 1st April.

Nice Try

The two 4X4s missed a parking opportunity, but the Volvo made a great attempt.

After last year's IGfest, it seems that Bristol's inner city motorists are not intending to miss out on the fun and are rising to challenges previously unheard of.

And good on them. Witness R946AWL trying to get through a wall.

"Customer Parking Please Drive Inside" used to be a slogan reserved for ram-raiders on a foggy night anywhere in Bristol. Now it appears to be an open invitation for anyone requiring Office Furniture.

Nice to see Stoke's Croft is leading the way in these artistic endeavours.

Obesity Problems

The trouble with big cars is that they don't fit into small spaces. Hence our posts about Demi-Drives. We don't really have big cars in the UK, though, because our roads are too small.

This car (WV03UVM), however, appears to be sensing it's too large for its space. It knows the yellow paint may bite it one day. Its front wheels are making every attempt to get close to the building. And quite rightly - there's no pavement here, after all, and the road is a bit narrow (hardly a major thoroughfare though).

In fact, judging by the sign above it, it's probably here for a work-out. With a bit of effort it could end-up as a Smart Car.

And if that fails, it may at least achieve a Yellow-Belt in parking ticket collecting.

The outer bounds of creativity

A contact of mine on flickr posted this last month: a real creative solution to the problem of only having a short car in a demi-drive and being unable to fully protect against the dangers of pavement cycling in the city. The downside, of course, is the requirement for two cars; this shouldn't be an issue for most responsible households, but sometimes cooperation with a friendly neighbour might be needed.

Still, Bristol drivers still have something to learn about parking (and the potential dangers that can follow); witness the consequential hazards Lebanese drivers can encounter, illustrated graphically here.

Demi Demi

Deborah Harry may not live here, but ...

The 4x4 on the right of the photo is parked legally, wheels off the kerb.

The Kensington Arms is just a few metres away (sustainable destination).

And there's a song going around in my head, by Blondie. (OK, not Demis Demis, but Denis Denis - I'm sure you're humming it too by now).

Until now I thought demi-drives only existed for cars. But the owner of this bike proves that virtually anyone can take control of our pavements.

Respect.

UPDATE - Lame post, sorry. Forgot I'd saved it, meant to add a bit more (worth saying), but I'm out of Bristol this week.

Note to self: must try harder.../pay attention... (delete as appropriate).

Cheltenham Road

"dempster" sends in this photo of Uplands Mobile Multimedia, an in-vehicle entertainment service provider. That is, they specialise in adding electronics to your vehicle so that you don't have to look where you are going. As such, their business plan is built on:

1. People who like satnav and in-car DVD to be retrofitted inside existing vehicles.
2. Somewhere to park the vehicles during the retrofitting process

Here is one such vehicle. This photograph shocked us. Can you see why?

A pedestrian is walking down the bus lane. That lane is reserved for buses, bicycles, motorcycles and taxis. Not pedestrians. For someone to walk along here is irresponsible and inconsiderate.

Thank you, dempster, for bringing this person to our attention. We shall report them to the relevant authorities, including the FirstBus enforcement team.

Demi-Drives of Montpelier

Contributor KL sends in this snap of a mercedes SUV on St Andrews Road, Montpelier, parked in the entrance to Montpelier Park, sticking out into the pavement. Apparently this space "belongs" to this car, despite a sign on the wall behind warning that cars parked here will be towed.

When you compare the other vehicles on on this pavement, this car, Y529KTF, is actually taking up less of the pavement than most of them. It is possible to get a push chair up this part of the hill. The only way it could be interfereing with pedestrians would be if it stopped those parents-with-babies from taking their little one into Montpelier Park itself. But given that urban park is not "area for small children to play" as "place to take your dog for its bathroom duties" for everyone who lives near, this vehicle is actually protecting children. It is a valuable contribution to child safety in this part of town.

Incidentally, one reason why anyone who parks here gets as far on the pavement as they can is that there is a "St Andews Road Avonmouth" which is the right size and shape for HGVs. If the driver taps in "St Andews Road Bristol" to the SatNav by accident, this is the road where their truck ends up.

Altruism in Redland

Redland is not known for bullying. It's a sustainable suburb. THE sustainable suburb.

So it was shocking to come across two Minis ganging up on a lonely silver hatchback. The red mini was being particularly aggressive - face on, giving it large, blocking the silver car. But also parked half across the pavement, forcing pedestrians to move towards the road (thankfully not into the road, as so many cars in this street park half-on and half-off that it prevents conflict between pedestrians and moving vehicles - but I digress).

Anyway, as I said, Redland is not known for it's bullying.

This photo, however, reveals that the Red Mini is in fact being highly altruistic. It's not bullying, but protecting footpath users from bumping into the badly positioned bins further up the hill. Much more like the sustainable Redland we've all come to love. 

I suspect the bins may also deserve a mention for their role in this affair... after all, they've been ejected from their garden by the cars, and are now having to live on the streets.

Close Shave

What does this picture show: it shows a very large lorry squeezing past a pickup that got the demi-drive parking wrong. They forgot the rule "don't stick out past the pavement". Indeed, the whole purpose of pavement parking is to ensure your wing mirror will still be there when you get back, your paintwork and bumpers unscathed.

You can only do that if you know that the width of the road left behind is greater than the maximum width of the vehicle that wishes to pass. For the lorry drivers, it's pretty inconvenient.

I think this one just made it past the van without causing problems. And if not, there's a small garage further up this alleyway off Cotham-Hill who would be happy to pick up the repairs.

Traffic Calming with demi drives

Its becoming apparent that the driver behind this week's crackdown-on-cyclists was not a central council plan, but driven by the local police from their local community engagement, the PACT process. For the Cotham beat, inconsiderate cycling was seen as important. Though they haven't defined whether inconsiderate cycling means "being in my way in a car"


So, interestingly enough, is "Obstruction of dropped kerbs by parked cars.". Really? Gosh, we shall be expecting a high publicity enforcement of that problem soon too then shall we? Their previous issues/successes were :
1. Traffic offences, namely speeding on Hampton Road and No Entry signs contravened on Nugent Hill and Grove Road.
2. Pavement parking on Meridian Road, causing obstructions.
3. Wheelie bins and skips obstructing pavements on Cheltenham Road.

Although they have apparently issued 21 tickets to cars contraflowing the Nugent-Hill one-way system, its clear that isn't a very good deterrent for all the other cars. And a tour of Meridian Road will show if that has been fixed.

Returning to the photo above, its in Kingsdown, which doesn't list cycling as a problem. Which is a success. It's a success for those people in the community who, by carefully placing a car in the demi-drive with the two-bar sticking out, can be sure that anyone who attempts to cycle down this pavement will come off.

This area's priority is : Parking - particularly Nugent Hill, Dalton Square and Clarence Place, with particular concerns regarding access for emergency vehicles. Which could explain why we had that incident of cars blocking the pavement getting tickets or warning notes, but cars on the pavement not getting a mention. Nobody complained about pavement parking.

The next PACT meeting for this area is Thurs Jan 22, The Centre for the Deaf, King Square, Kingsdown. This would be a good opportunity to infiltrate this bit of the city and demand a harsher treatment of cyclists.

Demi Drives: why?

Why do people have Demi-Drives? Here in Richmond Park Road, Clifton the answer is obvious, someone accidentally bought a vehicle too big to fit

It is always really annoying when you do that. You head out from the house in your Fiesta or your Peugeot 207, swap it for an extended cab 4WD pickup and when you get home what do you find? The driveway is too short! There's nothing else you can do except park with half of it out over the pavement. That or move to a bigger house, and with today's mortgage situation, that isn't easy, is it?

Demi Drives

We have a new concept to introduce today, the demi-drive

This is a phrase which, once it gains in popularity, will be used more in popular conversation, and estate agent marketing: "It's a pretty flat with a demi-drive in the front". Or in navigation: "take the second demi-drive on the left". Because you see, it is a parking thing. And in the space of five minutes on the parental-sprog-run, I came across three in adjacent streets.


What, then is a demi-drive? It is a driveway that only has room for half a car in it. There are a number of reasons for this. The car could be too big for the allocated space, as for J40ARG here.


It pokes out onto pavement, leaving only a little space for pedestrians. As only half the car is in the drive, it's a demi-drive.

Another reason could be that there is already a vehicle in the driveway, as for GN03CZH.

They've tried to park, but because of the large red van in the main drive, only the demi-drive was left. There is at least 20-30cm to squeeze past, which is adequate for pedestrians and helps ensure that bicycles cannot sneak down the pavement.

A final motivation for a demi-drive is that the drive is full of clutter. Note that although it might be possible for the car to park in front of the drive, by using the demi-drive, S005LYG frees up another space in the street.

That's why demi-drives are so valuable. Even if your driveway only takes one car, if you back it right up you have a demi-drive, creating room for another. No doubt within the new CPZ, everyone with a demi-drive will be laughing.

Have you seen any demi-drives? Keep an eye out. Contributions to traffic at railwaypath.org