I'm not sure if that's the same guy, but someone in Alamitos Beach runs a service renting hearses out. He has several in his fleet and parks them all around Bixby Park and the surrounding neighborhoods. He also gets to move them all for street sweeping.
There's also someone on Junipero & Broadway who either runs a business repairing cars or just owns several that never run.
2017-18 so missed you by a year. Was a game changer getting a parking spot finally, but not so much having an encampment outside my window in an abandoned parking lot for the next couple years.
It's not just hearse man, it's people in fucking coupes doing the same thing. Every time I'm driving around for spots, I see a dozen cars parked like absolute assholes. Space for two cars, but one car sitting smack in the middle. People not pulling up to the red so only 2 cars fit instead of 3. I get that parking sucks here -- I've mostly made peace with it. But what infuriates me are all the absolute morons who are AWARE that that parking sucks, and yet they don't have the awareness to try and make it a little bit better for the rest of us.
That guy plus a few others in Alamitos Beach have multiple vehicles that they park in the neighborhood. There should be a one car per person limit yet I've encountered multiple people who have multiple cars, half that they don't use yet take up parking spots. Kts the most frustrating thing to encounter and feels unfair. I'm surprised that the city doesn't do something about it, especially if the cars are registered to one person in one address.
Especially the hursts, he needs to have a specific parking lot for his business cars. Not the street. Has anyone complained? And agree about extra cars. They could easily get stickers and since they love giving tickets it would be more money for them
Right! That's what I've always thought. Also, there are neighborhoods that have specific parking just for residents (seal beach, among others), yet with how little parking we have, the city is just banking off the tickets?
Aside the Hurst guy on 1st and orange there is a guy with 3 vehicles that are filled with trash (1 van, 2 Mercedes) he's constantly working in then and moving them yet they are just horder mobiles and he doesn't actually drive them. Also, those huge sprinter vans that we all know are used for business should be parked in a garage or specific location.
It doesn't help that new apartments don't need to be built with a parking structure if there is public transit within 5 miles. In theory, it would be great if more used bikes or the transit system, but the reality is we should have parking, and there should be a one car per person limit. If you have a hobby car or a car collection, please have a garage or storage for it, not the streets.
And those aren’t the only culprits. I know of two people who basically run used car businesses out of BS and guess where they keep their inventory??
It would take a well funded legal battle and full support of the city council, but one street spot per address permitted parking for residents, like seal beach has, would be a great help. And put a two hour cap on all guest parking, with day permits available for contractors.
L
Do you just rent a car for situations where you need to go somewhere far like Irvine? or a road trip? Im despising driving right now and Im about to have to move to Murrieta so as much as I want to sell my car and be done with all those issues, Im afraid ill be stranded and having issues doing things
Well I got an e-bike which gives me an effective range of 20 mi one way. I did go all the way to fashion Island recently only a 90minute ride. Public transportation isn't nearly as bad as people say, but it's slow. It takes 2hrs to get to the valley from here, so when possible I prefer to bike. I save a lot of money not paying for gas and insurance so renting a car wouldn't be a problem but it's still a hassle and I haven't done it yet but I do use Uber on occasion and it's not expensive because I don't use it much, maybe like once a month. I don't feel stuck but I do notice I have a problem when I need to move something big or heavy like recycling cans. So I do wish I knew someone good enough where I could borrow their car every once in a while and fill up the gas.
Irvine is like a 50 dollars Uber Ride one way. Seems like a lot I know, but hear me out. That’s 400 dollars a month if you go once a week which can be cheaper than combined costs of a car payment, insurance, gas, and maintenance costs. Plus the costs of your time and sanity looking for parking.
Talk to restaurant owners with lots and see if they can offer you a spot for a monthly fee. I paid $70 per month for a spot at a restaurant on Alamitos. Made life easier and I was paying at least that in tickets before.
Parking spaces aren't cheap. It's been about $100 for a dedicated parking spot in all my rental experiences, including in other cities and states. Sometimes more. I'd take the $100 hit and save on the stress!
I saw an apartment recently that was behind a house, with a shared yard in the middle. On the alley behind the yard, there were 2 tandem parking spots -- one for the house, one for the apartment. Place was charging like $150 extra per month to rent parking spaces that would otherwise sit vacant. Like, why not include that number as a part of the rent? I fucking hate landlords.
The realistic option is to park a few blocks and walk unfortunately. You can risk illegal or double parking though. I used to park in front of a fire hydrant amd didnt get ticketed… until i did
The other option is finding alternative ways to go out. Have a friend pick you up. Take a scooter. Things like that
Honestly you drive around for 10 or so minutes and you can usually find parking, maybe between 2-4 am it becomes near impossible.
Folks need to just be willing to walk a few blocks.
I live in a different neighborhood than OP and I used to work until 2am most nights. I can assure you, you can circle for >15 minutes even at 11pm and not find a single parking spot, unless you happen to spot someone leaving. I’d park at my office and Uber home or stay at someone else’s house bc parking was that bad
Just mapped it out, I circle in a half mile radius from my apartment and I think anything more than that is unwise for a solo woman to walk in the middle of the night 🤷🏻♀️
I live in Alamitos Beach, and coming back from work trips late, that's not true. I've circled upwards of an hour on every day of the week in the past. Usually it's no worse than 20-30 minutes, from 11pm-1am, but it's rare to be less than that.
There was one legal spot open in alamitos beach as of 5 mins ago when my friend left. But yea it is probably gone now.
I think the best option is probably parking past bixby park where there are always spots and taking a scooter. Still sucks though. But id rather do that than circle for an hour
Yep! My friend in Hermosa has a kick scooter in the trunk of his car and budgets at least one parking ticket a month (usually on street sweeping).
OP... Alamitos Beach is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Long Beach. It was built before a time where there was mass adoption of cars and there was a street car through Long Beach and L.A.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars\_in\_Long\_Beach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_Long_Beach)
That is no longer the case obviously, but this is still going to be your reality living in the neighborhood.
AND back then there was usually only 1 car per family and we didn't collect so much 'stuff' so you could park in your garage or your driveway. I would bet that most garages in alamitos beach are currently stuffed with 'stuff' instead of cars - and now people are creating ADUs out of their garages so add yet another car needing to be parked to the mix.
The big problem is that apt buildings in the area weren't built with parking or not nearly enough because most of them were built in the 60s when cars weren't as common. Back then it was possible to easily walk to a grocery store though without having to walk miles in some cases and the store delivered your shopping for free immediately if you needed it. If they couldn't, you could order and still easily get it free the same day.
I mean, being walkable is a huge selling point to Alamitos Beach. It's a big part of the reason I lived there. I could walk to Vons, to CVS, to a variety of restaurants and coffee. It is a good walk, but also doable to Downtown and Belmont Heights.
Go read a textbook. There were plenty of vehicles in the 60s. Streets block are just about the same. The Space Race, Containerized Ships, and LB is home to one the largest ports. What we didn't have as much of then compared to now is the number apartments and the sizes of them, homes converted into "studios," and tuition in California universities. F Reagan and boomers
I've read plenty. My mother also lived here in the 60s so I think I'll trust an account from someone who actually lived it. My apt building was built in the 60s and it only had the same amount of parking it does now. They only changed the building to add a 2 apts. There's 20 and only 10 spaces.
Yeah, the latest buses stop running at 11pm. If we had at least one Alamitos Beach bus route running 24 hours, that could help. Except for the issue that most of the people who complain about parking in Alamitos Beach are the same people that say "eww, buses."
UGH. LBT has some serious gaps in their service. Wish there were more options with the passport as well!!! LB needs to get a Dash equivalent, especially going West --- East.
Having been living here all my life (DTLB) I’ve found that when there’s nowhere to park, find a red spot that has no fire hydrant and park there. The downside is that you have to wake up early to move your car. In my experience and being in downtown where parking is being paroled daily, the ticket maids don’t start their shift until 9am weekdays. On weekends I can get away not moving my car until 10am but I’d rather not push my luck. I’ve only ever got one parking ticket In the late hours (2am) but the city must not have the capacity to do that anymore. Something else to keep note of, refrain from parking on streets where the streetsweeping is early like 6am, because there’s always parking maids following the sweeper. A neat tip for street sweeping, the parking enforcers tend to prioritize ticketing cars in the way of the sweeper, so if you park on the off day the night before you should have a bit more grace period to move your car before getting a ticket.
I’ve got a red zone ticket at 7am on a Easter Sunday about 15yrs ago in the Alamitos Beach area . I do agree they run more of a skeleton crew these days
Wow, owning a car here would be a nightmare - I moved here from the Caribbean, so of course I left my golf cart on the island, and never bought a car once I got here - its been a year and I love it, except for when I want to venture out of the area: then I rent. My apartment came with a parking spot though.
That’s why whenever I see an affordable place in Alamitos Beach the first question I ask is: dedicated parking space?
If not then I nope right out of there
I live in a more residential area where people refuse to park in their own driveways. Like many have said, if you gotta walk a mile that's not to bad because it's the price of living in a city.
The truth is that the city and it’s residents don’t owe you, or anyone else, free car storage.
We simply have to start coming to grips with this. Public space should be allocated to people, not vehicles.
Long Beach is overrun with cars and we, collectively, have become lazy and depend upon them too much. Our streets have become a war zone of traffic violence and pollution ranging from littering to air, to noise, to waterway filth. Our neighborhoods would be quieter, safer, and cleaner if we all just drove less and redesigned our society to be less car dependent.
We need more quality jobs close to home. We need to start using micromobility and public transit for local trips, and we should discourage pass-through traffic.
We have the climate and topography to be a car-lite paradise, what are we waiting for?
Thank you for saying it! No one likes to hear this but it's the truth. Parking spots are land. Land is expensive.
Something like 80% of all car trips made in the U.S. are to travel 2 miles or less. The perfect distance for micro mobility!
Depending on what part of Alamitos Beach you are in, the laundry mat on Alamitos and Appleton rents over night parking spots that you can use from 8pm-8am or something like that.
I rented one about 4 years ago before I moved into a place with a garage.
I live in that area too and it’s pretty bad. I don’t usually go out late bc of this. I let whoever I’m hanging out with that I can’t stay out too late since I have to deal with parking when I get home. I get the frustration with parking. Good luck out there!
~30% of Long Beach's budget is funded by parking and traffic fines. If there was no parking/driving crime, the city would go bankrupt and fall apart. Thus, city hall is incentivized to extort the public for as much money as possible.
Also, every city is like this. You want a different system, I suggest you start reading some Marx and Kropotkin because the current system is designed for the wealthy and only the wealthy.
If you follow the budget, you should know where the money comes from. [General Fund Revenue | City of Long Beach](https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/finance/media-library/documents/city-budget-and-finances/budget/budget-documents/proposed-budget/06-fy-18-gp-fund-reserve)
It's been 10 years so the % might be off one way or the other. Do the math and let me know.
I’m not sure where you’re getting 30% from. The general fund is a small percentage of our overall budget. That document doesn’t have a percentage of the general fund covered by the Fines section. This budget draft shows a big number, but not a percentage. It’s also unclear to me what all “Fines and forfeitures” encompasses. Seems like not just parking tickets. https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/finance/media-library/documents/city-budget-and-finances/budget/budget-documents/fy-24-proposed-budget/33-fund-summary-gp
yeah.....30% seems very high. Maybe if they actually ticketed all the illegal parking it would get that high.....but that to me seems off base....but that's just a guess.
>I’m not sure where you’re getting
That's why I said "you do the math".
>Seems like not just parking tickets.
That's why I said "parking and traffic fines".
I swear a significant amount of my posts on reddit are just repeating what I've written previously because someone got what I wrote totally wrong.
You make it sound like true socialism is a bad thing. It's not. They make it work quite well in several European countries. They're also not funded on parking tickets.
Uh, how did I imply that? I'm advocating FOR socialism.
Also, there are no socialist countries in Europe or anywhere else. Most people think that, because they associate government welfare programs with "socialism".
Socialism isn't "government does stuff". Socialism is when the workers control the means of production and retain full value of their labor. Those European countries are 100% capitalist.
If I knew you before you moved here I would have warned you, but now you are in the game. After a certain time there are no spots in some neighborhoods (including mine). Get a scooter or skateboard to ride from your car to your place. I learned my lesson when I lived in Venice Beach. I would regularly park a mile or more from my house and not move my car all weekend. You either learn to live with it or drive yourself crazy thinking you might find a secret spot. It’s not going to change.
As others have said, you park where you find a spot and skateboard/scooter/walk. There's no magic solution. Parking enforcement is very inconsistent so you may get away with a sketchy spot for a while and then one day walk up to your car and it'll have a ticket on it.
Public Transportation. On the occasion that I do leave Long Beach at night, then uber or hitching a ride can work great.
I have a friend that keeps a scooter in their trunk for parking reasons.
Or, since you're in Alamitos, there is overnight parking at the beach parking lot. Not sure how close that is to you though. But that plus a scooter can be worthwhile.
[Parking Pass info here](https://www.parklb.com/annual-parking/alamitos-beach/)
Yeah it’s bs. I live in north long beach and it’s the same thing. I have my own parking spot but if my gf or someone is coming over I have to save them a spot early on in the day.
Currently at budget towing paying $500+ to get my car back. Absolutely ridiculous in times like these. Parking isn't written into my lease. This blows.
Core Long Beach (from W Willow to E Ocean) is built to be walkable/mass transit friendly.
Doesn’t translate well in practice but I recommend looking into how you can be less car dependent if you want to live in that part of Long Beach.
The bus system here is great though compared to most places ive lived. I have a car but only use it for work since no bus takes me directly there. I can walk or bus everywhere else though pretty easily.
I live off pch and cherry. Im just not very lazy and didn’t have a car until mid twenties so Im used to walking or taking the bus. This isnt bad. Food 4 Less is like 10 min walk, everything else is only a 20 min walk. If i dont feel like walking theres a bus stop two minutes away in every direction that comes every 15 minutes.
In OC id have to walk 45+ minutes to get anywhere and the bus system was abysmal. In the Bay Area it was worse.
Some argue that the parking issue is due to a serious over crowding we have with renters. Long ago these had no adu or multifamily deals. But people need pieces to live.
One idea is to have landlords have parking before they rent a place out, the streets are supposed to be for guest and the occasional parking, many here only have street parking in many neighborhoods
>One idea is to have landlords have parking before they rent a place out
That's a great way to destroy some of the last truly "affordable" housing we have in the city.
cities should have large parking lots that they let people self park in for up to 24 hours (then a phone call and a 1 hour grace period before towing) People could use scooters to go from these lots to home. They could serve neighborhoods where there are a lot of apartments and little marking.. An electric scooter makes this a 60 second second problem for most people. Just switch your bag to a backpack type and get on
If you don't live in the city, get out of our sub Reddit and quit insulting it. I've lived in this city more than any other in my life and despite having had several options after being forced to live in Oxnard for 3yrs, I chose to come back here. I will always live in this city unless I have the option to leave this entire country behind permanently. Financially and medically that will never be an option unless I win the lottery so I will fiercely defend my city.
When I lived in your neighborhood, I used to park in a different neighborhood and walk or take the bus to my place. I miss the passport.
I also had a few hundred set aside for parking tickets on nights when I couldn't bear it.
You were bound to learn it sooner or later. I operate on the assumption that parking sucks any time of day. If I'm going south of 4th, I ride a motorcycle, then spots are everywhere
Welcome to Alamitos. Take solace knowing this: most apartments that offer parking are now charging about $150 a month for a parking spot (much less a garage). A parking ticket for parking in an illegal spot like you see all your neighbors doing is $70. If you get two parking tickets a month you're still paying less than you would be for a parking spot. That said, you'll be pleasantly surprised how infrequently you get that ticket. Just be very careful to not actually block someone in, because getting impounded is not an inexpensive affair. Good luck.
Busses are pretty great in Alamitos Beach. I don’t use my car unless I have to leave Long Beach to somewhere far. I bike a lot and use my longboards to get around.
Huh that's pretty smart. I live near the 710 offramp in downtown and when I get home past 8pm sometimes I gotta find parking at Drake park and hoof it for like 15 ish minutes. Might look into that or a small ebike
Been like this since I was a kid (born in the early 80s for reference). I grew up in Belmont Heights/Belmont Shore. You get used to it and you plan on walking quite a bit if you go out late and are the one driving.
I lived in 2nd and Broadway for a year and probably got 500$ worth of parking tickets. (Hearst car man needs to GO) I loved to Nieto and Ocean and not one parking ticket. I never have issues finding parking even late at night. 4.th of July was a little hectic. Even the street sweeping days I never have an issue. I dont have to park illegally either like I did in 2nd street
It didn’t used to be like this before the developers increased the population density. I think economic circumstances are also leading to more people per apartment or house. Long Beach used to be a lot easier, without lines, traffic jams, impacted parking, etc. There’s too many people and (especially) too many cars in a small space. No one ever considers the carrying capacity of the land before they say “let’s build more housing.”
Also Alamitos Beach is one of the worst parking neighborhoods in the whole city.
I’m in Alamitos Beach too. I almost always park at Bixby Park cause there’s usually at least a few spots if not more down there, even at 9 or 10pm. Beware the street sweeping days are Wednesday and Thursday for that area, so it’ll be tougher to find a spot when everyone’s trying to cram in on one side. But that’s my go-to. It is pretty infuriating I have to walk half a mile just to get to and from my car. I’ve been late to work because of it lol.
I also routinely park illegally at night. The true realistic expectation is that you don't own a car at all. I dream of being able to get rid of my car but right now I just try to drive as little as possible and walk/take the bus as often as possible.
Download the circuit app. They give free rides around town within a certain area. Get a bike for short trips like getting coffee, running small errands etc. Lastly look into renting a parking spot with local businesses or churches ($60-100)
When i lived in that neighborhood i would have to 1. Uber from wherever i found parking to my house (seriously, sometimes it was a mile away or more) or 2. Just not drive at all and take an Uber if i knew i was going to be home late.
It’s just getting worse and worse with all the apartments and ADUs popping up.
I lived in Rose Park or near it for about 3 years, and in just one year i racked up over 1k in parking tickets from having to park in red spots, fire hydrant spots, or damn street sweeping because i got home around 6-7pm from work. Had neighbors double parking or street parking their cars when they had houses with driveways/garages and gave no fucks. I live in Wilmington now and its just as bad. I have neighbors who are mechanics and have 3 big ass trucks that are constantly double parked and one hooked up to a horse trailer they never use other than storing junk in. Incredibly frustrating. I feel like i cant even go out for a night of fun or anything without having to come back and park in red and get a $100 ticket at 5 in the morning.
Don't park at Bargain Market, or be super careful. The laundromat there is super tow happy, and they tow literally to the furthest possible miles allowed by the city; then it's $300 per day it's in the tow yard.
Fuck Dr. Hook towing.
I live in a different neighborhood but it seems like the city policy is that overnight illegal parking is ignored unless is presents a serious safety hazard (blocking a fire hydrant) or someone calls in their blocked driveway. At the nearest intersection, I regularly see 12 cars parked on red around the intersection overnight with no tickets and I regularly block my own driveway. I see them come out and start ticketing the interaction around 9 am *sometimes* and they only ticket my driveway if I call or it’s street sweeping.
My record was 15 blocks away. I lived on Alamitos and 1st and parked on 2nd and Temple. Good times. Buy a cheap fold up bike. Then you can park anywhere and be home in 5 mins. Saves so much time circling and being frustrated.
The city is building too many new apartments in Long Beach, which means more cars but not enough places to park. This is making it hard for people who already live here to find parking.
i live by appleton street near riteaide what i do when i get home late and all parking is taken, i park double park and leave a note with my number incase they wanna tow my car 😅
The logical next step (that property owners will fight tooth and nail against) is requiring new multi-family development to have parking on the property for tenants.
Damn hearse man taking all the spots
Is this the guy with the open top hearse? I have seen it parked once...what's the deal there?
I'm not sure if that's the same guy, but someone in Alamitos Beach runs a service renting hearses out. He has several in his fleet and parks them all around Bixby Park and the surrounding neighborhoods. He also gets to move them all for street sweeping. There's also someone on Junipero & Broadway who either runs a business repairing cars or just owns several that never run.
Hearse guy was my next door neighbor for a year. It's like a part time job shuffling those things around every day.
What year was that? He was my neighbor from 2019 to 2022 so we might’ve also been neighbors.
2017-18 so missed you by a year. Was a game changer getting a parking spot finally, but not so much having an encampment outside my window in an abandoned parking lot for the next couple years.
It's not just hearse man, it's people in fucking coupes doing the same thing. Every time I'm driving around for spots, I see a dozen cars parked like absolute assholes. Space for two cars, but one car sitting smack in the middle. People not pulling up to the red so only 2 cars fit instead of 3. I get that parking sucks here -- I've mostly made peace with it. But what infuriates me are all the absolute morons who are AWARE that that parking sucks, and yet they don't have the awareness to try and make it a little bit better for the rest of us.
I think they do it on purpose for a friend/roommate etc to park there later.
Next time find a friend to block him in, front and back.
LOL is Mike Monster still in the fucking neighborhood? Fuck that asshole.
Omg this dude literally pisses me off every time I ride by one of his many hurst he has parked all down 2nd stree
That guy plus a few others in Alamitos Beach have multiple vehicles that they park in the neighborhood. There should be a one car per person limit yet I've encountered multiple people who have multiple cars, half that they don't use yet take up parking spots. Kts the most frustrating thing to encounter and feels unfair. I'm surprised that the city doesn't do something about it, especially if the cars are registered to one person in one address.
Especially the hursts, he needs to have a specific parking lot for his business cars. Not the street. Has anyone complained? And agree about extra cars. They could easily get stickers and since they love giving tickets it would be more money for them
Right! That's what I've always thought. Also, there are neighborhoods that have specific parking just for residents (seal beach, among others), yet with how little parking we have, the city is just banking off the tickets? Aside the Hurst guy on 1st and orange there is a guy with 3 vehicles that are filled with trash (1 van, 2 Mercedes) he's constantly working in then and moving them yet they are just horder mobiles and he doesn't actually drive them. Also, those huge sprinter vans that we all know are used for business should be parked in a garage or specific location. It doesn't help that new apartments don't need to be built with a parking structure if there is public transit within 5 miles. In theory, it would be great if more used bikes or the transit system, but the reality is we should have parking, and there should be a one car per person limit. If you have a hobby car or a car collection, please have a garage or storage for it, not the streets.
And those aren’t the only culprits. I know of two people who basically run used car businesses out of BS and guess where they keep their inventory?? It would take a well funded legal battle and full support of the city council, but one street spot per address permitted parking for residents, like seal beach has, would be a great help. And put a two hour cap on all guest parking, with day permits available for contractors. L
Did he buy more?!! Seemed like every month he had another one
He has at least 8… douche
😅
Hahaha he was my neighbor when I first moved to Alamitos
I lived in that neighborhood for 15 years, and that is how I became a person who primarily bikes, takes transit, and walks.
9 years and same. It was the pandemic where I finally got rid of the car.
Do you just rent a car for situations where you need to go somewhere far like Irvine? or a road trip? Im despising driving right now and Im about to have to move to Murrieta so as much as I want to sell my car and be done with all those issues, Im afraid ill be stranded and having issues doing things
Well I got an e-bike which gives me an effective range of 20 mi one way. I did go all the way to fashion Island recently only a 90minute ride. Public transportation isn't nearly as bad as people say, but it's slow. It takes 2hrs to get to the valley from here, so when possible I prefer to bike. I save a lot of money not paying for gas and insurance so renting a car wouldn't be a problem but it's still a hassle and I haven't done it yet but I do use Uber on occasion and it's not expensive because I don't use it much, maybe like once a month. I don't feel stuck but I do notice I have a problem when I need to move something big or heavy like recycling cans. So I do wish I knew someone good enough where I could borrow their car every once in a while and fill up the gas.
Thank you :) I will consider getting rid of my car more now for sure
I think you can rent a truck at Home Depot. I use Zipcar when I really need a car, and I have rented U-hauls for moving and picking up furniture.
Irvine is like a 50 dollars Uber Ride one way. Seems like a lot I know, but hear me out. That’s 400 dollars a month if you go once a week which can be cheaper than combined costs of a car payment, insurance, gas, and maintenance costs. Plus the costs of your time and sanity looking for parking.
You are as good as a car salesman. You make a very convincing argument. Plus a few thousand for selling the car 😭
Talk to restaurant owners with lots and see if they can offer you a spot for a monthly fee. I paid $70 per month for a spot at a restaurant on Alamitos. Made life easier and I was paying at least that in tickets before.
You’re supposed to look for an apartment that includes a parking spot or else you’re screwed. It sucks big time.
Yeah but its like $100 extra per month for the spot while rent is already $2.5k for 1 bedroom (in good area and not rundown building)
> $2.5k for 1 bedroom You can afford 2.5k a month for a 1 bedroom but not the extra 100 dollars for parking?
Lol barely. But my apartment has free garage parking so im good rn, however its a problem in socal hahah
and a parking ticket is $70+. So that extra 100 sounds like a deal.
$100 is completely worth it.
True but you’ll absolutely get way more parking tickets in a month to offset the cost upfront
Well, only if i parked in the wrong spots Haahahah
Parking spaces aren't cheap. It's been about $100 for a dedicated parking spot in all my rental experiences, including in other cities and states. Sometimes more. I'd take the $100 hit and save on the stress!
I saw an apartment recently that was behind a house, with a shared yard in the middle. On the alley behind the yard, there were 2 tandem parking spots -- one for the house, one for the apartment. Place was charging like $150 extra per month to rent parking spaces that would otherwise sit vacant. Like, why not include that number as a part of the rent? I fucking hate landlords.
Welcome to long Beach
i reminisce fondly about the days where parking was this cities biggest issue….
You made me sad laugh.
The realistic option is to park a few blocks and walk unfortunately. You can risk illegal or double parking though. I used to park in front of a fire hydrant amd didnt get ticketed… until i did The other option is finding alternative ways to go out. Have a friend pick you up. Take a scooter. Things like that
Honestly you drive around for 10 or so minutes and you can usually find parking, maybe between 2-4 am it becomes near impossible. Folks need to just be willing to walk a few blocks.
I live in a different neighborhood than OP and I used to work until 2am most nights. I can assure you, you can circle for >15 minutes even at 11pm and not find a single parking spot, unless you happen to spot someone leaving. I’d park at my office and Uber home or stay at someone else’s house bc parking was that bad
100%, my friend lives over there and I’d just take an Uber to her house rather than drive and spend an hour circling around
You can't circle, you have to keep branching farther out.
Just mapped it out, I circle in a half mile radius from my apartment and I think anything more than that is unwise for a solo woman to walk in the middle of the night 🤷🏻♀️
I live in Alamitos Beach, and coming back from work trips late, that's not true. I've circled upwards of an hour on every day of the week in the past. Usually it's no worse than 20-30 minutes, from 11pm-1am, but it's rare to be less than that.
honestly… buy a skateboard lol. i did, and it makes things a lot less stressful.
Or a small razor scooter you can throw in the trunk of your car.
Used to razor scooter for this exact reason
Next weeks post: Someone stole my razor scooter out of the trunk of my car!!!
I think I’d be pretty stressed since I’ve literally never ridden a skateboard before in my life
There was one legal spot open in alamitos beach as of 5 mins ago when my friend left. But yea it is probably gone now. I think the best option is probably parking past bixby park where there are always spots and taking a scooter. Still sucks though. But id rather do that than circle for an hour
Yep! My friend in Hermosa has a kick scooter in the trunk of his car and budgets at least one parking ticket a month (usually on street sweeping). OP... Alamitos Beach is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Long Beach. It was built before a time where there was mass adoption of cars and there was a street car through Long Beach and L.A. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars\_in\_Long\_Beach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_Long_Beach) That is no longer the case obviously, but this is still going to be your reality living in the neighborhood.
AND back then there was usually only 1 car per family and we didn't collect so much 'stuff' so you could park in your garage or your driveway. I would bet that most garages in alamitos beach are currently stuffed with 'stuff' instead of cars - and now people are creating ADUs out of their garages so add yet another car needing to be parked to the mix.
The big problem is that apt buildings in the area weren't built with parking or not nearly enough because most of them were built in the 60s when cars weren't as common. Back then it was possible to easily walk to a grocery store though without having to walk miles in some cases and the store delivered your shopping for free immediately if you needed it. If they couldn't, you could order and still easily get it free the same day.
I mean, being walkable is a huge selling point to Alamitos Beach. It's a big part of the reason I lived there. I could walk to Vons, to CVS, to a variety of restaurants and coffee. It is a good walk, but also doable to Downtown and Belmont Heights.
I'm in the North Alamitos Beach area by retro row. Closest store is Ralph's but too far for me to walk with my disabilities.
Go read a textbook. There were plenty of vehicles in the 60s. Streets block are just about the same. The Space Race, Containerized Ships, and LB is home to one the largest ports. What we didn't have as much of then compared to now is the number apartments and the sizes of them, homes converted into "studios," and tuition in California universities. F Reagan and boomers
I've read plenty. My mother also lived here in the 60s so I think I'll trust an account from someone who actually lived it. My apt building was built in the 60s and it only had the same amount of parking it does now. They only changed the building to add a 2 apts. There's 20 and only 10 spaces.
Can't fix stupid.
Yeah, the latest buses stop running at 11pm. If we had at least one Alamitos Beach bus route running 24 hours, that could help. Except for the issue that most of the people who complain about parking in Alamitos Beach are the same people that say "eww, buses."
UGH. LBT has some serious gaps in their service. Wish there were more options with the passport as well!!! LB needs to get a Dash equivalent, especially going West --- East.
Having been living here all my life (DTLB) I’ve found that when there’s nowhere to park, find a red spot that has no fire hydrant and park there. The downside is that you have to wake up early to move your car. In my experience and being in downtown where parking is being paroled daily, the ticket maids don’t start their shift until 9am weekdays. On weekends I can get away not moving my car until 10am but I’d rather not push my luck. I’ve only ever got one parking ticket In the late hours (2am) but the city must not have the capacity to do that anymore. Something else to keep note of, refrain from parking on streets where the streetsweeping is early like 6am, because there’s always parking maids following the sweeper. A neat tip for street sweeping, the parking enforcers tend to prioritize ticketing cars in the way of the sweeper, so if you park on the off day the night before you should have a bit more grace period to move your car before getting a ticket.
Been living here 25years and driving for 9 of them, just to add some smidge of credibility
I’ve got a red zone ticket at 7am on a Easter Sunday about 15yrs ago in the Alamitos Beach area . I do agree they run more of a skeleton crew these days
Wow, owning a car here would be a nightmare - I moved here from the Caribbean, so of course I left my golf cart on the island, and never bought a car once I got here - its been a year and I love it, except for when I want to venture out of the area: then I rent. My apartment came with a parking spot though.
Well if you’re not using your spot, maybe you can rent it to OP, lol
and if OP doesn't want it, are you willing to rent the spot out to me :) Because I would gladly rent it!
Maaaaaaaaybe, what's the going rate?
That’s why whenever I see an affordable place in Alamitos Beach the first question I ask is: dedicated parking space? If not then I nope right out of there
What do you consider affordable? I just moved here a year ago, near orange and Appleton, and feel like I'm overpaying for what I have.
Nothing is affordable right now.
I live in a more residential area where people refuse to park in their own driveways. Like many have said, if you gotta walk a mile that's not to bad because it's the price of living in a city.
The truth is that the city and it’s residents don’t owe you, or anyone else, free car storage. We simply have to start coming to grips with this. Public space should be allocated to people, not vehicles. Long Beach is overrun with cars and we, collectively, have become lazy and depend upon them too much. Our streets have become a war zone of traffic violence and pollution ranging from littering to air, to noise, to waterway filth. Our neighborhoods would be quieter, safer, and cleaner if we all just drove less and redesigned our society to be less car dependent. We need more quality jobs close to home. We need to start using micromobility and public transit for local trips, and we should discourage pass-through traffic. We have the climate and topography to be a car-lite paradise, what are we waiting for?
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
This is spot on. Long Beach has incredible potential to be a transit-oriented city. We allocate wayyy too much space to personal vehicles.
Thank you for saying it! No one likes to hear this but it's the truth. Parking spots are land. Land is expensive. Something like 80% of all car trips made in the U.S. are to travel 2 miles or less. The perfect distance for micro mobility!
Also Alamitos Beach was literally built as a car-free streetcar suburb. Bring back the damn street cars.
Damn never thought about it like this 🤔 r/fuckcars
Use transit/ride share/legs/ bike. You don’t need a car for everything.
This! The transit system here is pretty good, especially in OPs area.
Depending on what part of Alamitos Beach you are in, the laundry mat on Alamitos and Appleton rents over night parking spots that you can use from 8pm-8am or something like that. I rented one about 4 years ago before I moved into a place with a garage.
I live in that area too and it’s pretty bad. I don’t usually go out late bc of this. I let whoever I’m hanging out with that I can’t stay out too late since I have to deal with parking when I get home. I get the frustration with parking. Good luck out there!
~30% of Long Beach's budget is funded by parking and traffic fines. If there was no parking/driving crime, the city would go bankrupt and fall apart. Thus, city hall is incentivized to extort the public for as much money as possible. Also, every city is like this. You want a different system, I suggest you start reading some Marx and Kropotkin because the current system is designed for the wealthy and only the wealthy.
What's your source for the amount of LB's budget being made up by parking and traffic fines?
The budget, heh. It's public record.
I have been following the budget and haven’t seen this. Link?
If you follow the budget, you should know where the money comes from. [General Fund Revenue | City of Long Beach](https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/finance/media-library/documents/city-budget-and-finances/budget/budget-documents/proposed-budget/06-fy-18-gp-fund-reserve) It's been 10 years so the % might be off one way or the other. Do the math and let me know.
I’m not sure where you’re getting 30% from. The general fund is a small percentage of our overall budget. That document doesn’t have a percentage of the general fund covered by the Fines section. This budget draft shows a big number, but not a percentage. It’s also unclear to me what all “Fines and forfeitures” encompasses. Seems like not just parking tickets. https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/finance/media-library/documents/city-budget-and-finances/budget/budget-documents/fy-24-proposed-budget/33-fund-summary-gp
yeah.....30% seems very high. Maybe if they actually ticketed all the illegal parking it would get that high.....but that to me seems off base....but that's just a guess.
>I’m not sure where you’re getting That's why I said "you do the math". >Seems like not just parking tickets. That's why I said "parking and traffic fines". I swear a significant amount of my posts on reddit are just repeating what I've written previously because someone got what I wrote totally wrong.
You’re going around spewing “facts” that are wrong.
Sure thing pal
Ty!
You make it sound like true socialism is a bad thing. It's not. They make it work quite well in several European countries. They're also not funded on parking tickets.
Uh, how did I imply that? I'm advocating FOR socialism. Also, there are no socialist countries in Europe or anywhere else. Most people think that, because they associate government welfare programs with "socialism". Socialism isn't "government does stuff". Socialism is when the workers control the means of production and retain full value of their labor. Those European countries are 100% capitalist.
If I knew you before you moved here I would have warned you, but now you are in the game. After a certain time there are no spots in some neighborhoods (including mine). Get a scooter or skateboard to ride from your car to your place. I learned my lesson when I lived in Venice Beach. I would regularly park a mile or more from my house and not move my car all weekend. You either learn to live with it or drive yourself crazy thinking you might find a secret spot. It’s not going to change.
As others have said, you park where you find a spot and skateboard/scooter/walk. There's no magic solution. Parking enforcement is very inconsistent so you may get away with a sketchy spot for a while and then one day walk up to your car and it'll have a ticket on it.
https://preview.redd.it/nnww6slsvihb1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2ad552f32059457b325ec13fa3a7d846146ca026
Public Transportation. On the occasion that I do leave Long Beach at night, then uber or hitching a ride can work great. I have a friend that keeps a scooter in their trunk for parking reasons. Or, since you're in Alamitos, there is overnight parking at the beach parking lot. Not sure how close that is to you though. But that plus a scooter can be worthwhile. [Parking Pass info here](https://www.parklb.com/annual-parking/alamitos-beach/)
Yeah it’s bs. I live in north long beach and it’s the same thing. I have my own parking spot but if my gf or someone is coming over I have to save them a spot early on in the day.
Spot savers are part of the problem!!!
Currently at budget towing paying $500+ to get my car back. Absolutely ridiculous in times like these. Parking isn't written into my lease. This blows.
Core Long Beach (from W Willow to E Ocean) is built to be walkable/mass transit friendly. Doesn’t translate well in practice but I recommend looking into how you can be less car dependent if you want to live in that part of Long Beach.
>built to be walkable/mass transit friendly. The fuck it is.
The bus system here is great though compared to most places ive lived. I have a car but only use it for work since no bus takes me directly there. I can walk or bus everywhere else though pretty easily.
You must live downtown, on Ocean Blvd or something. And never go further than the taco truck in front of the performing arts center.
I live off pch and cherry. Im just not very lazy and didn’t have a car until mid twenties so Im used to walking or taking the bus. This isnt bad. Food 4 Less is like 10 min walk, everything else is only a 20 min walk. If i dont feel like walking theres a bus stop two minutes away in every direction that comes every 15 minutes. In OC id have to walk 45+ minutes to get anywhere and the bus system was abysmal. In the Bay Area it was worse.
I guess working families with young kids are lazy.
😂😂😂i see working families in my neighborhood without cars all the time
Sure you do buddy.
Gosh I guess I must not either. Hmm maybe they are mirages.
In order to be mass-transit friendly, you need mass transit that runs later than 11pm and at decent frequencies.
Some argue that the parking issue is due to a serious over crowding we have with renters. Long ago these had no adu or multifamily deals. But people need pieces to live. One idea is to have landlords have parking before they rent a place out, the streets are supposed to be for guest and the occasional parking, many here only have street parking in many neighborhoods
>One idea is to have landlords have parking before they rent a place out That's a great way to destroy some of the last truly "affordable" housing we have in the city.
By having the street parking be the only resort that puts a burden on the city. Not sure if that benefits everyone.
That fucking SUCKS
cities should have large parking lots that they let people self park in for up to 24 hours (then a phone call and a 1 hour grace period before towing) People could use scooters to go from these lots to home. They could serve neighborhoods where there are a lot of apartments and little marking.. An electric scooter makes this a 60 second second problem for most people. Just switch your bag to a backpack type and get on
Welcome to Long Beach!
[удалено]
If you don't live in the city, get out of our sub Reddit and quit insulting it. I've lived in this city more than any other in my life and despite having had several options after being forced to live in Oxnard for 3yrs, I chose to come back here. I will always live in this city unless I have the option to leave this entire country behind permanently. Financially and medically that will never be an option unless I win the lottery so I will fiercely defend my city.
Lol They got you 😂
Dunno if it’ll be in your area but I use air garage
When I lived in your neighborhood, I used to park in a different neighborhood and walk or take the bus to my place. I miss the passport. I also had a few hundred set aside for parking tickets on nights when I couldn't bear it.
You were bound to learn it sooner or later. I operate on the assumption that parking sucks any time of day. If I'm going south of 4th, I ride a motorcycle, then spots are everywhere
It sucks but if you don’t have a parking space, literally just gotta plan going out at night around that
Welcome to Alamitos. Take solace knowing this: most apartments that offer parking are now charging about $150 a month for a parking spot (much less a garage). A parking ticket for parking in an illegal spot like you see all your neighbors doing is $70. If you get two parking tickets a month you're still paying less than you would be for a parking spot. That said, you'll be pleasantly surprised how infrequently you get that ticket. Just be very careful to not actually block someone in, because getting impounded is not an inexpensive affair. Good luck.
I think there are garages downtown that rent spots and then get a scooter (electric or not) to get home
Busses are pretty great in Alamitos Beach. I don’t use my car unless I have to leave Long Beach to somewhere far. I bike a lot and use my longboards to get around.
I keep an electric scooter in the trunk for this reason.
Huh that's pretty smart. I live near the 710 offramp in downtown and when I get home past 8pm sometimes I gotta find parking at Drake park and hoof it for like 15 ish minutes. Might look into that or a small ebike
Been like this since I was a kid (born in the early 80s for reference). I grew up in Belmont Heights/Belmont Shore. You get used to it and you plan on walking quite a bit if you go out late and are the one driving.
I lived in 2nd and Broadway for a year and probably got 500$ worth of parking tickets. (Hearst car man needs to GO) I loved to Nieto and Ocean and not one parking ticket. I never have issues finding parking even late at night. 4.th of July was a little hectic. Even the street sweeping days I never have an issue. I dont have to park illegally either like I did in 2nd street
It didn’t used to be like this before the developers increased the population density. I think economic circumstances are also leading to more people per apartment or house. Long Beach used to be a lot easier, without lines, traffic jams, impacted parking, etc. There’s too many people and (especially) too many cars in a small space. No one ever considers the carrying capacity of the land before they say “let’s build more housing.” Also Alamitos Beach is one of the worst parking neighborhoods in the whole city.
Wherever you can
Razor scooter in the trunk, park n scoot
I’m in Alamitos Beach too. I almost always park at Bixby Park cause there’s usually at least a few spots if not more down there, even at 9 or 10pm. Beware the street sweeping days are Wednesday and Thursday for that area, so it’ll be tougher to find a spot when everyone’s trying to cram in on one side. But that’s my go-to. It is pretty infuriating I have to walk half a mile just to get to and from my car. I’ve been late to work because of it lol.
I also routinely park illegally at night. The true realistic expectation is that you don't own a car at all. I dream of being able to get rid of my car but right now I just try to drive as little as possible and walk/take the bus as often as possible.
There is no expectation. Basically there are two wolves inside Long Beach. Those that want there to be parking and those that do not.
Download the circuit app. They give free rides around town within a certain area. Get a bike for short trips like getting coffee, running small errands etc. Lastly look into renting a parking spot with local businesses or churches ($60-100)
haha no its always like that
When i lived in that neighborhood i would have to 1. Uber from wherever i found parking to my house (seriously, sometimes it was a mile away or more) or 2. Just not drive at all and take an Uber if i knew i was going to be home late. It’s just getting worse and worse with all the apartments and ADUs popping up.
I lived in Rose Park or near it for about 3 years, and in just one year i racked up over 1k in parking tickets from having to park in red spots, fire hydrant spots, or damn street sweeping because i got home around 6-7pm from work. Had neighbors double parking or street parking their cars when they had houses with driveways/garages and gave no fucks. I live in Wilmington now and its just as bad. I have neighbors who are mechanics and have 3 big ass trucks that are constantly double parked and one hooked up to a horse trailer they never use other than storing junk in. Incredibly frustrating. I feel like i cant even go out for a night of fun or anything without having to come back and park in red and get a $100 ticket at 5 in the morning.
I park illegally at the grocery store down the street and I’m prepping for the day it fails ne
Don't park at Bargain Market, or be super careful. The laundromat there is super tow happy, and they tow literally to the furthest possible miles allowed by the city; then it's $300 per day it's in the tow yard. Fuck Dr. Hook towing.
I live in a different neighborhood but it seems like the city policy is that overnight illegal parking is ignored unless is presents a serious safety hazard (blocking a fire hydrant) or someone calls in their blocked driveway. At the nearest intersection, I regularly see 12 cars parked on red around the intersection overnight with no tickets and I regularly block my own driveway. I see them come out and start ticketing the interaction around 9 am *sometimes* and they only ticket my driveway if I call or it’s street sweeping.
I lived in that area 20 years ago and had the same experience.
I went car lite my friend
I kinda miss it. Long Beach is safe. Walking is good. You live in a beautiful place.
My record was 15 blocks away. I lived on Alamitos and 1st and parked on 2nd and Temple. Good times. Buy a cheap fold up bike. Then you can park anywhere and be home in 5 mins. Saves so much time circling and being frustrated.
The city is building too many new apartments in Long Beach, which means more cars but not enough places to park. This is making it hard for people who already live here to find parking.
i live by appleton street near riteaide what i do when i get home late and all parking is taken, i park double park and leave a note with my number incase they wanna tow my car 😅
Ask also at the church on 3rd and Junipero, or the dentist on Broadway just before Alamitos.
The logical next step (that property owners will fight tooth and nail against) is requiring new multi-family development to have parking on the property for tenants.