Parking furor in Oakland: A cautionary tale for SF

The anger in Oakland about that city's draconian new parking policies should be a cautionary tale for our Board of Supervisors, which is considering something similar for San Francisco's neighborhoods. So far SF has been soaking city drivers with impunity by steadily raising parking fees, parking meter rates, and eliminating street parking.

Yesterday the Examiner's Ken Garcia warned city officials of the potential backlash from city residents if the city implements a similar policy in our neighborhoods:

This is how far it’s gone: The study came to the head-shaking conclusion that there aren’t parking meters in residential neighborhoods, without following up that discovery with the common-sense answer, "Because there shouldn’t be." Our cash-hungry transportation planners have determined that taxing your residential streets and sidewalks as a way to generate more cash falls within the realm of reason.

Allen Michaan, owner of the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, tried to warn city officials a few months ago in the Berkeley Daily Planet.

Also in the Daily Planet, J. Douglas Allen-Taylor provided a personal account of how punitive parking policies can damage business in downtown Oakland.