How People Park at Hayward and Maxse
September Update
Even More Bad Parking
The corner of Maxse and Hayward is directly in front of 73 Hayward
Ave.
A request has been made to waive zoning requirements so that this site
may be turned into a deli. The area is zoned residential. I've
been taking pictures of crazy parking for weeks now. I was also
talking to people to find out what why they park like this, but I've
had to stop because there's so much acrimony in the neighbourhood now.
In my conversations with
drivers, I was unfailingly polite and even tempered. Everyone told me
the same things: they know this is bad parking, but it doesn't matter
because they are only there for a few minutes.
I am now certain that the best parking lot in the city would not
prevent the people in these photos from parking as they do. If they had
to walk more than a few feet, they would ignore the parking lot.
I took the pictures on this page between 8:30 am and 10:30 am on the morning of
Saturday, August 29. I am trying to create a realistic picture of the
traffic on this corner on a typical summer Saturday. In winter, the situation is much worse. My
husband and our neighbour have both suffered hit and run damage to
their cars in recent winters. In following weeks, I took more pictures which are added in the pages above.
No Parking Signs
No Parking Signs are ignored. I could take pictures of people
illegally parked on Hayward Ave. all day, every day. People will
not pay attention to no parking signs when they know they are only
stopping for five or ten minutes. Note the No Parking sign in the
middle of each photo, referring to the space where each car is parked.
As you will see, people don't always park facing the right direction.
It has been suggested that permit parking might help to solve some of
the parking problems. Obviously, people who ignore no parking signs
will not be discouraged by permit parking only signs.
Here's a picture of three cars parked in the no parking zone. On busy
days, (Friday, Saturday and Tuesday) this happens frequently.
When the legal parking spaces beside the bakery are full, people
frequently park in front of the spaces, jutting out into Hayward Ave.
When this is combined with the parking shown below, the
intersection becomes treacherous. For examples of such congestion, click on the links at the top of this page.
Really Crazy Parking
Parking in a no-parking zone is one thing. Really crazy parking is another. This type of parking is not
limited to Saturday mornings. It wasn't hard to get these photos in a
two hour period, chosen at random during a busy time at the bakery.
I took two pictures of each car to demonstrate that they were
parked. People who come to this corner to buy food seem to think this is a perfectly acceptable way to park.
The woman in this last car took exception to the fact that I was taking
her picture and moved her car. If I had not taken her picture, she
would not have moved.
More Illegal Parking
Finally, there is no parking on
this side of Hayward Ave. directly opposite number 73. More cars were
parked in this
area than I was able to photograph. The final car in these pictures was
idling. If a deili were to open across from this space, more people
would park here.
