Even the comics couldn’t bring me back. In the “home” section of the LA Times (I keep forgetting to cancel my subscription to this fishwrapper), there is a column this AM by one Joe Robinson entitled “When Parking Gets Personal.” Go ahead, read it. It’ll make your day.
The gist is that in residential neighborhoods people are at each other’s throats because they are, can you believe it, parking on street in front of their neighbor’s house. This is due to the “fact” that Americans are buying too much “stuff” and its filling the garages. Most people don’t use their garages and the result is open parking warfare.
The solution – hire a shrink. Yes hire a mediator to come in and mediate your problem with your neighbor. For $100 an hour, subsidized by the city, you can bring the nincompoop next door who is parking in your petunias downtown and the two of you will leave in an hour singing kumbya and begin living in parking heaven. Give me a break.
There is only one real, fair, completely reasonable solution for this problem. Charge for on street parking in residential area. Nothing will motivate a resident to clean out AND USE his or her garage than a monthly bill for $50 for parking on the street. It might also prod them into getting rid of that junker in the driveway so they can park their “other car” off street.
But only in La La land would the city come up with an idea of having “conflict resolution” available for neighbors who simply are too lazy to throw away a bunch of junk in their garage or have a periodic yard sale.
Pass the Advil.
JVH
