Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/08/15/matt-chapman.html
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You mean he cost the city of Chicago $60,000 in lost parking revenue. /s
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eight months later, the signage was cleaned up and made more intuitive
Too bad the same can’t be said for Chipotle, which is often mangled as Chi-pole-tea.
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This is in a part of town popularly known as the Viagra Triangle, and the only cars I’ve ever seen parked in that immediate area are
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mass-market “luxury” cars (BMW, Mercedes, Lexus) tryna look all luxurious
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decidedly non-mass-market Actual Luxury cars (Maserati, Porsche, Bentley, Maybach), still showing off tho
So, not really that sad if they were getting tickets. Just saying.
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The Google Maps link isn’t helping, so I’ll bite. Why is this part of town called the Viagra Triangle?
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It’s full of expensive bars and restaurants that attract wealthy men (usually older) who want to go “out on the town”, and the Russian prostitutes who love them. (It’s also a neighborhood where professional athletes go to see and be seen (hence the Maybachs etc), but that has nothing to do with the Viagra moniker.)
It’s had this reputation (“the plushiest cocktail lounges, the most expensive broads”) for a long time. “Viagra Triangle” is its own category on Yelp. Even the real estate press (if not the real estate brokers themselves) know what’s up.
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The cynic in me was surprised this article didn’t conclude something like
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I’m guessing this isn’t the Homestar Runner guy?
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I don’t understand why the Alderman would sabotage a revenue center?
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How does the type of car people drive in this neighborhood factor in to the discussion about the use of civic data to fix a signage problem?
Like I said, I don’t cry massive tears when obscenely rich people get parking tickets?
ETA: Correction: While it is very interesting that someone used data to solve a statistically significant anomaly in parking enforcement, I don’t cry massive tears when obscenely rich people get parking tickets.
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Because a $100 ticket is pocket change to the guy who makes $240K per year,
but it’s having to choose between paying the rent or paying the electric bill for the person who makes $24K per year.
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Your (and neovison.vison) invoking of the ‘rich folks’ angle seems odd in an article about data. Regardless of income, no one deserved to be suckered into this trap.
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An elected official gets paid no matter how much the city makes on parking tickets. Not pissing off the constituency can help in re-election.
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Matt is the executive director of a non-profit, Free Our Info (https://www.muckrock.com/organization/free-our-info/) and a paypal donation tag, if anyone’s interested in following up. I just sent him a donation to keep things flowing:
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On State Street…they do things they don’t do on Broadway.
It’s full of expensive bars and restaurants that attract wealthy men (usually older) who want to go “out on the town”, and the Russian prostitutes who love them.
In my day it was the other end of State Street that had the bad reputation:
Those midget radios were a real blight on the neighborhood.
(TBH, “my day” actually was around the time of the “Red Light” video in @Neovison.vison’s link. I think it is amusing that they include Gino’s Pizza and all the pinball arcades in the video, alongside the burlesque shows and art films. From personal experience, the arcades were great.)
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Say, what’s that image from?
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From here:
https://forgottenchicago.com/articles/that-not-so-great-street-state-street-in-transition/
(Hmm, no onebox.)
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Article appears to assume that confusing parking signage is a bug, not a feature. I’m sure the city would disagree. Surprised he was able to get it changed.
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