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It’s not often that I, an ex-Orange County resident, find myself missing that bastion of suburbia. But occasionally, I find myself reminiscing about those wide-open stretches of black asphalt parking lots, those endless miles of white curbs, and the countless streets lined with trees, not parking restriction signs. That’s right, Orange County parking. And it’s not even a problem of Los Angeles, although, as a whole, it’s pretty obscene when it comes to parking. The Westwood Village area is the true nemesis of the Everyday Parker.

As Goldie Hawn said in the film, “Butterflies Are Free,” “I was planning on going to college at UCLA. But I couldn’t find a parking spot.” Of course, there are a lot more important issues when it comes to the lives of UCLA students. But as anyone who lives in Westwood will tell you, the parking situation is the bane of our existence.

I would have to estimate that, since moving out of the dorms to Westwood a little over a year ago, I have paid the City of Los Angeles’ Parking Bureau at least $275 in parking fines – and that’s not even counting the endless quarters I’ve plugged into meters, that’s just from “violating” the parking rules.

I say “violating” because these rules are pure fascism, which the parking enforcement officials pretty much uphold with an iron fist. (Of course, we can’t blame them; I wouldn’t be the nicest person either if my job included driving down a street at 10 miles an hour, leaning out the window with a stick of chalk for hours on end.)

I’ve been ticketed for surpassing a two-hour-time limit by 10 minutes. I’ve been ticketed even after having moved my car before the end of the 2-hour-limit, because there was still some chalk dust remaining on my tires.

My boyfriend has been ticketed twice in the same day, for the same offense, while his car was still in the same spot. And, most recently, I was ticketed for parking in an area without a visible sign, because it’s hidden halfway down the block behind a tree.

As someone who lives on Kelton Avenue, I have found the long Veteran stretch of non-time-limited parking to be my refuge from the parking plague. However, even this area is not immune from the risk of a parking ticket. There was that joyous week when the city decided that since the cemetery HAD to have new fences installed, absolutely no one could park on the right side of Veteran for that time. They gave us no warning in the weeks before, so approximately 100 people on the row received parking tickets.

I estimate ticketing that many cars netted the city something like $3,000. Hmm, probably just enough to pay for that new fence. That said, these random parking situations don’t occur that often. What is a daily reality, however, is that two-hour time limit. Not only do these restricted areas comprise the majority of the blocks in Westwood, but their designations are completely arbitrary. For example, on Veteran, close to Levering, you have unrestricted hours parking. You turn onto Levering and suddenly it’s two hours. Pass just two apartment buildings and get to the next corner, and suddenly you’re back to unrestricted hours.

And just who has the time to move their car every two hours? I personally have better things to do with my time than keep my eye on the clock, run out and move my car (making sure to wipe all the chalk dust off, of course, or to at least drive around the block a couple times) four times a day every weekday. Like most people in Westwood, I have to go to work and class, both of which last longer than two hours.

One solution I propose for all these parking problems is simply wiping out all the two-hour restrictions. If anyone could possibly tell me why we should keep them, I’d love to hear it.

Another solution, which would help in the lack of available parking, is to remove the permit-only parking designation on the east side of Veteran, above Levering. Yes, I know these are actual residences, not apartments, but that’s why they have garages and driveways to park their cars in.

In fact, there are never any cars parked on that side of the street, because that’s precisely what those people do with their cars. In Orange County (I grow misty-eyed again) it would be unheard of to see “no parking” signs posted in a suburb because the cities there have this crazy notion that parking is not some great mystic privilege only homeowners deserve.

On a purely basic level, the parking situation in Westwood is just inexcusable. It has made me late for work, made me have to leave early from work, made me have to skip class on several occasions, and caused me to avoid going out, either so I could move my car in time, or because finding a space after going somewhere and coming back is often impossible.

I’ve found that most people around here have accepted this parking situation as a necessary evil, but that’s a defeatist attitude to have. No one should have this much trouble with something as basic as where to put your car.

It’s not just the city of Los Angeles I have a bone to pick with, it’s also UCLA. And I’m not even talking about the permit situation, which in itself is incredibly limited and frustrating. At the fairly frequent times when I’ve had a parking crisis (i.e. having class or work to go to, but absolutely nowhere to park) and headed over to campus to park, I’ve been faced with the prospect of spending $6 for a space. Is anyone aware that at many college campuses, Cal Poly Pomona for one example, parking is a whopping $1.50? At UCLA, the parking meters (of which there are few) only give us 7.5 minutes for a quarter. Just giving us 8 minutes would be a little too much to ask, I suppose. In good old Orange County, as well as minutes away in West Hollywood and Santa Monica (which are actually more highly trafficked areas), the parking meters give an hour per quarter.

Right now, during summer, parking actually isn’t that bad. I don’t have to park on campus or use the meters much because there are often open spaces on the streets. However, my tickets continue to roll in. After my most recent ticket (probably my 12th), I finally decided to protest. I went so far as to spend $5 developing film to document my claims about the improperly marked area.

As I sent out the letter of protest with the pictures, I thought, it’s a little pathetic that I’m going to so much trouble. But it’s probably worth protesting – the $20 I saved can pay for enough gas to drive to Orange County, where I can park on one of those nice, open, white-curbed streets.

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