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# Everybody has a solution to fix parking woes
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/everybody-has-a-solution-to-fix-parking-woes/
- Published: 2007-03-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:17:53.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

This week’s Q-Line question asks: What would you like to see done by our trusted city officials to remedy what at times seems like a daily scavenger hunt for an available spot?

Here are your responses: “I WOULD LIKE IT IF OUR CITY OFFICIALS would mandate some money from Santa Monica and pay the homeless the minimum wage and have them stand in parking spaces and only people with more than one person can have a parking space on residential streets. Otherwise they must park in parking structures now that we have some big ones built in Santa Monica. I think it would cure job issues as well as get people working and feeling good about themselves. Oh, and save our environment.”

“A GOOD PLACE TO START IN SOLVING the parking problem is to take away all the free parking passes given out to elected officials and department heads. Once they have to start doing what everybody else does they would be able to come up with a solution. I also take issue with why you call city officials “trusted.” If it’s a joke, eh, it’s pretty funny. But if not, it was certainly the wrong word to use.”

“HERE IS A VERY GOOD REASON WHY people shouldn’t be on the City Council for 20 years. Back 35 years ago there were 1,600 parking meters now there are 7,000\. Why? Because of a misguided response to obscene over development? All condos should have four parking space for every unit. The two hospitals should provide parking for employees. I see them parking north of Wilshire all the time. Hotels need to have on-site parking for guests and employees instead of renting city parking structures. Your paper said you can make $25,000 a year per-space. Very difficult for City Hall to give up that money. That’s why the bed tax passed. It was pay back. Instead of paying $35 million for the Sears Auto Center that nobody wants but Pam O’Connor, use that money for small, one-story parking lots along all major boulevards. And all unrestricted spaces should be free to Santa Monica residents.”

“I DON’T KNOW IF ANYTHING CAN BE done to remedy the horrendous parking problem we have in this city. The geniuses on the City Council have allowed so much over building in the last few years and it is now catching up to us. Instead of all the potential slum buildings they have been in a rush to put up, put up more parking structures.”

“AS FAR AS THE PARKING IN SANTA Monica goes, it sure is a mess. I walk around the city a lot and especially the residential streets and I see a lot of vagrants living in their cars, their trucks, in their vans, and in their motor homes taking up lots of parking that should be available to the citizens. The police should look into that problem.”

“FIRST, IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THERE is not a shortage of parking spaces in Santa Monica. Each day, Santa Monica plays host to and parks thousands of motor vehicles. The only problem that Santa Monica has regarding parking is the over abundance of motorists wishing to visit Santa Monica and those motorists wanting a front-door parking space. These motorists do not understand that walking is a marvelous form of exercise. Even though I wish the best for local business people, it should be noted that there are other business areas a consumer can spend money at and make their purchases and find ample parking. Also, for those desperate to park, there is always beach and pier parking. It is a little bit pricey and one would have to have the energy to walk up the go-around pier access way. Once there they would be in one of the main areas of activity in the city.”

“SINCE SANTA MONICA LIKES TO ORDER landlords about anyway, they should force each landlord to provide at least one parking space per unit. If people want to fill their units with junk then that is their problem. As for parking permits, they should just limit it to one per-household and if they want more they could just charge them double the price of the first one and triple the price for the third one. If they can afford all these cars they can afford to pay for more parking permits. Instead of paying the same price for all three, they should have to pay more.”

“YOU MUST BE JOKING WHEN YOU make a statement like, “What would you like to see done by our trusted city officials.” God, I wouldn’t trust them as far as I can throw them. I mean they are such liars and thieves. The parking has always been terrible in the city. A lot of the buildings were built in the 50s and 60s and most people didn’t have as many cars as they do now. The city’s politicians won’t do anything unless they are getting money under the counter. Come up with a better question next week instead of these penny-ante things you print all of the time.”

“I KNOW THE PARKING CONDITION IN Santa Monica is disgraceful, but then again the City Council doesn’t do anything. They haven’t done anything about parking or the homeless for a number of years because they get paid from these special interests firms. These people on the City Council are no good. They yell and scream at the landlords and they live in rent-controlled apartments. They need term limits in this city. These people on the City Council are really trashy people. Oh, that Pam O’Connor and that terrible mayor! There are people running this city that should have been thrown in the garbage can years ago.”

“PARKING IN SANTA MONICA IS A disgrace. I live just a little bit north of Wilshire on Seventh Street and I pay $1,300 a month for my apartment plus everything else and there is no place to park. I spend a half hour every night trying to park. The City Council doesn’t do anything to help the residents out. They are just a bunch of scavengers. They have always been. I wouldn’t vote any of them in. In fact, I have never voted any of them in. Why don’t they do a walk-about and have a look at the city. All this preaching that they do this and they do that. They don’t do a thing. They are just wrapped up in special interests. I think the best thing to do is to have them all audited. They all live in rent control apartments and are sponging off the rest of the land like nearly everybody is nowadays.”

“PLEASE, WHILE PARKING CONSIDER others. Don’t leave a half of car length between your car and other cars. Park up to the red zone. Park very near the end of the curb. If we park with more consideration there will be more space for everybody. Please, park courteously.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 24, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)