City Launches New Parking Website

Riley Plaza will be one parking location where rates and rules will change.

The City of Salem has posted new pages on its website focused on changes to the parking system.

Quite simply, their stated goal is to have parking work better for you.

For the past three years the City has been involved in a comprehensive program to study, develop, and implement a dynamic, new parking system to serve the diverse needs of people parking in the downtown area.

Throughout the process, the city listened to input from residents, employers, employees, customers, and visitors about the parking system. They heard about a lot of issues. They also heard a lot of suggestions. Some suggestions conflicted with each other. After all, parking is very personal, and each person has his own feeling about how much he is willing to pay and how far he is willing to walk.

They did their best to listen to the different ideas and balance the needs of the different user groups—residents, employees, customers. Salem thinks the system being rolled out will improve parking for most people. They know it won’t be perfect, and there will be further tweaks needed once all of the changes are implemented. They will have an intensive 90-day evaluation period to see where the system is operating as desired, and where changes are needed.

The website explains the changes that will be implemented in the coming weeks and the parking options people will have. Changes to the system include a new rate structure, discount monthly passes, and new enforcement hours and fines.

Visit www.salem.com and click on the “Parking in Salem” logo, or go directly to the website by clicking here:

 Please submit your comments to parking@salem.com.

Green Roof?

Project Title: Whipple Housing Complex
Location: 27 Green St Ipswich, MA
Size: 3,000 sq ft
System Depth: 4 inches
Maintenance Begun: 2009
Photo: courtesy of Apex Green Roofs

If anyone attended the Salem Chamber of Commerce's 5th Annual Living Green & Renewable Energy Faire this last weekend you may have run into a concept that has been growing in popularity in urban areas in recent years, the Green Roof.  A green roof, converts a regular asphalt or stone roof into one that is covered with living plants. One Massachusetts company located in Somerville provides this service. The link is here: http://www.apexgreenroofs.com
This has many potential benefits. It can extend the life of the roof, by protecting the waterproofing membrane from ultraviolet rays. It can help manage/absorb Storm and rain water, reduce energy costs, reduce the heat on the roof itself, reduce air, water and noise pollution, increase property value, create wildlife habitat for birds, qualify us for government grants and tax incentives, and increase the efficiency of solar panels (if we were to install them).
The installation of a green roof can bring cost-saving and environmental benefits in many areas.
Ok, so here is a crazy idea...a green roof for our building. Just think about it. Wouldn't it be cool to make an improvement to the building that would actually be good for the environment?

Spills

The stairways at 24 Norman Street are busy, people coming and going all the time. Sooner or later someone is going to spill something; coffee, juice, soda, occasionally the contents of their stomachs.
It is important that if you spill something, you don't just walk away and let it sit, like it's someone else's problem. If you spill something, it would be nice if you took a minute to grab a paper towel and clean it up yourself (even though no one really expects that these days) what we do expect however, is that you will call Markwood Management and let them know about it, so that they can send someone to clean it up for you. Otherwise it just sort of sits there and turns into a science project. No one is going to fix blame on you if you call in a spill. In fact, you wouldn't even have to leave your name, just call and say "There is a large puddle of coffee on the second-floor landing of the front steps that needs cleaned up". That's it. That wasn't so hard was it?