Posted on 03/26/2023 3:31:56 PM PDT by grundle
A couple in San Francisco was told to remove an obstruction from the sidewalk in front of their house, or pay a $1,402 fine. The city's target: a little free library.
The library is part of a crackdown in San Francisco on unpermitted objects that interfere with public ways, the Wall Street Journal reported. The city has a hotline for anonymous tips about the obstructions, which include decades-old awnings on businesses in the city's Chinatown district, and benches constructed by residents for the convenience of passersby.
The library, a sturdy wooden box that sits on a statue and resembles a dollhouse, is owned by Susan and Joe Meyers.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
You mean Idiocracy Comment!
"... And there was a time in this country, a long time ago, when reading wasn't just for fags and neither was writing. People wrote books and movies, movies that had stories so you cared whose ass it was and why it was farting, and I believe that time can come again!"
Not often considered - this is a very American custom.
A bit of genuine American culture, not seen elsewhere. Preserve it.
These things were also ideal bait for me. I can never pass one by. The selection is usually disappointing, but sometimes not.
I found this in one, many years ago - https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Nabokov-Vladimir/dp/0670010731
Homeless book shelter...
Fill it with Charles Bukowski books and all will be forgotten.
Yeah but, where is the equal enforcement? If you enforce it on some and not others you have no business enforcing it on anyone
Equality under the law, what a novel concept for liberals
At least they have all the other things fixed in SF and now they cas focus on the little things. Broken windows theory and all, ya know.
Exactly! Malicious prosecution.
I would claim racism, sexism, transphobic, whatever adjective I could through at the code enforcement department.
That’s certainly a high priority issue for San Franshitsco.
Yeah? And what about those fag libertarian dope addicts living in tents on the sidewalks? Are they invisible, or what? Stupid bay area trash.
Or Mao’s Little Red Book, the Communist Manifesto and Rules For Radicals. And maybe a bit of Chomsky for some good old fashioned America bashing.
See comment #3...and get back to me on the city’s “correctness”.
“Or Mao’s Little Red Book, the Communist Manifesto and Rules For Radicals”
All of those are extremely interesting books really. Highly recommended. They are at least windows on another world, and, indeed, another time. Very educational. I would add Gramsci’s “Prison Notebooks” and at least the first three chapters of “Mein Kampf”, among many others.
They are not commonly found in book giveaways in San Francisco btw, I’ve never seen one in all my decades there. Most are online for free.
Zoning sucks at that. They came through and warned 3 homes on our road for having too many cars (we are in bfe on gravel.. who cares?) Somewhere in a dusty book of rules you can only have 2 outside.. no one was in compliance out of the 15 homes.
The people that pushed for this are no longer employed by the county lol (and the law changed)
There’s a bunch of back issues of Zzyzyva in there.
Clear those obstructions also. You seem to be arguing that because there are other obstructions, another one is okay. I get that one is extreme and the other is not.
I’m still of the opinion the people with the book locker should put in their yard, not obstructing the sidewalk.
So is the park bench next to it, and the large potted plant in the other side of it; neither of which the City seems to have batted an eyelash over.
So very glad i left California decades ago and moved to the free state of Florida.
The protocol is to put in as many books as you take out. It works on the honor system. I use them often and they are apparently being used because I'm always seeing new titles in them. It's also fun to see some books sit there forever, with no takers. That Michelle Obama book is a good example of a "forever" book - it's been sitting at the bottom of the mini-library by the Still River walkway in Brookfield for almost two years now. Books I deposit there are usually gone within a few days and I always find some good books to take out.
Never had a problem with "soggy" books. These mini-libraries usually have watertight doors and shingled roofs like you would find on a house. The craftsmen who build these things put a lot of effort in to them.
It's good to live in neighborhoods where you can actually have nice things.
Oh, I’m sure there are some that appreciate the one I’m thinking of, and use it as intended. It’s in the yard of a Biden supporter. I can’t speak to the water-tighness of the structure; the sodden books that I see are scattered in the woods.
No...I get you. I believe in following the rules too. But, when the powers that be ignore their very own rules...I can understand why individuals choose to ignore them also. It’s no less galling to me to see ANY of them do that. Rulz is rulz.
As a side story... A “yard design” contractor put a portapotty on the main street at a house coming into our subsection of homes. They worked at that house for 6 months...even leaving other crap on the street the entire time. It was very congested there. Finally finished and left. The same company showed up at the new neighbor’s house ACROSS THE STREET from us. The neighbor hired them to do the work. Believe me, I already had the numbers to call at the city offices. (I could even lodge a complaint thru the city’s phone app!) The yard contractor actually put the portapotty at the far end of the guy’s driveway. The company was even very respectful of the “street”. I think the neighbor had a come-to-Jesus conversation with them as part of his contract. The new neighbor seems like that kind of guy.
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