mmarshall

IMO, what you say is true to some extent, but, no matter how hard you work to buy and pay for a car, state legal codes (and that is where laws get their force from) treat driving as a priviledge, not a right......subject to state/Federal laws and regulations. Of course, states and municipalities have to be realistic and use some common sense in MAKING those regulations......which, unfortunately, is not always the case.

I8ABMR

No more free parking is as lame as when CA was thinking of banning the sale of black cars because they require more fuel to cool them in the summer because of their black color absorbing heat.

mmarshall

Given the way that many CA politicians think and vote, it is little surprise that they would come up with stuff like this.

Mods: This thread, BTW, might (?) be more suited for the CLUBHOUSE or DEBATE forum than for CAR CHAT.

Oleg400

iTrader: (7)

I would get jealous about you guys having sunny weather all year round, but this is just a el oh el.

mmarshall

Slightly off-topic, but CA gets some big storms off the Pacific in the wintertime, leading to mudslides. And the dry, sunny, desert-like conditions from March to November, when Santa Anna winds get going, induce huge wildfires, in the fall, that burn out many square miles. And, don't forget the earthquakes.

Stage3

iTrader: (3)

That's just about as stupid as it gets... Florida might have the biggest collection of side show freaks, but it's almost as if California has a never-ending parade of stupid going on...

hwy1isf

iTrader: (1)

I agree with you but reducing/eliminating the free parking often changes the class of people who will park at those locations. I hate to be matter of fact but it is what it is.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Oh please, I have experienced very little if any of that for the past 20 years. Depends on where you live out here. During the last storm the media focused in one only ONE area in the entire state. Over and over and over they discussed the pending mudslides and yadadadadada. Nothing ever happened. The rest of the state was just fine.
Weather is just fine here, it is the PEOPLE and the state government I generally cannot stand. Looking to move out ourselves.

mmarshall

Mudslides and wildfires don't always happen in the same place in CA (or in your partucular area), but they are quite common. Every year, it seems like one place or another, on or near the the coast, gets them.

I agree with you on the state government....with a few exceptions, it seems to be run mostly by a group of flaky politicians. This latest proposal (the thread topic) just adds to it.

IS-SV

Sounds like somebody reads the hype and looks at the dramatic footage, but obvously rarely (if ever) travels out west.

In short the large CA population centers have the best of Mediterranian climates, no landslides, no wildfires and nearly 300 dry days per year. Yes even the high Sierras get those huge storms off the Pacific with several feet of snow in just a few days, but most days are relatively dry. The West coast is open to huge Pacific storms but during a majority of the year high pressure pushes the storms north to Oregon and Washington and beyond.

Not to say the dangers of CA earthquakes are any better than by hurricane, snowstorms, deep freezes, or tornados but large ones are certainly less frequent (and the CA body counts lower as a result).

Agreed and back on topic, the lame politicians with this lame proposal might be smoking something nasty. A decent amount of parking where shopping revenue (and resulting sales tax revenue) is always an important consideration to the local businesses.

metalgear

wow, that is b******t.

mmarshall

True, but this is the 21st Century. One does not need to actually travel to get the news anymore. The (official) media can't report what doesn't exist...or is not happening.

Again, back on topic, instead of actually taking free parking away, it might just make more sense to offer it to certain classes of vehicles that the state might want to encourage sales of (such as small hybrids), and adopt a small fee on larger vehicles, such as large SUVs. That's what the politicians did around here in the D.C. area......gave hybrid owners free or reduced-fare access to HOV and toll-lanes on the freeways.

mmarshall

Or perhaps the store owners and merchants will simply pay for the parking fees themselves (perhaps through a ticket-stamping system) and just pass along the costs to their customers. Either way, as you note, it could (?) affect the class of shoppers there, primarily attracting those with more money to spend and higher disposable incomes.

In the cases where free lots or spaces are still provided next to (or reasonably close to) the pay-to-park lots, you may also see some people simply parking next door and walking a little further. But in some lots, of course, that risks towing.

hwy1isf

iTrader: (1)

I agree, validating parking is always an option for store owners, but generally means people are spending money.

I have lived in this community since 74 when I got out of the Navy, and have seen many changes here, some good and some bad. In the "old days" it was primarily a sleepy surfer community, and we did not spend a lot of money either but never left our trash scattered all over the place, it just wasn't cool. But now the city has focused on attracting the people from the inland areas and they do not have the personal connection to the beach, and it shows with how disrespectful they tend to be. I'm not sure if they trash their own community but I would like to think not.

As far as people who are "Looking to move out ourselves", my reply, is hurry up and take as many as you can with you.

IS-SV

Just as I thought or "true", and I am mystified by a retired person that doesn't travel frequently in their freetime, that's unheard of in my family (retired ones and not).

Newsflash-sensationalism is common in the news, for those that haven't noticed. (rolleyes). The media loves to cherry-pick the sensational stories as usual for splashy headlines. No surprise how people perceive things based on that kind of media coverage.

Back on topic for a change, yes a little creativity in parking setups to encourage shoppers in business districts can be helpful. We see some of the same creativity with hybrid cars here.