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Is America Becoming a Cashless Society? - The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Video Clip) | Comedy Central:
gwydionmisha:
I actually think about this every time I go Downtown and I get angry every time. About a half decade ago, they tried to switch all of downtown from meters to a drop box system. The guys that own the fish store and all their small business neighbors were furious. Sure, they hated the meters and wanted free parking Downtown and would have happily taken an increase in their business tax in exchange, since paid parking is bad for business.
The drop boxes though? Their sales revenue had dropped 60%. The small business protested the shit out of it and they put the meters back (instead of going with a small business friendly free parking/higher business tax model, but baby steps). The thing is though? The area around the Courthouse and Library had no small businesses to protest, so they put in the dropboxes, and along with the parking lot next to the indie theater, they “upgraded” to smart phone only payments a year or two ago.
I have no smart phone. A lot of poor people don’t have smartphones.
This means that there is no parking near the indie theater or the little museums for poor people. That means that if there are no free disabled spots near the Courthouse, I can’t park close enough to pay my taxes, etc.. That means if there are no free disabled or drop off spots in front of the Library, I can’t use it.
When they put in smart phone/credit card only parking places, they are saying, “We don’t want poor people going to these businesses, these restaurants, these theaters. We don’t want poor people in our libraries and our courthouses.” It seems to me really fucking contrary to logic and purpose to bar poor people from the library and the courthouse, especially as BPD loves pulling people over for driving while poor, etc., and the people using the library most are poor, but there you have it. All these things are only intended for rich people now.
Is America Becoming a Cashless Society? - The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Video Clip) | Comedy Central:
gwydionmisha:
I actually think about this every time I go Downtown and I get angry every time. About a half decade ago, they tried to switch all of downtown from meters to a drop box system. The guys that own the fish store and all their small business neighbors were furious. Sure, they hated the meters and wanted free parking Downtown and would have happily taken an increase in their business tax in exchange, since paid parking is bad for business.
The drop boxes though? Their sales revenue had dropped 60%. The small business protested the shit out of it and they put the meters back (instead of going with a small business friendly free parking/higher business tax model, but baby steps). The thing is though? The area around the Courthouse and Library had no small businesses to protest, so they put in the dropboxes, and along with the parking lot next to the indie theater, they “upgraded” to smart phone only payments a year or two ago.
I have no smart phone. A lot of poor people don’t have smartphones.
This means that there is no parking near the indie theater or the little museums for poor people. That means that if there are no free disabled spots near the Courthouse, I can’t park close enough to pay my taxes, etc.. That means if there are no free disabled or drop off spots in front of the Library, I can’t use it.
When they put in smart phone/credit card only parking places, they are saying, “We don’t want poor people going to these businesses, these restaurants, these theaters. We don’t want poor people in our libraries and our courthouses.” It seems to me really fucking contrary to logic and purpose to bar poor people from the library and the courthouse, especially as BPD loves pulling people over for driving while poor, etc., and the people using the library most are poor, but there you have it. All these things are only intended for rich people now.
