PARKING POLITICS AND PEOPLE POWER-Since November, Los Angeles Parking Freedom Initiative has been prompting questions and seeking solutions to the problems of parking in the city. It started with one citizen (myself) with a single page of ideas about how things could be done better and has mushroomed into a major political issue.
When I started this process I suspected that there were many other Angelenos that felt that something was awry with our parking enforcement regime. But the depth of that sentiment turned out to be far wider and deeper than I had anticipated.
As I visited Neighborhood Councils, Chambers of Commerce and Residents and Homeowners Associations, I also found that there were many in and around the city government and associated political circles who had given a great deal of thought to these matters and had a lot of insight and ideas to share, including Jay Beeber, famously known for ending the city's red light camera traps.
We decided that it was time to tackle this problem head on. As we listened to peoples ideas and experiences and picked brains we gradually formed a deeper and clearer understanding of the issues involved and began to assemble a concrete set of reform proposals. Recently, we met with the Mayor's office and agreed to co-create a "Working Group on Parking Reform" with an eye towards producing real reforms in a timely manner.
One way or another, parking reform is coming to the city of Los Angeles. People want it. People need it. People demand it. The only thing standing in the way is bureaucratic resistance and inertia. A fear of “out of the box” thinking and an attachment to established channels and patterns of action appears to take hold in some organizations; the way things have always been done is perceived as necessary and immutable.
But today we have the opportunity to remake our approach to parking in an entirely new paradigm. There is no reason that we gave to settle for an antiquated, backward, 20th century parking system. Technologies and systems are readily available or easily within reach that allow us to completely rethink and redo parking in the image of a 21st century, world-class city.
● Check out LA Parking Freedom, read the initiative, sign the petition, more … at parkinglosangeles.org.
The new parking paradigm can be consistent with the needs of drivers, residents and businesses as well as revenue neutral--or even revenue positive--for the city government while also accommodating further enhancements to alternative modes of transportation. (So, how does it work? What’s the plan? Read the rest … and offer your thoughts … here.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 37
Pub: May 6, 2014
