You make good points. I think the right thing to do, is to declare and enforce a snow emergency to clear the streets of cars and then move the plows through to clear the streets. As much as people would have bitched and moaned either way, the single day inconvenience of having to move my car, would have been a much better fate than the reality that many people are facing where they are UNABLE to move their cars for several days.

And to speak to the bravado about Minnesotans being able to get up over that ridge “without” even noticing it…a couple of things to consider. Unless cars are made with a Minnesota specific ground clearance unlike the standard ground clearance that everyone else gets on their vehicles, or with some sort of hydraulic system, moving up over a 6-8 inch curb of solid ice from a standstill due to four wheels frozen in place, is not an easy task no matter where you are from.

And lastly…we are in Boston here, not Atlanta, so this isn’t just some unprepared jackasses bitching about a little snow. I have lived here for 28 years and have been through dozens upon dozens of multiple foot snow storms and legitimate Noreasters, and rarely are people stuck in such a way as they are now.

In any case, the only solution is to do what we do here in Minneapolis; in the collectivist ant-people areas (read:urban) everyone has to move their cars off the street so the plows can get out there and clean the roads. Anyone not moving their car gets towed (and then this post would be about how your car got towed? ).

The pictures doesn’t look too bad. I plan for winter with jackets, hats, gloves, and Nokians and such and would be able to get out of that tiny ridge you guys get stuck on without even noticing it. Snow causes inconveniences, either by not plowing or towing and plowing. I don’t really think it’s negligence on the part of your city, probably just knowledge of physics - salt doesn’t work in those single-digit temps, even when mixed with Calcium Chloride. Also in your instance, sand wouldn’t help unless you’re talking about glare-ice and by the looks of it, you would only have sand help out in that untouched hump in the middle where your wheels don’t go anyways.

Recap:
*If they would’ve plowed as you suggest, more cars and drivers with the inability to deal with that tiny ridge of snow would be stuck.

*If they would’ve plowed properly, everyone would’ve had to move their cars or be towed.

What should they have done? Given the choices, I think the one your left with, as much as it might suck probably causes the least inconvenience. Snow happens.