Malcolm Gladwell is a really engaging author, I quite enjoy his take on sociology and many other topics. All three of his books are a "must read" for any thinking person. Most of the time when I read his articles I'm saying to myself....this is stuff I've always thought about or pondered but never said out loud in conversation.
I think what the article tells us is; If the law says we can't park there, and there are no bikes there...the "criminals" in this case will stay away. Once one person parks there and doesn't get a ticket, similar to virology/epidemiology, the place will eventually be overwhelmed with bikes because everyone starts to think its ok.
The same goes for speeding, not signalling, aggressive driving...the small crimes we all commit every day. The same people on here that will rant about a cage cutting them off without a signal, will park on the sidewalk "because it doesn't harm anyone". That isn't the point, the point is to obey all the laws as best we can and society in general will be better off because of it.
The eventual response from city hall will be for the hornets to send a strict message that there will be zero tolerance. If you park there you WILL get a ticket. That will move people back to the ALREADY FREE parking on the street, if there is even a slight risk of getting a ticket or having your bike damaged by a ****** off pedestrian.
One relegated or unenforced law does not an anarchistic society make. How enforced do you think jaywalking is? And how crippled is our society here in Toronto as a result! You're argument is deliberately or ignorantly scaled up to create fear. Law and enforcement is about reasonable control and tolerable levels of infringement. Not all crime can be eradicated nor should it. Freewill and choice, even to commit a morally wrong action must be allowed. Punishment cannot always be issued, and part of the system relies on the nature of deterrents. As such there is an understood level of "tolerance" for illegal actions. When low-level "crimes" (as you term them) become out of hand, enforcement will be ramped up, such as the case with begging, squeegee kids, bicycles running red lights and so on. But within the realm of a balanced realistic society certain "crimes" are largely tolerated at a manageable scale. Law enforcement and the legal system cannot and will not be bogged down with trivial pi$s **** "crimes" to satisfy your utopian oppressive version of society. All respect for law and society will not break down with tolerance of DISCRETE sidewalk parking and you're a fear monger to suggest otherwise.
Seriously, it's like some of you think this forum is a bar exam or something. Those of you who complain we will lose our parking due to the likes of Counsellor Dingbat are exactly the type of people that would do what she did, given the opportunity. Look at how you chastise people in this forum for expressing even tacit or partial support for it! You act like "good" cop, bad cop.
You think free parking is a privilege? You think paid parking is a normal state of human affairs? Any of you remember back in the 90s when the City of Toronto formally announced an end to free parking in the city? Do you remember that we used to be able to park freely under the Gardiner, and I mean CARS!!! You think paying ridiculous amounts of money to park a car (even more than a standard hotel rate or rental apartment per sq ft) is a normal human societal condition? You people think we all "abused" our free parking gracious allowance and that's why the city started charging and hiking parking rates? That's laughable! They won't cancel motorcycle free parking cause a few of us popped the curb, that's "Republican" style fear monger pretext!
Westminster Borough Council in London was the first London borough to charge and cancel free motorbike parking bays and it had nothing to do with sidewalk parking (as that was strictly enforced). It had everything to do with income generation and a legal system that deals with overcrowding and supply and demand with penalties and fines.
You WILL lose more "privileges", excuse me, basic human rights, as this city grows and becomes more entrenched in social management "laws". And it has nothing to do with morality or legality; it is a product of social engineering macro economics.
Your time will run out on free parking, unless you choose to have a society that is less a nanny state and more responsible where tolerance isn't entirely at the discretion of a bi-law bureaucracy.
And for those that "choose" Toronto at 2.5 million population, bravo...that has nothing to do with the efficiency of society, and has everything to do with low density. Try choosing Tokyo if you think laws can mitigate high density societies. You "choose" Toronto, not because of its laws in comparison to ancient and crowded cities like Rome or Istanbul with infrastructure issues, no, you choose Toronto because it is relatively sparse, modern and hasn't encountered any of the inevitable problems associated with such ancient cities.
We have virtually no heritage issues stalling projects. We don't even have the same infrastructure problems Montreal is now beginning to face. We don't have legacy logistical issues like London has with disconnected railways due to medieval land laws. We don't have unofficial fluctuating or poor populations like Lagos or Rio or Cairo.
We have a relatively fixed Toronto population of 2.5 million and plenty of space to expand into mega mansion territory into the burbs.
So please don't pretend all of Toronto's charms are a result of some "civilized" bi-laws regarding sidewalk parking, or flat out lie to us, claiming free parking is some sort of privilege that we can have taken away from us. We pay some of the highest taxes in the world, and additionally continue to pay several other stealth taxes, including road / licensing tax! Environmental tax! And yes now PARKING TAX! Sorry to have ever believed parking for free may have been a half way moral act. Shame on us "criminals".
