Toledo Talk - Leaf pick-up, street signs and the cars that ignore them

From jhostetler's workspace

Leaf pick-up, street signs and the cars that ignore them

So... today the leaf pick-up people are in our neighborhood (Old West End). The signs that state "no parking between 7-something and 5pm" have been up for several days, yet there are a ton of cars on the streets... making it a little more than difficult for the leaf pick-up people.

BUT, I see no tickets. No tow trucks.

Why would the City of Toledo NOT ticket and tow? In every other city I've lived in you either heed those signs to move your cars or get ticketed and towed. Simple as that.

It seems to me that the city could really use that extra money towards fixing all those effing pot holes.

created by jhostetler on Nov 29, 2007 at 12:30:28 pm Comments: 15

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To be fair, I obeyed those signs the first two days I saw them, but after four days went by, I started to wonder if they were ever coming. That point really is moot however, since I have four people living in our home and a two car driveway. I can hog the driveway but at someone else's expense.

At any rate, I apologize, but I and my roommates wouldn't be in the street if we had another option.

posted by thetoledowire_com on Nov 29, 2007 at 12:44:05 pm     #

No, you're totally right about the fact the signs have been up for several days but there was no definative date shown on the signs. They should state which day.

posted by jhostetler on Nov 29, 2007 at 12:53:22 pm     #

It's also not really a neighborhood built for car culture. Which is one of the reasons why it's so hip.

Most buildings have little to no off street parking. One building in particular has 5 bedrooms per unit and exactly 1 parking spot.

Some extra leaves aren't going to kill anyone. Besides, they look purty.

Maybe we should ticket the people who throw them out and treat them as waste.

posted by charlatan on Nov 29, 2007 at 05:10:47 pm     #

Fortunately, the signs that were up in our neighborhood for the past week have come down because they came by Tuesday and picked up some of the leaves and then yesterday the street sweepers got the rest of them.

However, there were cars parked in the street - they just weren't parked where the leaves were. Everyone who raked their leaves into the area in front of their house had the cars in the driveways. Those with cars parked out front had leaves piled in a different area. They didn't seem to have too much trouble getting them all.

And the street sweepers did a really nice job of getting that 2-foot leaf pile that was left in front of my driveway after the 'scooper' came through. It took about 3 passes, but the street looked really nice and clean when she was done.

posted by MaggieThurber on Nov 29, 2007 at 08:28:49 pm     #

My next door neighbor raked a huge pile of leaves down to the street. My son's friend came over and parked by said huge pile of leaves two days in a row. Last night, I noticed that the neighbor, who is really funny about people parking in front of his house anyway, had pulled up one of those signs and placed it next to the huge pile of leaves as a clear message not to park there.

What he doesn't realize is that they already came and collected the leaves last week. Why they haven't pulled down the signs yet is beyond me...

posted by valbee on Nov 29, 2007 at 09:56:03 pm     #

My brother lives off commonwealth which is off elanor...those signs have been up for awhile now because when I visit I was sure to not park in the road.

ha at the neighbor who pulled the sign out and put it where your friend parked, people are crazy these days!

posted by stooks on Nov 30, 2007 at 07:04:12 am     #

I have four people living in our home and a two car driveway. I can hog the driveway but at someone else's expense.

At any rate, I apologize, but I and my roommates wouldn't be in the street if we had another option

GASP!!!

Your not - please say your not having 4 unrelated people living under one roof!!

This is just the kind of blatant lawlessness that Mayor Finkboner is trying to avoid!!!

posted by billy on Nov 30, 2007 at 08:53:08 am     #

"Some extra leaves aren't going to kill anyone. Besides, they look purty.

Maybe we should ticket the people who throw them out and treat them as waste."

I have two giant maples and the neighbor has a giant oak that dumps a hell of alot more than "some extra leaves". If I just left them there to be pretty I would have one hell of a rotten mess in my yard by spring and still have to find a way to dispose of them. I already put at least half of them into the compost.

posted by transcom on Nov 30, 2007 at 11:01:11 am     #

"It's also not really a neighborhood built for car culture."

NYC isn't built for car culture, but I knew more than a couple people in Brooklyn (or other buroughs) who owned cars and had to move them for street sweeping and snow plowing. The same went for my old neighborhood in Minneapolis (Uptown). Why Toledoans feel they are above that is... just... almost expected I suppose, after the time I've been here.

posted by jhostetler on Nov 30, 2007 at 12:30:22 pm     #

In addition to lowering cooling bills in the summertime, trees provide as much as $50 in plant food and hummus according to this:

http://www.compostguide.com/using_leaves_for_composting.html

There might be a reason why leaves are gold. Mere coincidence perhaps.

And who picked up the leaves before Michigan lost the Toledo War?

And when will Hallmark fully exploit Arbor Day til it's last profitable morsel.

And what about those who can't enjoy the privilege of tree ownership?

posted by charlatan on Nov 30, 2007 at 01:24:45 pm     #

well anyone that wants to reap the benefits of compost and tree ownership are more than welcome to my contribution. I have plenty to go around.

posted by transcom on Nov 30, 2007 at 04:26:59 pm     #

GASP!!!

Your not - please say your not having 4 unrelated people living under one roof!!

This is just the kind of blatant lawlessness that Mayor Finkboner is trying to avoid!!!

It's alright. Me, my wife, plus two roommates. You can have the city untap my phone now.

posted by thetoledowire_com on Nov 30, 2007 at 06:36:28 pm     #

I just keep about 12 bags of leaves handy. When someone parks where they shouldn't this time of year, I cover the car with them. Last week one of my neighbor's friends were missing their car. I think I saw it going up the vacuum hose on the big sweeper. Sorry.

posted by tommy1 on Nov 30, 2007 at 07:58:22 pm     #

We had our leaf pickup today (Saturday), and no signs had been posted. As I watched the sweeper putting the leaves back from the street that my renter had spent two days raking (one day's worth of work had to be done over when the wind blew leaves back into his yard the next day), and onto his yard I decided they would get those leaves. I went out with a rake my mom had been using in our back-yard to rake the leaves into the street again. The rake broke, but I used the tines to finish the job. The the street sweeper went through the leaves, and this time removed them from the street. Luckily, I knew that they might come today because it was on the city's Internet site.

posted by oldsendbrdy on Dec 01, 2007 at 04:29:52 pm     #

Leaves, leaves, leaves... anyone remember oh about 25 years ago? They (the city) used to put up the signs on trees (tied around them) all up and down the street telling residents when NOT to park etc.. that seemed to work.

Probably cost prohbiitive now... but the communication part was important.

Our signs are up about a week or longer and don't indicate when they are coming.. there is not enough off street parking and after a week, what are you to do?

Yesterday, Saturday -- I heard a city truck out there, I raced out to move our cars, they were going down one side of the street. Lots of us had leaves gathered at the street level. Then, they left! Never touching the other side of the street?

If you're already here, why not do both sides of the street? Or, is this a case of where no one would know, so they cut out sooner? Or, was the truck full so they had to go? Me and my neighbors stood out there as they left, completely befuddled..

Only questions and a lot of leaves left....

posted by anotherblogger on Dec 02, 2007 at 11:27:57 am     #