Residents of Brookline, Massachusetts have been subjected to the town's unreasonable parking regulations for over 100 years.

To anyone unfamiliar with these regulations, let me provide an overview:

First of all, Brookline does not allow ANY overnight parking on its streets. This causes a major issue for anyone who does not have a driveway and either owns an automobile or is having out of town guests (with automobile(s)) stay the evening. ANY automobile parked on a Brookline street between 2:00am and 6:00am will be ticketed, regardless of whether you are a resident or a visitor. Brookline is the only town in the commonwealth with such a rule.

Second of all, Brookline does not provide ANY 24-hour parking lots for its residents. Rather, the town promotes the option for residents to purchase an overnight parking space, in specifically-designated lots, for $300/quarter (or, $1,200/year). These lots ARE THEN converted to metered parking spaces every morning at 9:00am. Residents who elect to pay for a space in an overnight lot will be ticketed the following day if they do not feed the meter for the entire duration of the day. 

Third of all, many residents are unable to even purchase a daytime parking pass, allowing them to keep their automobile on the streets near their home, if their residence has been deemed "inappropriate for daytime parking passes" by the town. 

The justification for these absurd regulations date back to the late 1800's when one could not tether their horse to a pole on the public way overnight. Even with the high cost of rents and mortgages in the town of Brookline, and the fact that no other surrounding towns would support such stringent and unforgiving rules for its residents, the town refuses to change their ways which has resulted in its residents paying upwards of $200/month ($2,400/year) or more for private parking spaces that are usually unmonitored and unregulated. 

This change petition has been prepared to inform the residents of Brookline of these nonsensical, money-driven rules in order to garner support so that a change can be presented to the Town of Brookline.

These antiquated parking regulations should be completely revised in order to support the tax-paying residents of the town. Residents should have the ability to park their automobile safely at their residence without forfeiting unreasonable amounts of money to the town. 

According to the Brookline's Transportation Division, the more people who support such a change, the greater chance of the town revising its regulations so please spread the word.