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The Daily News opined yesterday on the higher parking rates (from $1 to $4/hour): "Let's give credit where it's due. Los Angeles officials might not do a very good job of providing services, maintaining the integrity of city government, or enhancing the local quality of life, but they excel at siphoning taxpayers' money for the bottomless pit that is the city treasury... The new meters are just the latest in a long litany of City Hall's money-grubbing schemes. But they're small potatoes compared with, oh, the city's practice of overcharging residents for water and power, then transferring the profit to the general fund. Or multiple garbage-fee hikes that were supposed to go entirely to hiring new cops, but instead ended up funding sundry other political priorities." Yesterday, the LA Times found that the extended hours (now beyond 6 p.m.) and a 2-hour limit are hurting local theatre companies in the NoHo Arts District.
More Anger Directed to City over Higher Parking Meter Rates
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One of the local news stations had a story on the NoHo parking meter prices last night. There was a quick interview with Tom LaBonge, who said that he felt bad that it's affecting businesses and that he had been "in and out of the office" over the holidays to deal with the problem. No more specific than that, though he did say that he wanted enforcement to stop until they could go back and review the plan again.
Yeah, it's good to stop enforcement, but they have to communicate the message to people that enforcement is not happening. So far, there has been no official response at wide about it.
As I mentioned the last time I commented on the parking rate scheme, unless the system is variable and flexible to demand it will fail. If an area starts losing business because parking rates are too high they should drop or too packed they should rise and eventually a sweet spot will be found.
In Glendale on Brand St. sits the Alex Theatre where I went to an LA Chamber Orchestra last month. The same situation existed: parking was enforced until 10 p.m. and it was a two-hour limit. Parking at a street meter would have been a risky move (and I risked it), but what Glendale also has in the district is a parking garage for longer term parking.
You see, meter spaces for short term mixed with parking garages for long term is the solution. In NoHo's case, I know there is at least one longer term parking lot, but it's not that big and I have no parking experience in there. The Academy has a parking garage but I've never parked there for an event other than Academy events.
If the area is lacking long term parking then that should be addressed certainly, which is not what metered spaces are really meant for. I still think meter rates should have more flexible pricing structures though.
How can they enforce new meter rates without changing the posted signage to state what rates are in effect? Or is this like asking how one can be ticketed for smoking in an area that (is not) delineated with no smoking signs?