Picture this: A Friday night in L.A. You got last-minute tickets to see a game at the Staples Center (oops), I mean Crypto.com Arena. The tickets are free...but you need to get there by 5:30 p.m. Should you:
A: Uber or Lyft (stuck on the way back mired in surge pricing)?
B: Drive yourself and brave the 110, the 10, or the 5 in bumper-to-bumper traffic only to:
- Make endless circles around the venue in search of free street parking; fingers crossed for a Doris Day spot.
- Just pay for the $30+ fee for parking in the lot.
C: Ride your bike, take the bus, subway, or walk?
D: Stay home because L.A. traffic and parking sucks, and it's just not worth the hassle?
I usually pick B or D, but this is just one example of the heartache we L.A. folks must endure.
As a born and raised Angelino, I can attest to the fact that one of the most popular and frequent conversations we have is about driving. Not just driving, mind, but which route: main (Mapquest) or super secret in-the-know route, freeway or surface, and of course when you get to wherever you're going... where do we park? Is it free? Plentiful? Requires advanced notice? Street parking or a paid lot?
One man who tried his entire career to improve L.A.'s streets was Donald Shoup who passed away on February 6 at the age of 86. Shoup was a professor emeritus of urban planning at UCLA from 1974 to 2015. "Shoup popularized the theory that an 85% occupancy rate of on-street parking spaces would be the most efficient use of public parking. When cars at any given destination in a city (a block or group of blocks) occupy more than 85% of on-street parking spaces, then cars arriving at that destination are forced to circle the block for a few minutes in order to find an unoccupied parking space. This small search time per car creates a surprisingly large amount of traffic congestion because, typically, many cars are searching for parking simultaneously during peak driving times. This wastes time and fuel and increases air pollution."
One could say he "wrote the book" on parking—he, in fact, did. The High Cost of Free Parking, first published in 2005 and revised in 2011 is the bible of urban planning. Shoup edited a follow-up book, Parking and the City, which also became an important resource.
"The High Cost of Free Parking made parking interesting and explained how it is vitally important. It kicked off an era of parking reform that is helping to remake cities and suburbs throughout America" —Robert Steuteville
So what was Shoup's solution for improving conditions? Simple. Start pricing parking on the street and stop requiring parking off the street. But nothing is ever that simple, and we've got an awful lot of cars.
With the Olympics approaching, I wonder if there will be a solution in time, or will it be a "Dodgers World Series level" parking traffic nightmare free-for-all at every Olympic venue?
Take a look back at these images of parking lots from our collection, and decide for yourself.
A large horse and buggy parking lot is on the beach at Long Beach. The horses are out of harness, most standing, some laying down next to their wagons and buggies as their drivers and passengers stroll on the beach or watch the surf roll in. [1905]
Even in 1905, there was a parking shortage! Now, where did I leave my horse... I know it's around here somewhere...I should have brought oats.
Bonded Auto Parks parking lot, [circa 1930] Security Pacific National Bank Collection
Parking lot in Pasadena, [1932]. Security Pacific National Bank Collection
Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics twice before, and this image from the 1932 Games proves that even though the cars have changed, the parking lots have not.
Parking lot used to attend Olympics, [1932]. Security Pacific National Bank Collection
Parking structure filled to capacity, [circa 1937]. Herman J Schultheis Collection
Can you believe it? Ansel Adams not only photographed beautiful landscapes, but he also adored L.A. parking lots as subjects; go figure!
View of a large unpaved parking lot near the Lockheed Aircraft plant in Burbank. Various models of cars are visible throughout the image. Lockheed employee parking lot, [ca 1940]. Ansel Adams
View of a parking lot located at Wilshire Blvd. and Grand Avenue. A few businesses, including Dawson's Book Shop and Mannings Coffee Cafe, are visible on Grand Avenue. A billboard asking for the re-election of Republican governor Earl Warren is seen above Dawson's. Photo dated: May 7, 1946. Herald Examiner Collection
Look at the fun "auto"mated lots! Pigeon Hole Parking was supposed to be the latest and greatest in automated parking, but sadly, it wasn't that efficient and didn't last more than a decade.
Model of a multi-level parking structure called "Auto Electra Park." [ca 1940s]. Security Pacific National Bank Collection
City councilman Ed Roybal (arrow) speaks during the dedication for the Pigeon Hole Parking Garage (background) located at 644 S. Flower Street, at the intersection with Wilshire Blvd. The new type of garage was built by Standard Stations, Inc. A hydraulic lift picks up a car and carries it to a parking space. Dated November 5, 1953. Herald Examiner Collection
Here's something in parking lots. It's an electronically-controlled entrance/exit gate that went into operation at a parking lot at the Coliseum. You simply lean from your car and insert your card key or necessary coins in the "robot monitor" to open the gate. Margaret Louise Hahn and Don M. Muchmore (in car) show how the electronic gate works to the crowd looking on. Photo dated December 17, 1956. Herald Examiner Collection
Let's bring back the term "robot monitor." Way more fun than "pay station" or "exit terminal!"
The parking lot adjacent to the Hall of Records as seen from the tower of City Hall on September 24, 1968. Photo credit: Harris, L. Mildred
Was stacked parking ever a good idea? Just ask anyone who has ever braved the Hollywood Bowl or the Greek, or this terrifying lot by the Hall of Records in DTLA.
Aerial view of Dodger Stadium and parking lot filled with parked cars, [nd]. Ralph Morris Collection
There's no date on this image, but it looks to be the 60s from the style of cars. And look how full that lot was! Did people leave early, even back then, to get out of the parking lot quicker?
This photo, looking down onto a parking lot on First Street, was taken from the City Hall tower. The upper level of the parking lot is completely full, and a glimpse of the lower level shows nearly all of the stalls taken as well. The Miyako Hotel sits on the corner across the street. Photo dated: August 22, 1962. Security Pacific National Bank Collection
Looking south from the roof of the County Courthouse at Olive and 1st streets, December 1975. Prominently visible, from left to right, a large parking lot, a Civic Center parking structure (RIP Lot 17), Broadway Media Center, a residential motel (now the Kawada Hotel), Title Guarantee Building, City National Bank, One Wilshire, the Madison Complex, the Crocker Bank Tower, One Bunker Hill, Broadway Plaza, the Aon Center, Central Library, the California Club, and the Bunker Hill portable parking structure, [1975]. Roy Hankey Collection
Designed by Charles Bentley as a low-cost and portable parking solution, the 1,062-space structure opened in 1969. It was never meant to last more than a couple of years, but like a Hannukah miracle, it stood another 49! It was demolished in 2018 to make room for "The Grand," a mixed-use development designed by Frank Gehry. Read more about it here.
Rows of buses are parked in a bus parking lot outside the gates of the Super Bowl XXI event. Photo dated: January 26, 1987. Photo credit: Mike Mullen, Herald Examiner Collection
Even buses and boats need places to park!
Aerial view of the harbor at Marina del Rey, California, [nd]. Ralph Morris Collection
One final thought. Our very own Central Library started off with a beautiful park-like garden only to be paved over and downgraded to parking lot status, but like the phoenix she is, rose again after the devastating 1986 fire to provide a bucolic respite to our Downtown visitors who need a little bit of shade to read a book or just daydream about our wonderfully chaotic city.
Edith Knapp at the lily pond at the Los Angeles Central Library, [1937]. Photo credit: Adelbert Bartlett
This view of Central Library from Flower captures the original reflecting pools and sculptural figures around the doorway and library tower [circa 1937]. Herman J Schultheis Collection
1970s view of the 5th Street entrance. Photo courtesy of Glen Creason
View of the Los Angeles Central Library on the southeast corner of South Flower and West 5th Streets in October 1974. Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection
View of the Los Angeles Central Library from its new Maguire Garden, looking east, reconstructed after the 1986 fire. Photo credit: Foaad Farah, Security Pacific National Bank Collection
View of the Los Angeles Central Library from its new Maguire Garden, looking east, reconstructed after the 1986 fire. Photo credit: Foaad Farah, Security Pacific National Bank Collection
The High Cost of Free Parking
Thirty Four Parking Lots in Los Angeles
ReThinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking
