I am very touched by all the kind words in the comments on the last post. You don't have to worry about me -- I'm tough as nails, esp. when it comes to being flamed online -- but it was still nice to read. For the record, when I wrote the original post, K. said (about 20 times), "Honey, don't you think you were being a leetle tiny eensy-weensy bit harsh?"
But surely the readership knows that well-modulated, carefully considered editorializing is not the forte of this blog (or at least not this blogger -- John Clifford hasn't yet set the dogs barking that I've noticed).
And today we have a special for you: off-the-cuff opinion PLUS rumor-mongering! What could be better?
I don't know any details and haven't seen anything firm, but there is a proposal going around to limit parking in Lincoln Park. I've heard conflicting reports: Either it's to require residential permits of all cars or else to ban overnight parking on the street. As I understand it, the proponents need to get 75% of the residents to sign a petition before the city will consider it. It may also be the case that this is planned only for Alvarado -- supposedly to deal with the "problem" of apartment-dwellers and their vehicles.
You can probably guess that, like Groucho Marx, I'm against it. [Aside: You really should watch that video. Somehow it hadn't occurred to me how much the Marx brothers, and especially Horsefeathers, owe to Gilbert & Sullivan.]
We left Claremont in part because of the overnight parking ban (combined with the you-must-water-your-lawn-in-a-drought law and other measures aimed at keeping out the poor people). I don't want my house burgled and my life threatened more than anybody else does, but I get really upset at the use of legislative tools as an attempt to dictate the socioeconomic makeup of a neighborhood or to otherwise make life tough for some of our neighbors.
I'm also not pleased about the possibility of enacting the proposal (whatever it is) just for Alvarado, if indeed that is the plan. That's just shoving the problem (if there *is* a problem) onto neighboring streets.
In fact, I guess this is what bothers me about the whole affair: Instead of solving any problems at all, it's just moving them elsewhere. Pomona is living proof of the folly of that plan, if I understand our history; haven't we been the repository -- the heat sink, if you will -- of the unwanted aspects of all the other towns in the area? Problems need to be solved, not exported.
As I mentioned, all this opinionizing is based on rumor. As I get more information from reliable sources, I reserve the right to adjust the volume or change tunes altogether.
12 comments:
Wow Meg, this post is going to be another doozie. Cant say whether or not I would agree with the residents only parking policy (I would agree with a no RV, bus, or other huge vehicle parking though).
I do commend you on your, "We need to solve problems not export them policy", but a lot of Pomona's problems aren't going to be solved anytime soon (if ever), and exporting some of them would be more beneficial than not, especially for the law abiding citizens living here now and in the near future (and im not talking socioeconomic status here).
I am not in favor of a total no parking rule. But I am in favor ob a two day a month no parking on any city street in Pomona. I am sure that the Runoff from are city streets is some of the greatest in the county. The Ocean is a lot moreimportant than somebodies parking spot.
Hi Meg!
Yes, it has been put forward to try to regulate parking in Lincoln Park.
The Neighborhood Watch group is looking into what it would take to have all resident cars in Lincoln Park have a tag/sticker/placard thingy to identify them as resident cars.
Yes, you are also correct that the genesis of this idea comes from Alvarado and the complaints that home owners can't park in front of their own home. Apparently the apartments on Alvarado have like 5000 cars that take up the spaces.
You are very a perceptive person because I have been at the meetings and sensed the hostility of "them" and "us" from "owners" as opposed to "renters". What a world we live in.
As for the idea.... I don't see it going forward because it would be hard to get put in place because of the city's rules about ratios of parking places versus people. This is whether or not the 75% of the people want it or not.
It would take a ton of work by the people that want to have it place and like many people that complain they seem like they want somebody else to do all the work for them.
Ok, I am the block captain for the 300 block of Jefferson with Neighborhood Watch so I will try to fill you in on what is true & what is not true.
Yes, it has been suggested at our meetings that Lincoln Park adopt a no overnight parking except for residents that have identifying tag/sticker/placard thingy. Not everyone is excited about it (including me).
Apparently people that live on Alvarado are having problems parking in front of their houses.
It is not such a rare thing in Pomona to have this type of thing because the area near Fairplex has the same kind of rules for like 10 years.
It looks unlikely that it would be put into action anytime soon because of the time it would take to go through the process and even then the city has set rules about ratios of available parking on streets to people that live on the street. It looks like a big nightmare to me too.
I understand that Alvarado has issues but as for the rest of Lincoln Park I don't see it as a big deal. This is just my opinion.
I should also say that another aspect of it was the idea of being able to tell who was supposed to be in the area and who wasn't by the police being able to identify residents cars from others.
There is a sub-group of Alvarado residents looking deeper into it but as far as I can see it looks D.O.A.
Ask any questions here & I will try to answer them here if I can.
Mark
Meg, I've set the dogs barking (see my post on FO/TBA).
At the last general neighborhood watch meeting we were discussing adding stop signs to slow traffic down and were told that red-curb parking might be included to improve sight-lines (or something like that) on a bunch of corners. It was noted that a lot of residents would not like that as it would mean that those on corner lots might not be able to park in front of their homes. How would this initiative impact that one?
Also, I don't see how it could be enforced. Unlike Claremont, the PD is stretched pretty thin and unless we want to set up a property owner's special tax district for enforcement (like they do downtown) I don't see much happening there.
Two examples are the no-parking without permit area next to the Ebell. I've never seen them write a ticket unless Mickey Gallivan happens to call because someone has set up a "used car lot" at the corner. Also, my block of Monroe is a 2-hour parking area during the day. When I first moved here I was concerned about leaving my car on the street during the day. But in over 10 years now I've not seen a single ticket given for teh 2-hour limit. Street sweeping day yes, I got caught a couple of weeks ago, but the limit, never.
i've lived in santa ana, l.a., alhambra, garden grove and currently live in Pomona, all of these cities i've had problems with parking in front of my own residence on the street. In L.A. this is considered a fact of life and people deal with it. In Alhambra one must purchase a parking sticker which allows you to park within two city blocks of where you live(overnight, sucks for visitors). If the issue is just that people can't park in front of their houses or their guests can't park in front of their houses. it is hugely and sadly overblown. These streets and sidewalks are not privately owned and it would be a disappointment if they were.
I guess I see a substantive difference between not being able to park in front of your house and not being able to park on your block. For a while, a neighbor's tenant (illegal garage apartment?) was parking in front of our house, so one of us had to park in front of our next door neighbor's house. Annoying, yes, but legally actionable, heck no. Now, if I had to drive around Lincoln Park for half an hour to find a spot, as we did in when we lived in Koreatown, then I'd be pounding my shoe on the counter at city hall and bloviating like Krushchev.
I step out of town for a couple of days and miss all the fun.
It seems we have lots of problems including inadequate apartment parking, lack of driveway access, non-functioning garages, owners with multiple vehicles parked on streets, large vehicles on the streets, and a lack of parking enforcement at some locations.
Thank goodness we have authentic restaurants.......and ice cream trucks!
I don't have much opinion on these and I doubt they can be addressed by one solution, but I do agree with the first Anon's comment on street sweeping parking. Let's require vehicle owners to make the minimum gesture of moving their cars twice a month to sweep the streets. Paying to have a street sweeper putter down the middle of the street is akin to having my 9 year old do the job.
John brings up a wonderful point on enforcement. Are the parking enforcement officers really overworked. As residents, when do we throw up our hands and say the city employees just aren't doing their job? Does the Claremont PD do a better job or do the residents complain faster when they don't do it? We pay the parking officer whether he's writing a ticket or not, so shouldn't we encourage/expect them to write tickets? Shouldn't we expect city employees to do their job whether that is street sweeping, parking enforcement, or running a redevelopment agency?
I may not always agree with the solutions proposed, but hopefully, Pomona residents will continue the process of speaking up.
Lastly, I can't tell you how many officers I've seen in Lincoln Park drive by illegally parked vehicles and never stop. I guess it just wasn't THEIR job!
The placard/permit thingy will not work well sine every resident gets at least two plus guest parking permits... pplz claim they lost them and get even more so every apt plus home will have multiple permits and placards... friends moved from fairplex/ganesha cuz it was a joke... no overnight parking for claremont friends is big hassle but i guess stops crime and theft...gas prices = Vespa city! Vroom Vroom!!!
Enough of this, can we now talk about Del Taco on Garey and Orange Grove...love those macho tacos!!!
Hmmm, Macho Tacos and Macho Beef Burritos. While I know that they are to Mexican Food what Budweiser is to beer, I can't help it. A guilty pleasure (when I can sneak one into my low-fat, low carb diet -- huh?).
Del Taco guilty as charged,I have been known to do a drive by every once(lol)in awhile.
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