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# Lack of parking should be everyone’s problem This past week, Q-line asked
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/lack-of-parking-should-be-everyones-problem-this-past-week-q-line-asked/
- Published: 2003-08-08T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:41:52.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Main St, #archive-import

“Should the beach lots be available for the Main Street Farmers Market? If not, what should be done about the lack of parking on Main Street on Sundays?”

Here are your responses: ■ “They absolutely should open those lots to the Farmers Market patrons. The city created that market to be a fun event and I know there are times when I decide not to go down there because I don’t want to deal with the hassle. The city wanted it to be a pedestrian event, but people are addicted to their cars so they must provide adequate parking. If the market vendors get to park at the beach, why don’t the customers who spend their money? Or better yet, why doesn’t everyone just do what I do, ride their bike. We live at the beach remember?” ■ “A well-thought out tram street car system that would carry people from the Santa Monica Pier to the Marina del Rey inlet along the ocean front would allow motorists to use the various available sea-side parking lots and then tram their way to any beach location. Trust me, this is not an original idea. We had trams for years. And now that the beach area is cooking again, folks will ride them.” ■ “Those beach parking lots are always available. We don’t get preferential parking if we want to go down to the Farmers Market on Arizona and Third Street, nor does anyone else anywhere else. There is parking available sometimes on the Pico-Cloverfield Farmers Market. Like everyone, you use the parking lots on the beach and you pay.

And that goes for the beach people or the Farmers Market lot people. And now that the Farmers Market on Main has gotten out of hand, it wants to be everything. It wants the big entertainment, everything. I think it’s really outrageous that stands would be there cooking there, selling their food while we have those restaurants on Main street.” ■ “No. Those beach lots should be available to anybody who holds a Santa Monica address on their driver’s license and actually lives in Santa Monica, such as myself, who has been paying for those lots all of our lives. Those that come visit should pay to park there. We as citizens who own the lots should have a free pass or a greatly reduced cost to park there, maybe just 50 cents an hour. I don’t think they should increase parking to the Main Street market, because that will increase traffic and make it more hectic and dangerous than it already is. It’s already now at insanity levels.” ■ “What they should do is move the Farmers Market to the airport. That makes more sense. It would be also safer there. It won’t bother the neighbors. Secondly, if they want to keep it at Main Street, why does the Farmers Market have free parking? The meters should be in effect at 9 a.m. not 1 p.m. Let’s be fair to all.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 8, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080803.pdf?ref=smdp.com)