History
This is what we’ve heard from people who have resided and/or worked in the area for a long time.
For most of the last century, the City allowed apartment buildings and condominiums to be built without including on-site parking for the following reasons:
-
The area was primarily a senior retirement area for a long time. Some buildings were built as homes for seniors, without parking, and then later changed to non-senior buildings.
-
The area had ample street parking, parking lots, and fewer homes.
-
Fewer people owned cars. This was due in part to the area having a reliable & fast transit system. The Pacific Electric, also known as the Red Car system, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern Californiaconsisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses. The interurban Los Angeles to Long Beach passenger rail line served the longest, from July 4, 1903, until April 9, 1961. With this closure the final rail link was replaced by the interurban Motor Coach 36f ("F" representing Freeway Flyer) route. This former PE route was the first of the new MTA light rail lines, rebuilt as the dual track Metro Blue Line.
​
​
In the past 10 – 15 years, parking has become impacted for the following reasons:
-
The demographic in the area is much younger and those people actively drive.
-
Many people who do take public transit also own a car for other purposes.
-
Rents and condo prices in this area require a higher income level, which often results in 2 wage-earner households.
-
77% of residents work outside of Long Beach.
-
New developments have added population density.
-
New developments have taken away existing parking lots.
-
The City has added meters and short term parking (2 hour or 20 minute zones) for businesses without replacing the parking that residences were previously using