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The answer to that may depend where you live. If you're a UCLA student, parking on the sidewalk may not get enforced, but if you're in a different part of the city--let's say the Valley--a ticket could be there waiting for you. The inconsistent parking enforcement is now park of a lawsuit against the city. "This lack of enforcement continues even though parking on a sidewalk violates both the California Vehicle Code, Los Angeles Municipal Code and may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)," explains Damien Newton at Streetsblog LA. "The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Barden v. Sacramento sets a nationwide precedent requiring cities to make all public sidewalks accessible. As a result, cities must remove barriers that block disabled access along the length of the sidewalks."
Sidewalk Parking? It's Illegal, But Do You Get Ticketed?
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Begley is a raving nutball and he is dead wrong. StrokerMcgurk
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As a UCLA alum, I have to say that WITHOUT apron parking, parking in Westwood would nearly be impossible. Rent is already high, causing more students to live in cramped quarters and apartments.
Also, most students don't have cars their first or second years, yet parking is still horrible. With the rising parking rates, and lack of efficient public transit from UCLA to the rest of the city (except for parts of the Westside and Santa Monica), apron parking is absolutely necessary for Bruins to be able to mobile in a city that is so car-oriented in the first place!
The debate over apron parking in Westwood has gone on for quite some time, and it was believed to have been resolved a few years ago when I was a student. Obviously, it seems like this never will end.
While I agree the policy on apron parking should be uniform citywide, I feel that it should not be outlawed in order to still provide a certain community of Angelenos (who aren't all necessarily local) to be able to park at their place of residence!
So basically you are saying that in order for Bruins to have someplace to put their cars, wheel chair users should be rolling in the middle of the street instead?
First of all, if you've walked Westwood lately, you'd know that it's not the apron parking that prevents handicapped people from getting around, it's the horrible state of our roads, sidewalks, and every other sort of infrastructure. Why pick on the students instead of the city? Oh yeah, because that involves taking neighborhood improvement money away from your neighborhood, and it's not as easy as just blaming students. Even more importantly, is the state of street lighting in Westwood that is the real public danger.
As for the apron parking, even in its unenforced state, blocking the sidewalk is illegal and completely ticketable. Apron parking simply means that a car can park in the area between the sidewalk and the road, with the rear of the car sticking out as far as a parallel parked car normally would.
Well I'm not saying we should pick on students, but stuffing cars in every space you can stuff them isn't really a solution, and in the attached photo it does look like sidewalks are sometimes blocked.
I know it's a complex issue, not enough parking, psychological attachment to automobiles as status, sidewalks suck, transit options aren't good enough (but I tip my hat to UCLA for stepping on Measure R), and so on. However I still get a sense of entitlement on this issue that somehow illegally parking for Bruins is okay when it is a fineable offense elsewhere. UCLA has a lot more transportation options then where I went to school and I didn't have a car all four years. Just because someone has a car and goes to school does not obligate the city to give them someplace to put it.
As for the sorry state of said sidewalks and streets we should be demanding improvements. At the current rate that the city of Los Angeles funds sidewalk maintenance (almost nothing), it will take 69 years to fix just the sidewalks currently needing repair. This is unacceptable.
I feel lucky to have gone to a school where local rents were about $300 a month and I could park on campus for $40 a year. :-) Priorities... My campus actually had problems with parking and rather than banning first years from having cars (as most other schools do), the school just decided to raise their parking rates. Because, you know, if freshman can't bring their cars, maybe they'll decide to go to another school. *headdesk*
I'm going to agree that apron parking is not the problem - every car I see parked like that in Westwood has left plenty of room for people to walk/roll - the sidewalk is not blocked, it is the large driveway area between the sidewalk and the actual street. The problem is that the sidewalks are horrible. You can't even ride a bike on them it's so bad. And the streets aren't much better. Besides, westwood village is like 90% hills so I don't know who is using a wheelchair around here anyways.
I say if they want to ticket apron parking, they should first have to repair the sidewalks and roads. Otherwise it's hypocritical to say that people are blocking the handicapped with their cars when the city's sidewalk is just as much a problem.
can someone explain why it's called "apron parking?"