Mark Hudson

Employment

the "streetsweeper index"

Newly unemployed? The city is likely to greet you with a nice parking ticket your first week home. Street-sweeping is scheduled twice a week in most downtown urban areas. On my street it is one side Thursday 8-10 AM, next side Friday 8-10 AM. Parking by the curb is always tight in this neighborhood, built in the era where "commuting" meant streetcar or horse-and-buggy, so street-sweeping days are always tight for late-risers or out-of-town visitors. But in recent months it has been absolutely packed for blocks around.
Revenues are on the rise from parking-ticket fees: when do we see the trickle-down benefits from that?