Parking in Westwood is about to turn into a bigger pain in the a** than it already is. The LAPD has long ignored the prolific “apron parking,” where cars park in driveways and protrude into the sidewalks and block them, in the neighborhood. That is about to change. The LAPD recently announced that it is about to start enforcing the regulations against this practice of obstructing sidewalks. UCLA students are angered by this enforcement move because many will have no where to park their Audis for their one mile commutes to school.
"I think (the Los Angeles police) should not enforce (the apron parking laws), since there's not enough parking in Westwood," said Alex Mohr, a third-year civil engineering student who lives on Midvale Avenue and has a car in Westwood. "It is a nuisance for pedestrians (to weave around the cars), but on the flip side if that were my only parking option I would pose the question, 'Where else can I park?'" [Kevin] Eagen said.
Of course, now there’s a mad scramble to find more parking and accommodate the parking needs of these students. We’ll just throw this idea out there for sh*ts and giggles: maybe the University and the City should be thinking about additional ways to discourage students from bringing cars in the first place by providing alternative means of transportation. We know that there already programs in place, but clearly they aren’t adequate.
· Westwood Residents to Face Parking Penalties [Daily Bruin]