Boston woman pays $560,000 for 2 parking spots

BOSTON (AP) — Parking is such a precious commodity in Boston that one woman was willing to pay $560,000 for two off-street spaces near her home.

Lisa Blumenthal won the spots in the city's Back Bay neighborhood during an on-site auction Thursday held in a steady rain by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS had seized the spots from a man who owed back taxes.

Blumenthal, who lives in a multimillion-dollar home near the parking spaces, tells The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/13KqntI ) she didn't expect the bidding to go quite so high for the spots she says will come in handy for guests and workers.

The record for a single spot in Boston is $300,000.

The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts is $313,000.

 (you read that right Boston Millionaire is paying for the privilege of being allowed to legally park her cars, this is quite possibly one of the biggest scams in history. Paying for a place on your street, not a parking garage, not even a parking lot but on her street! Her public street. This is outrageous. And does strike close to home, where in my small college town parking is at a premium and if you want ot be allowed to park anywhere near the local businesses or schools you will pay. And it is a huge money making industry for the city. At least this lucky woman had access to the kind of cash to pay these outrageous prices, given the neighborhood pretty unlikely any of the common folk would be in on this bidding and it was quite nice of her to think of the help.)