Solar Powered Parking Meters in Los Angeles, CA

At the 80th Winter Meeting of the US Conference of Mayor the City of Los Angeles receives award of excellence for its public private partnership with San Diego based, IPS Group Inc. that has upgraded traditional parking meters to solar powered parking meters. LA now has the most solar-powered parking meters in the country.

The project has amounted lots of public support and improved in parking/transportation operations. More importantly has generated millions of additional annual revenue for the city and is helping make LA more sustainable. Additionally, the new card and coin solar-powered meters will reduce the need to dispose of 40,000 AA batteries per year. 

Mayor Villaraigosa told the US Conference of Mayors that “By reusing our existing poles and using clean solar power, these new Coin and Card meters are a win-win for customers, the city, and the environment.” 

Parking an Amenity, Not a Right

My perspective on easing parking violation policies in New York City is that they should not happen. Parking is not a right, at most it is an amenity. No one likes parking tickets, but it comes with the territory and the privilege. It is the driver’s responsibility to know the conditions of the public or private parking space they use, and decide whether to leave the car or not, and to plan accordingly. Parking tickets are a part of driving, drivers need stop complaining and simply have better parking sense and practice better parking patterns. 

For more on NYC's recent parking policies: http://t.co/74KCB0AX

A Look into Mexican Drug Lord Homes

It is fascinating that an article (a very good one at that) about Mexican drug lord homes made it into the Home & Garden section of the New York Times. The NYTimes never ceases to amaze. In his article, "Inside the Homes of Mexico's Alleged Drug Lords" Damien Cave states that for many people in Mexico "crime represents a meritocracy in a country of oligarchy and poverty. Work hard, do what it takes and a crime boss will reward you with money, cars and responsibility."

For narcos homes are a symbol of wealth and power, crime is simply the means to obtain not just a home, but in the best of aspirations homes filled with plush luxury. However, as he gets a glimpse into the psyche of Mexican drug lords as he tours government captured homes of the illicit perpetuators of "narquitecture" he discovers that "most of the homes I visited were hardly palaces. Many were entirely average and darkly utilitarian...Even on the more luxurious end of the spectrum, most of the homes could best be described as upper-middle-class. Packed into nice neighborhoods, they were usually three- to five-bedroom houses of around 3,000 square feet, lacking exterior charm or adornment. The biggest tipoffs about the occupants: a shortage of street-facing windows, and the best security systems money could buy." Evidence of family life in the homes is also found that reminds us that the security systems are not just to protect their business enterprises, but also to protect their loved ones from the potential backlashes of their profession.