Students pay price for lack of parking spaces, short time limits

It’s not often that I, an ex-Orange County resident, find
myself missing that bastion of suburbia. But occasionally, I find
myself reminiscing about those wide-open stretches of black asphalt
parking lots, those endless miles of white curbs, and the countless
streets lined with trees, not parking restriction signs.
That’s right, Orange County parking. And it’s not even
a problem of Los Angeles, although, as a whole, it’s pretty
obscene when it comes to parking. The Westwood Village area is the
true nemesis of the Everyday Parker.

As Goldie Hawn said in the film, “Butterflies Are
Free,” “I was planning on going to college at UCLA. But
I couldn’t find a parking spot.” Of course, there are a
lot more important issues when it comes to the lives of UCLA
students. But as anyone who lives in Westwood will tell you, the
parking situation is the bane of our existence.

I would have to estimate that, since moving out of the dorms to
Westwood a little over a year ago, I have paid the City of Los
Angeles’ Parking Bureau at least $275 in parking fines
““ and that’s not even counting the endless quarters
I’ve plugged into meters, that’s just from
“violating” the parking rules.

I say “violating” because these rules are pure
fascism, which the parking enforcement officials pretty much uphold
with an iron fist. (Of course, we can’t blame them; I
wouldn’t be the nicest person either if my job included
driving down a street at 10 miles an hour, leaning out the window
with a stick of chalk for hours on end.)

I’ve been ticketed for surpassing a two-hour-time limit by
10 minutes. I’ve been ticketed even after having moved my car
before the end of the 2-hour-limit, because there was still some
chalk dust remaining on my tires.

My boyfriend has been ticketed twice in the same day, for the
same offense, while his car was still in the same spot. And, most
recently, I was ticketed for parking in an area without a visible
sign, because it’s hidden halfway down the block behind a
tree.

As someone who lives on Kelton Avenue, I have found the long
Veteran stretch of non-time-limited parking to be my refuge from
the parking plague. However, even this area is not immune from the
risk of a parking ticket. There was that joyous week when the city
decided that since the cemetery HAD to have new fences installed,
absolutely no one could park on the right side of Veteran for that
time. They gave us no warning in the weeks before, so approximately
100 people on the row received parking tickets.

I estimate ticketing that many cars netted the city something
like $3,000. Hmm, probably just enough to pay for that new fence.
That said, these random parking situations don’t occur that
often. What is a daily reality, however, is that two-hour time
limit. Not only do these restricted areas comprise the majority of
the blocks in Westwood, but their designations are completely
arbitrary. For example, on Veteran, close to Levering, you have
unrestricted hours parking. You turn onto Levering and suddenly
it’s two hours. Pass just two apartment buildings and get to
the next corner, and suddenly you’re back to unrestricted
hours.

And just who has the time to move their car every two hours? I
personally have better things to do with my time than keep my eye
on the clock, run out and move my car (making sure to wipe all the
chalk dust off, of course, or to at least drive around the block a
couple times) four times a day every weekday. Like most people in
Westwood, I have to go to work and class, both of which last longer
than two hours.

One solution I propose for all these parking problems is simply
wiping out all the two-hour restrictions. If anyone could possibly
tell me why we should keep them, I’d love to hear it.

Another solution, which would help in the lack of available
parking, is to remove the permit-only parking designation on the
east side of Veteran, above Levering. Yes, I know these are actual
residences, not apartments, but that’s why they have garages
and driveways to park their cars in.

In fact, there are never any cars parked on that side of the
street, because that’s precisely what those people do with
their cars. In Orange County (I grow misty-eyed again) it would be
unheard of to see “no parking” signs posted in a suburb
because the cities there have this crazy notion that parking is not
some great mystic privilege only homeowners deserve.

On a purely basic level, the parking situation in Westwood is
just inexcusable. It has made me late for work, made me have to
leave early from work, made me have to skip class on several
occasions, and caused me to avoid going out, either so I could move
my car in time, or because finding a space after going somewhere
and coming back is often impossible.

I’ve found that most people around here have accepted this
parking situation as a necessary evil, but that’s a defeatist
attitude to have. No one should have this much trouble with
something as basic as where to put your car.

It’s not just the city of Los Angeles I have a bone to
pick with, it’s also UCLA. And I’m not even talking
about the permit situation, which in itself is incredibly limited
and frustrating. At the fairly frequent times when I’ve had a
parking crisis (i.e. having class or work to go to, but absolutely
nowhere to park) and headed over to campus to park, I’ve been
faced with the prospect of spending $6 for a space. Is anyone aware
that at many college campuses, Cal Poly Pomona for one example,
parking is a whopping $1.50? At UCLA, the parking meters (of which
there are few) only give us 7.5 minutes for a quarter. Just giving
us 8 minutes would be a little too much to ask, I suppose. In good
old Orange County, as well as minutes away in West Hollywood and
Santa Monica (which are actually more highly trafficked areas), the
parking meters give an hour per quarter.

Right now, during summer, parking actually isn’t that bad.
I don’t have to park on campus or use the meters much because
there are often open spaces on the streets. However, my tickets
continue to roll in. After my most recent ticket (probably my
12th), I finally decided to protest. I went so far as to spend $5
developing film to document my claims about the improperly marked
area.

As I sent out the letter of protest with the pictures, I
thought, it’s a little pathetic that I’m going to so
much trouble. But it’s probably worth protesting ““ the
$20 I saved can pay for enough gas to drive to Orange County, where
I can park on one of those nice, open, white-curbed streets.