Here’s a math problem for you. Cal State Long Beach has parking spaces for about 14,000 vehicles. The university has an enrollment of about 38,000, plus another couple thousand staffers and faculty. Let’s make it as easy as possible and call it 40,000 people using the campus. So, the math question is: What gives?
The overflow at the commuter campus has been a problem since the old 60 Cent Lot south of campus along Seventh Street closed in the 1970s. Vehicles spilled into the surrounding communities, prompting residents to establish parking districts barring vehicles from parking longer than one hour. College Park Estates (now University Park Estates) on the university’s south side, Park Estates on the west and La Marina on the east were among the first to ban college students and now, homeowners on the campus’ north side have established a permit parking district along parts of Los Santos Drive, Garford Street and Chatwin, Marber, San Anseline and Lave avenues. The addition of those streets means there’s no student parking about three blocks deep off Atherton Avenue from Bellflower Boulevard east past Palo Verde Avenue to Iroquois Avenue.
It’s so hard now to find a place to park for free, that you might as well just take the bus, which is what Cal State Long Beach wants you to do anyway. The university subsidizes passes that allow students to ride for free on Long Beach Transit buses.
Meanwhile, some residences in the recently established parking districts don’t like having to deal with the decals or stickers that residents are required to put on their cars to park in front of their homes. Further, they blame the university for not providing enough parking for its students and forcing them into outlying communities.
OK, so, the university decides to alleviate the situation somewhat by allowing parking for about 150 cars on the grass in front of the Walter Pyramid on Atherton Avenue.
“We wanted to do everything we could to provide parking,” explained university spokesperson Terri Carbaugh. “So we set up a temporary lot in front of the Pyramid to create overflow parking spots – and by ‘temporary,’ we were thinking it could be available for up to 12 months.”
But then, again, the residents complained. Homeowners along Atherton, used to seeing the Pyramid and its large grassy entrance, were now treated to chainlink fencing wrapped in graphics ironically proclaiming the university’s latest motto, “No Barriers,” and behind the barrier, a lot of cars.
“The neighbors along Atherton view that grassy area as a shared space for both the campus and the community,” said Carbaugh. “They lodged a complain with President (Jane) Conoley about the use of space, they thought the signage was too bold and it was their preference that we remove the lot altogether.”
In another display of NIMBYs getting their way, Conoley, after discussions with Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell and 4th District Councilman Daryl Supernaw, decided to remove the temporary lot altogether.
“It was really well intended, but we could’ve done better with community outreach,” said Carbaugh.
She said the last day of parking on the Pyramid grass will be today.
Contact Tim Grobaty at 562-714-2116, tgrobaty@scng.com, @grobaty on Twitter.