Neighbor alert service for street cleaning parking

The idea

A service where neighbors can warn each other when they're parked illegally, especially for street cleaning. There's a peer-to-peer text message alert service called Tow Zone Alerts which was written about in the Boston Globe and accomplishes this.

Who it helps and why

Penalties for incorrect street parking are disproportionately high in low income neighborhoods, where each fine takes a disproportionate amount of people's income -- amounting to a regressive tax. A public data analysis found that a disproportionate amount of Boston's street cleaning ticket revenue comes from low income census tracts, and a review of tow logs found that East Boston and Brighton/Allston -- relatively low income areas -- suffer disproportionately more towings for street cleaning considering the number of people/vehicles. By allowing neighbors to warn each other when they're parked illegally by accident, people will have the chance to move their vehicle and save themselves a headache, time, and potentially financial hardship.