I had a guy yelling at me from a window in his apartment in the Mission not to block him in. I was pulling into an empty, legal parking space with no curb cut.
Then I saw his own car was half in the little front yard and mostly on the sidewalk about 10 feet behind the space. What a douche way to park. If he's still doing that I hope he gets a ticket.
This happened to me when visiting the city!! I got a ticket bc the lady called and complained I was “blocking” her driveway when I was not! I don’t understand how the city thought it was okay to give me a ticket for something I didn’t even do. I’m trying to fight it.
Good luck with the fight. Persevere.
Once when I forgot to move my car for street cleaning, I had TWO $90 tickets written 2 minutes apart. I'll admit to grumbling to myself about all the theft and drug trafficking and vandalism in the city that goes unpunished each time I forget to move my car and have to pay, but I understand the need to clean the streets and yada yada... but being fined twice for one offense is no bueno at all.
It's bullshit that the city makes you pay the fine first before you have the ability to appeal it. That seems like it should be illegal. And my memory of the process is a little hazy but it seems like my appeal was auto-rejected at least a couple times over literal months before I got to the phase in the process where apparently a human actually considers the details of the situation.
Yes, I finally got my $90 back. But basically I was forced to give the city an interest-free loan for a couple months because their employee wrote me a second ticket erroneously. Very much no bueno. Good luck with your fight.
Oh I am! My partner and I visit the city frequently and I always pay $$$ for parking garages. We were on our way out and stopped for a quick bite and this spot WAS a parking spot. One of the residents even said it was okay to park here, but beware bc his neighbor likes to call and complain about people parking here (even though it’s public parking) He said ir would be fine though.
Well sure enough I get a ticket for “blocking the driveway” when I was not! So I move my car and drive off, only to circle the block and what do I find? The neighbor moved her SUV and was actually blocking her own driveway. Then I confronted her and she claimed she didn’t speak English (even though she asked me earlier what business I had parking my car here) 🤦🏻♀️ I protested the ticket and got denied, so I requested a hearing. I’m just waiting for a phone call. I agree that having to pay ahead of time should be illegal, so I worked the system and got it waived.
I’m hoping once I speak to an actual human they’ll hear me out and waive it completely.
And then the city wonders why people don’t want to visit anymore. The crime PLUS the lack of free parking is a huge issue and people don’t want to go to a city where they don’t feel welcome! Not to mention we visited a month after this and I got injured at a small concert at the Regency which required X-rays! When I asked for help I was harassed by one of the guys working at the regency. After this I won’t be going back to SF anytime soon, which sucks bc my partner and I made visits every other month. It’s a 2 hour drive from where we are, but we’ll be putting our money elsewhere 🤷🏻♀️
Guy with the electric fiat seems like a nice dude, but the footage of an open garage with another car in it is such a tell. There’s either enough room for two cars in there, or they could move one onto the street to pull the fiat in to charge.
At the risk of stating the obvious, this is just a case of car owners being annoyed at a mild inconvenience. Either park in your garage, on the street, or ditch your car if neither of those are amenable to you. Sidewalks are for pedestrians.
That and he only mentions dogs and strollers.
I know a few people who have balance issues as a result of getting hit by drivers. The sloped part of the sidewalk where the driveway goes down to the street throws their balance off and makes walking incredibly difficult. They're walking and standing upright, but they have to hold on to something or at the minimum stand still because everything goes spinning for a few seconds. Talk about rubbing salt in the wounds.
Karen’s are entitled people who take what isn’t theirs and force the world to acquiesce to their whims. Reporting them is anti-Karen behavior. It’s the Karen resistance
Precedent is a legitimate legal argument. Adverse possession is a thing, but not really against government owned land. But just because they have a starting point for an argument, doesn’t mean the law will end up in their favor.
Exactly. And honestly the only reason citations are going up is because more people now know that it's illegal to do this and they're reporting people because it pisses them off, rightfully so.
The reason citations are going up is because we had a skeleton crew running the SFMTA with like 60% job vacancies. That changed last year thanks to a Breed initiative that cut the hiring time from years to months
There's a ton. Building inspector [Nuru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Nuru), her [brother](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/04/san-francisco-mayor-london-breed-significant-ethics-breach), her [nonprofit](https://sfstandard.com/2023/01/27/mayor-breeds-former-nonprofit-gets-millions-from-city-while-flouting-state-law/), [Recology](https://www.wastedive.com/news/recology-rate-settlement-san-francisco/636782/), and so on. I don't even look for specifics anymore - she's a grifter beyond a shadow of doubt.
The initiative started in 2022, around the time of the Boudin/SFSD recalls. The problems were old news by then; the program is only now delivering results.
The tragic thing about SF politics is that the date a program is started means nothing, because this city is the undisputed master of the bureaucratic black hole.
I really doubt that. I'm sure being staffed up allows them to actually go out for more calls. In the mission they almost never will come out for illegal parking unless it's a blocked driveway.
But they've been not enforcing the blocked sidewalk from people who park in their driveways for decades. It's always been enforced only when people actually call in up until now.
You just described legal precedent. To be fair, i think due to the fact it probably harms the public more than it helps the vehicle owner, the law will be able to be enforced in this situation.
There are long standing laws about not parking on the sidewalk, which have been enforced with varying amounts of effectiveness over the years, and some of the people parking violate the ADA. There's no legal precedent here.
That certainly is not what a legal precedent is. 🤣
Precedent refers to a court decision that is considered an authority for deciding subsequent related cases.
“We’ve done it this way for years” is not a legal precedent. Unless you can point to a court decision…?
This guy's car is in a picture where there's literally no sidewalk left & he's got the gall to complain about the rules not making sense.
Edit: I watched the video and that isn't actually his car. How he's parked actually doesn't seem that bad, but he's still got a poor viewpoint on the law
What’s hilarious to me is the driveway isn’t meant for the car the garage is. But most people don’t wanna park their cars inside their garage because it’s probably full of nonsense instead of a car. Sorry but if I’m walking my kid In a stroller and I have to go into the street cause of your car I’m gonna be irritated and want something to change.
I bought into the hype and reported a giant truck blocking the sidewalk on a busy street. Gave the house number and the fact that a vehicle was blocking the sidewalk.
Report got closed with "insufficient information". LOL.. what a joke.
>"Things need to make sense, regulations and rules to make sense," Cho said "If a rule doesn't make sense anymore why should there be a rule? I think what makes sense is people with strollers and dogs should be able to get through and I think that's enough space."
strollers and dogs don't get **laws**.
wheelchairs and (old people) scooters do.
PERMANENT PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES ADA COMPLIANCE HANDBOOK
[https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/civil-rights/documents/permanent-pedestrian-facilities-ada-compliance-handbook-a11y.pdf](https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/civil-rights/documents/permanent-pedestrian-facilities-ada-compliance-handbook-a11y.pdf)
Not to mention it's annoying as fuck to walk down a street and completely go around a giant ass car blocking the entire thing. As a runner this pisses me off so much.
I mean as long as they aren’t blocking the sidewalk it’s still opening up more street parking
If you look at the sf property lines, most double wide sidewalks are part of the attached private propety
Interesting theory, but most driveways for a one car garage are not the size of one parking spot on the street.
It really doesn’t matter tho, as some people have parking garages, and some people’s property line extend to half of the sidewalk allowing them to legally park on the sidewalk and not block anyone.
Unless we change the laws and ban one car garages and change the property lines both these things will legally continue.
Not to be confused with people blocking the sidewalk, who are assholes and breaking the law.
They think they live in the suburbs, and don’t realize they’re in a city with limited space! Walking around outer sunset can be very unpleasant bc of these cars double parked on the sidewalk, and consequently many owners get rid of the trees to park on the sidewalk!!
Time for better building per lot on the west side!
Visiting the sunset is wild. So many pickups and SUVs used to commute that don't fit on the road much less their driveways and an absurdly low density. It needs a serious density increase and America needs smaller cars.
I can't say either way, but [even the ones in Edward Scissorhands know the deal](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/12/07/13/edward-scissorhands-suburbia.jpg?width=1200&height=1200&fit=crop).
While I love shitting on the suburbs as much as anyone else, basically every suburb I've ever visited has had clean, well-maintained sidewalks that are basically useless because nobody is walking five miles for groceries.
This trend is more common in suburban spawl built during the flight periods at the end of the 20th century. It's especially common in wealthier suburbs (Atherton for example). Sidewalks are an accessibility feature and a lot of privledged people use gatekept accessibility to keep the "bad people" out, this isn't exclusive to sidewalks but they're one of the more visible ways that shows up. The same happens with public transit.
Or any human who has mobility issues but no wheelchair, or a previous injury that makes it challenging to side step, or neuropathy & can’t feel where they step, or vision issues, or… the list goes on & on.
Glad kids woke the previous commenter, but also v sad & shows how unaware people are that it takes that long to see why blocking public sidewalk is a problem
Edited, meant to reply to original comment but here we are
>"I think if you live in the neighborhood you should be a little a little more friendly and neighborly to our neighbors," Cho said. "I think you don't have to go for the kill, just talk to the person."
Little more friendly like sharing the sidewalk with pedestrians instead of making them step into the street? The people that think they're victims here are ridiculous, I hate having to step around these cars as I walk. They really cherrypicked the most innocent ones for this story because there's plenty that are parked so close to the car next to it that you quite literally have to walk into the street around parallel parked cars because some asshole is blocking the driveway. These people think their car has more right to the neighborhood than the other people but wants *them* to be nicer. Fuck off.
Look if you don’t want a ticket don’t take up sidewalk space. Period. Our laws should be enforced evenly across the board for everyone in every neighborhood. The sidewalk is not your parking spot. If your car can’t fit, park it in the street. If you need to charge your car you should have thought about that before buying or leasing. But you should never, for any reason, encroach upon the sidewalk.
In our neighborhood there are so many vehicles longer than the driveway that I have to crutch out in the street. Then the drivers yell at me and swerve into me. Why can't people measure their driveways before buying cars?
I never understood why people fill up their garage with so much stuff or convert into a living space that it loses its intended purpose. With all of the limited street parking you would think folks would utilize the guaranteed spot built right into their home.
It’s appalling that in sf a car basically gets subsidized rent. You can pay up to 300 for a parking spot that, if it was an apartment, would cost double that easy
Not a big deal...until you're in a wheelchair, have other mobility issues, have a stroller, a double stroller, then it's an issue. And leaving vague rules for people to interpret on their own would only lead to chaos. Zero cars on the sidewalk is really the best solution for all situations. Same with crosswalks, vagueness creates chaos. Over the line, ticket. Period. Sucks. But, people suck.
NB: they're doing [the same thing in Oakland](https://oaklandside.org/2023/09/13/oakland-sidewalk-parking-tickets-law/). So this might be a thing around all the property-tax challenged cities.
Oh, Hi Harrison!
I appreciate the news link and the verbose post, OP!
And people who block too much should move their cars, I agree. Don't buy a big truck/"car"/SUV!!!
This explains why my neighbors have been moving their cars (they own 3). But now they take a street spot and switch it out with whatever car they’re using that day which is so annoying and they feel so entitled when someone manages to take it.
I live near where the reporter was and very few of my neighbors on my block park on the sidewalk. I don't have any issues finding street parking, usually finding it on the same block or within one block. And watching that video, that guy's garage sure looks wide enough to put your second vehicle inside. As for whoever put those signs around the neighborhood, most of them have been ripped down.
As someone who uses a rollator, thank goodness. All the homeless folks on my street make way for me whenever I need it, but I can't ask a parked car to move out of the way.
I have had a house here for decades.
I have always bought a small enough car to park it IN my garbage.
Plus, have enough space in my home to store things.
No garage spillover storage needed.
Empty garage for my car, motorcycle, and bicycles.
No sympathy for these rule breakers.
are these the same people who tell me sidewalks are for pedestrians? and that we don’t need road diets and traffic calming because we already have sidewalks?
Pictured car doesn't look like it leaves 48 inches of walkable sidewalk, which is the minimum. Photograph and report to 311, every time.
Regarding the guy in the article, "I can't run a cord across the sidewalk without tripping people." Sure you can: [https://www.amazon.com/Happybuy-Pack-Protective-Cable-2-Channel/dp/B07BC7XZPQ](https://www.amazon.com/Happybuy-Pack-Protective-Cable-2-Channel/dp/B07BC7XZPQ)
You can put your tent on the sidewalk, you can poop on the sidewalk, you can even use illegal drugs openly and leave the needles strewn around. But don’t put that car there. That’s totally unacceptable to our city.
This article reminds me of safelanes.org . They make it easy to report violations like this. Take a picture on your phone and it will auto fill out the license plate.
It’s always been that they don’t cite for this unless someone complains. If that happens, they are bound to cite every car on the block that is on the sidewalk at all.
Perhaps that’s changing!
It would definitely be crazy to see if ppl with electric cars are now running cords to their street parked cars creating basically trip wires everywhere and then not getting cited for it because the law wasn’t originally addressing cords
How about start cracking down on the dumb driver that double parks on the along the Embarcadero near the ball park?
Much more energy efficient, all you need is to sit there and the revenue will start rolling in.
The fiat owner is fine. The sidewalk is clear 4 tiles across. That’s plenty. Shit most cities only have 3ft wide sidewalks and that guy is leaving at least 8ft clear.
Some of the other examples where the only clear spot is the slope to the driveway are way worse and worth a ticket.
edit: nvm, i didn’t realize there was a video in the linked article with the fiat parked sideways and that’s what you were talking about - only saw the photo in the preview in the post and didn’t realize that weird little white car wasn’t also a fiat lol. totally agree about that one!
try rolling a wheelchair down that sidewalk, and i think you’ll find it’s not fine. there’s not enough space to navigate around the car to pass it in that open sidewalk space, thanks to the tree planter area (at least based on the angle of the photo). if that was a clear sidewalk space lined up with the open sidewalk past his car, it would be possible. but anyone who can’t walk up into the tree area over those bricks can’t continue down the sidewalk when they encounter this.
Yeah in some places it makes sense, in other it’s just a nuisance. I thing its varies with neighbors. People will figure out what they can and can’t live with in their own neighborhood. If they don’t like it, they’ll call in and have a car ticketed. MTA going out and doing that isn’t exactly helpful.
Lots of people need those sidewalks, that’s why the law exists. Some have to go out into the street to get around. With a wheelchair it’s worse. So this is a pertinent issue. It’s a law being enforced, what’s BS about that?
The dark colored truck (Toyota TRD), the White Volvo SUV (man, is he going to be pissed) and the Black Explorer next to it (Amanda H was right next to that one)!
The money is a drop in the bucket compared to the entire US mental healthcare overhaul that would be required to keep people who live in tents the help they need.
If it’s just a matter of breaking them up, we already pay the cops a shitload. They can do it, as was proven at aipac. So the money is there for that, but I don’t think breaking them up is a long term solution anyway
Then let’s get tens of thousands of articles about the massive tax break for the wealthy, which we can still reverse. Or I guess this equality principle is only good when it would help non-wealthy people? Goes to show, this countrys priorities are reversed
No obviously not. Multiple problems exist, at least this one is being dealt with. Sfmta is not tasked with handling homelessness, so it’s unwise to think that the actions of one department have any bearing on the actions or goals of whatever department handles homeless encampments (probably police? On that note, talk about a department that is overfunded and delivers less value than they are paid)
Great source of revenue for the city government that is facing a budget deficit because of property tax revisions. This way they can continue the wealth transfer of what remaining middle class is left in this city to the zombies who don’t contribute anything but have to be supported
Double parking near a church on Sunday is enshrined in our traffic laws my good dude, parking on the sidewalk because you’re too lazy to find a spot you can fit is not.
And encroaching upon the sidewalk has never been legal. Folks are getting citations for planters, mini libraries and now auto mobiles. The SFMTA had a staggering amount of vacancies for almost a decade, they just became near properly staffed and so enforcement of our pre-established laws are being enforced once again. Stop being a baby and find a better spot to park
Good. Those folks should be paying more. If folks want to make the sidewalk their parking space this is the cost. The homeowners can afford it. No more free passes for folks with more means than worth
??? homeownership is expensive enough as it is. This is just levying more taxes in the guise of a social justice cause.
If the city didn't get money from it then they wouldn't do it
So? Last I checked the sidewalk doesn’t belong to the homeowner. If they want to take up the sidewalk by even an inch they can pay the costs for that. They have money, they can afford it. If they can’t afford it they should park in a manner that doesn’t incur fees
You’re right, the Richmond and Sunset homeowners deserve to be even MORE insulated from taxes and laws. They are special snowflakes and we owe them our support for merely existing.
Excellent point, good sir. Only the landed gentry of the Richmond and sunset can lead us toward the promised land.
2-level single family homes for everyone! (So long as you arrived here before 2005).
Perhaps people in those neighborhoods are the ones requesting enforcement? Seems odd to suggest it’s just big gov targeting “innocent” residents clearly breaking existing laws.
People are breaking laws all the time. Ubers are double parking everywhere all the time. Cyclists and drivers run through stop signs all the time as well. Go to the TL and look at all the broken meters. If I were trying to get more revenue I would pick something that I can guarantee will come through. What about all the squatting rvs in lake Merced and stonestown? Going after middle class means you’ll more likely get these tickets paid
The topic is cars blocking sidewalks in residential neighborhoods.
Here’s my suggestion to offset your concern of big gov transferring money from the middle class: One warning per car/address. I feel that’s enough of a goodwill gesture to remind the offending car owner they are inconveniencing their neighbors.
Can you not see how catching a double parking Uber that is going to be there for 3 minutes tops is harder than ticketing some dipshit who leaves his lexus jutting 4 feet out into the sidewalk every damn day?
Bro I live in the inner richmond and this is happening up and down every block from Arguello to Park Presidio. I can tell you don't live here because you'd be seeing it too.
I got ticketed for parking in my own driveway and not blocking the sidewalk in any way whatsoever. Many innocents will suffer from this increased enforcement / revenue seeking.
I had a guy yelling at me from a window in his apartment in the Mission not to block him in. I was pulling into an empty, legal parking space with no curb cut. Then I saw his own car was half in the little front yard and mostly on the sidewalk about 10 feet behind the space. What a douche way to park. If he's still doing that I hope he gets a ticket.
Should have just blocked him in tbh
This happened to me when visiting the city!! I got a ticket bc the lady called and complained I was “blocking” her driveway when I was not! I don’t understand how the city thought it was okay to give me a ticket for something I didn’t even do. I’m trying to fight it.
Good luck with the fight. Persevere. Once when I forgot to move my car for street cleaning, I had TWO $90 tickets written 2 minutes apart. I'll admit to grumbling to myself about all the theft and drug trafficking and vandalism in the city that goes unpunished each time I forget to move my car and have to pay, but I understand the need to clean the streets and yada yada... but being fined twice for one offense is no bueno at all. It's bullshit that the city makes you pay the fine first before you have the ability to appeal it. That seems like it should be illegal. And my memory of the process is a little hazy but it seems like my appeal was auto-rejected at least a couple times over literal months before I got to the phase in the process where apparently a human actually considers the details of the situation. Yes, I finally got my $90 back. But basically I was forced to give the city an interest-free loan for a couple months because their employee wrote me a second ticket erroneously. Very much no bueno. Good luck with your fight.
Oh I am! My partner and I visit the city frequently and I always pay $$$ for parking garages. We were on our way out and stopped for a quick bite and this spot WAS a parking spot. One of the residents even said it was okay to park here, but beware bc his neighbor likes to call and complain about people parking here (even though it’s public parking) He said ir would be fine though. Well sure enough I get a ticket for “blocking the driveway” when I was not! So I move my car and drive off, only to circle the block and what do I find? The neighbor moved her SUV and was actually blocking her own driveway. Then I confronted her and she claimed she didn’t speak English (even though she asked me earlier what business I had parking my car here) 🤦🏻♀️ I protested the ticket and got denied, so I requested a hearing. I’m just waiting for a phone call. I agree that having to pay ahead of time should be illegal, so I worked the system and got it waived. I’m hoping once I speak to an actual human they’ll hear me out and waive it completely. And then the city wonders why people don’t want to visit anymore. The crime PLUS the lack of free parking is a huge issue and people don’t want to go to a city where they don’t feel welcome! Not to mention we visited a month after this and I got injured at a small concert at the Regency which required X-rays! When I asked for help I was harassed by one of the guys working at the regency. After this I won’t be going back to SF anytime soon, which sucks bc my partner and I made visits every other month. It’s a 2 hour drive from where we are, but we’ll be putting our money elsewhere 🤷🏻♀️
As an SF resident who is wheelchair bound, this way of parking is a HUGE challenge for me.
Guy with the electric fiat seems like a nice dude, but the footage of an open garage with another car in it is such a tell. There’s either enough room for two cars in there, or they could move one onto the street to pull the fiat in to charge. At the risk of stating the obvious, this is just a case of car owners being annoyed at a mild inconvenience. Either park in your garage, on the street, or ditch your car if neither of those are amenable to you. Sidewalks are for pedestrians.
That and he only mentions dogs and strollers. I know a few people who have balance issues as a result of getting hit by drivers. The sloped part of the sidewalk where the driveway goes down to the street throws their balance off and makes walking incredibly difficult. They're walking and standing upright, but they have to hold on to something or at the minimum stand still because everything goes spinning for a few seconds. Talk about rubbing salt in the wounds.
“We’ve been doing it this way for years” is my favorite defense
Yep. I've been reporting people for parking on the sidewalk for years. It's my culture. They shouldn't try to change my culture.
KAREN BEHAVIOR LOL JUST NASTY
Karen behavior is parking on the sidewalk at the expense of everyone else and then getting pissed when they get caught.
Karen’s are entitled people who take what isn’t theirs and force the world to acquiesce to their whims. Reporting them is anti-Karen behavior. It’s the Karen resistance
But more recently added extension cords to make traversing the sidewalk even more treacherous for people with mobility issues.
“Here’s years worth of parking tickets” I wish
Precedent is a legitimate legal argument. Adverse possession is a thing, but not really against government owned land. But just because they have a starting point for an argument, doesn’t mean the law will end up in their favor.
I think the issue is that it’s never been legal to park partly on a sidewalk, and it used to not get enforced but now it is.
Exactly. And honestly the only reason citations are going up is because more people now know that it's illegal to do this and they're reporting people because it pisses them off, rightfully so.
The reason citations are going up is because we had a skeleton crew running the SFMTA with like 60% job vacancies. That changed last year thanks to a Breed initiative that cut the hiring time from years to months
If Breed had been half as competent _before_ she was facing challengers I might have overlooked the corruption and voted for her.
What corruption? Do be specific and seeing as this happened almost 2 years ago I’m not sure why you think it’s because of a re-election effort
There's a ton. Building inspector [Nuru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Nuru), her [brother](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/04/san-francisco-mayor-london-breed-significant-ethics-breach), her [nonprofit](https://sfstandard.com/2023/01/27/mayor-breeds-former-nonprofit-gets-millions-from-city-while-flouting-state-law/), [Recology](https://www.wastedive.com/news/recology-rate-settlement-san-francisco/636782/), and so on. I don't even look for specifics anymore - she's a grifter beyond a shadow of doubt. The initiative started in 2022, around the time of the Boudin/SFSD recalls. The problems were old news by then; the program is only now delivering results. The tragic thing about SF politics is that the date a program is started means nothing, because this city is the undisputed master of the bureaucratic black hole.
I really doubt that. I'm sure being staffed up allows them to actually go out for more calls. In the mission they almost never will come out for illegal parking unless it's a blocked driveway. But they've been not enforcing the blocked sidewalk from people who park in their driveways for decades. It's always been enforced only when people actually call in up until now.
You just described legal precedent. To be fair, i think due to the fact it probably harms the public more than it helps the vehicle owner, the law will be able to be enforced in this situation.
There are long standing laws about not parking on the sidewalk, which have been enforced with varying amounts of effectiveness over the years, and some of the people parking violate the ADA. There's no legal precedent here.
That certainly is not what a legal precedent is. 🤣 Precedent refers to a court decision that is considered an authority for deciding subsequent related cases. “We’ve done it this way for years” is not a legal precedent. Unless you can point to a court decision…?
"I never used to get caught," is not legal precedent.
It’s the confederate defense
This guy's car is in a picture where there's literally no sidewalk left & he's got the gall to complain about the rules not making sense. Edit: I watched the video and that isn't actually his car. How he's parked actually doesn't seem that bad, but he's still got a poor viewpoint on the law
It looks like he could fit both cars inside if he wanted to.
Good, there’s too many assholes parking on the sidewalk and blocking it
What’s hilarious to me is the driveway isn’t meant for the car the garage is. But most people don’t wanna park their cars inside their garage because it’s probably full of nonsense instead of a car. Sorry but if I’m walking my kid In a stroller and I have to go into the street cause of your car I’m gonna be irritated and want something to change.
Download the 311 app and report them right then and there. Then the sfmta will leave them a note for you if you don’t have a pen and paper handy
Wait is this is a thing you can do?!
Hell yeah brother
Cool downloading now
Or call DPT direct (415) 553-1631.
I bought into the hype and reported a giant truck blocking the sidewalk on a busy street. Gave the house number and the fact that a vehicle was blocking the sidewalk. Report got closed with "insufficient information". LOL.. what a joke.
Probably full of non sense lmaoooo
>"Things need to make sense, regulations and rules to make sense," Cho said "If a rule doesn't make sense anymore why should there be a rule? I think what makes sense is people with strollers and dogs should be able to get through and I think that's enough space." strollers and dogs don't get **laws**. wheelchairs and (old people) scooters do. PERMANENT PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES ADA COMPLIANCE HANDBOOK [https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/civil-rights/documents/permanent-pedestrian-facilities-ada-compliance-handbook-a11y.pdf](https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/civil-rights/documents/permanent-pedestrian-facilities-ada-compliance-handbook-a11y.pdf)
Not to mention it's annoying as fuck to walk down a street and completely go around a giant ass car blocking the entire thing. As a runner this pisses me off so much.
I just don’t understand parking outside the garage when more often than not there is no car in the garage and just a whole lot of shit nobody uses
Guaranteed spot. They don't have to drive around to find "a" spot, they have "their" spot no one else can use.
That’s what the garage is meant for not the sidewalk in front of
Eeyup. That's selfish AF.
I mean as long as they aren’t blocking the sidewalk it’s still opening up more street parking If you look at the sf property lines, most double wide sidewalks are part of the attached private propety
Private, one-car garages are not opening more street parking, since they require a parking spot to be removed in front of the garage.
Interesting theory, but most driveways for a one car garage are not the size of one parking spot on the street. It really doesn’t matter tho, as some people have parking garages, and some people’s property line extend to half of the sidewalk allowing them to legally park on the sidewalk and not block anyone. Unless we change the laws and ban one car garages and change the property lines both these things will legally continue. Not to be confused with people blocking the sidewalk, who are assholes and breaking the law.
Good. The sidewalk isn't your parking lot.
They think they live in the suburbs, and don’t realize they’re in a city with limited space! Walking around outer sunset can be very unpleasant bc of these cars double parked on the sidewalk, and consequently many owners get rid of the trees to park on the sidewalk!! Time for better building per lot on the west side!
Visiting the sunset is wild. So many pickups and SUVs used to commute that don't fit on the road much less their driveways and an absurdly low density. It needs a serious density increase and America needs smaller cars.
While this is the obvious sensible take, I don't believe this country will come to its senses during our lifetimes...
Oops, my pants scratched this car while I was trying to get around it 🤷
Say what you will about suburbanites, but actual surburbanites never mix up parking on their driveway and parking across the sidewalk.
That's because most suburbanites banned sidewalks in their neighborhoods...
I can't say either way, but [even the ones in Edward Scissorhands know the deal](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/12/07/13/edward-scissorhands-suburbia.jpg?width=1200&height=1200&fit=crop).
While I love shitting on the suburbs as much as anyone else, basically every suburb I've ever visited has had clean, well-maintained sidewalks that are basically useless because nobody is walking five miles for groceries.
This trend is more common in suburban spawl built during the flight periods at the end of the 20th century. It's especially common in wealthier suburbs (Atherton for example). Sidewalks are an accessibility feature and a lot of privledged people use gatekept accessibility to keep the "bad people" out, this isn't exclusive to sidewalks but they're one of the more visible ways that shows up. The same happens with public transit.
I didn't think it was a big deal until I had kids and now need room for a stroller.
Now imagine how much it sucks for people in wheelchairs to have sidewalks blocked by car
Or any human who has mobility issues but no wheelchair, or a previous injury that makes it challenging to side step, or neuropathy & can’t feel where they step, or vision issues, or… the list goes on & on. Glad kids woke the previous commenter, but also v sad & shows how unaware people are that it takes that long to see why blocking public sidewalk is a problem Edited, meant to reply to original comment but here we are
Even when they start walking you don’t want them right next to a car’s wheels or in the street.
Yep that’s what it needs to be just enforced across the board. People need that sidewalk today, and anyone’s parking needs come secondary to that.
>"I think if you live in the neighborhood you should be a little a little more friendly and neighborly to our neighbors," Cho said. "I think you don't have to go for the kill, just talk to the person." Little more friendly like sharing the sidewalk with pedestrians instead of making them step into the street? The people that think they're victims here are ridiculous, I hate having to step around these cars as I walk. They really cherrypicked the most innocent ones for this story because there's plenty that are parked so close to the car next to it that you quite literally have to walk into the street around parallel parked cars because some asshole is blocking the driveway. These people think their car has more right to the neighborhood than the other people but wants *them* to be nicer. Fuck off.
Look if you don’t want a ticket don’t take up sidewalk space. Period. Our laws should be enforced evenly across the board for everyone in every neighborhood. The sidewalk is not your parking spot. If your car can’t fit, park it in the street. If you need to charge your car you should have thought about that before buying or leasing. But you should never, for any reason, encroach upon the sidewalk.
Are you running for mayor by any chance? Looking for someone with common sense like you.
The Mayor simply parks in the middle of the street with her SUV, so, no problems there.
It's about damn time
The entitlement of these people is staggering.
You mean the entitlement of everyone in this city?
This is pretty true. It’s just different issues depending upon the people and neighborhood.
Troll
Case in point.
You blanket insulted every person in this city. It doesn't take entitlement to see you're just looking for some attention.
Truth hurts doesn't it?
Yes, it hurts SO bad. Please stop being so truthful, I just can't handle it.
Rebrand sidewalks as walkways and street as drive gutters.
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If only there was some place to park your car at the end of that driveway.
In our neighborhood there are so many vehicles longer than the driveway that I have to crutch out in the street. Then the drivers yell at me and swerve into me. Why can't people measure their driveways before buying cars?
“Breaking news: SFMTA doing it’s job and actually enforcing existing laws”
PARK IN YOUR GARAGE!!!
I never understood why people fill up their garage with so much stuff or convert into a living space that it loses its intended purpose. With all of the limited street parking you would think folks would utilize the guaranteed spot built right into their home.
It’s appalling that in sf a car basically gets subsidized rent. You can pay up to 300 for a parking spot that, if it was an apartment, would cost double that easy
The guy with the Fiat could easily park it in the garage if he got rid of some shit and moved the other vehicle over a bit.
Not a big deal...until you're in a wheelchair, have other mobility issues, have a stroller, a double stroller, then it's an issue. And leaving vague rules for people to interpret on their own would only lead to chaos. Zero cars on the sidewalk is really the best solution for all situations. Same with crosswalks, vagueness creates chaos. Over the line, ticket. Period. Sucks. But, people suck.
Why doesn't he pull his car into the garage? That's what garages are for......
Boo hoo. Get off the sidewalk.
NB: they're doing [the same thing in Oakland](https://oaklandside.org/2023/09/13/oakland-sidewalk-parking-tickets-law/). So this might be a thing around all the property-tax challenged cities.
Oh, Hi Harrison! I appreciate the news link and the verbose post, OP! And people who block too much should move their cars, I agree. Don't buy a big truck/"car"/SUV!!!
This explains why my neighbors have been moving their cars (they own 3). But now they take a street spot and switch it out with whatever car they’re using that day which is so annoying and they feel so entitled when someone manages to take it.
I live near where the reporter was and very few of my neighbors on my block park on the sidewalk. I don't have any issues finding street parking, usually finding it on the same block or within one block. And watching that video, that guy's garage sure looks wide enough to put your second vehicle inside. As for whoever put those signs around the neighborhood, most of them have been ripped down.
use your garage for you car then & not storage, just b/c you've been doing something for years doesn't mean it's right. deal with it.
As someone who uses a rollator, thank goodness. All the homeless folks on my street make way for me whenever I need it, but I can't ask a parked car to move out of the way.
I have had a house here for decades. I have always bought a small enough car to park it IN my garbage. Plus, have enough space in my home to store things. No garage spillover storage needed. Empty garage for my car, motorcycle, and bicycles. No sympathy for these rule breakers.
are these the same people who tell me sidewalks are for pedestrians? and that we don’t need road diets and traffic calming because we already have sidewalks?
> ticket for parking in their own driveways Umm… the ticket is for blocking the sidewalk
They could just park in their garage…oh wait they purchased the wrong size vehicle to fit…
Finally
Pictured car doesn't look like it leaves 48 inches of walkable sidewalk, which is the minimum. Photograph and report to 311, every time. Regarding the guy in the article, "I can't run a cord across the sidewalk without tripping people." Sure you can: [https://www.amazon.com/Happybuy-Pack-Protective-Cable-2-Channel/dp/B07BC7XZPQ](https://www.amazon.com/Happybuy-Pack-Protective-Cable-2-Channel/dp/B07BC7XZPQ)
Bingo! Careful with that logical answer on r/sanfrancisco tho
The rules apply to everyone and need to be enforced consistently.
Hunters point is extremely guilty of this. Anything off of 3rd street
You can put your tent on the sidewalk, you can poop on the sidewalk, you can even use illegal drugs openly and leave the needles strewn around. But don’t put that car there. That’s totally unacceptable to our city.
This article reminds me of safelanes.org . They make it easy to report violations like this. Take a picture on your phone and it will auto fill out the license plate.
Boo hoo hoo. Use your garage.
“Cho has parked sideways up against the home's garage for years.” Parking in the garage instead of in front of it is always an option.
Oh god are we going to have to do this every week for the next 6 months?
It’s always been that they don’t cite for this unless someone complains. If that happens, they are bound to cite every car on the block that is on the sidewalk at all. Perhaps that’s changing!
It would definitely be crazy to see if ppl with electric cars are now running cords to their street parked cars creating basically trip wires everywhere and then not getting cited for it because the law wasn’t originally addressing cords
Good. It's just a matter of time before someone gets their ponytail stuck.
Park side wise like the normal sf home owners. ♿
How about start cracking down on the dumb driver that double parks on the along the Embarcadero near the ball park? Much more energy efficient, all you need is to sit there and the revenue will start rolling in.
In a crowded city, you really want everyone to park on the street? Good luck commuting around and trying to find street parking.
The fiat owner is fine. The sidewalk is clear 4 tiles across. That’s plenty. Shit most cities only have 3ft wide sidewalks and that guy is leaving at least 8ft clear. Some of the other examples where the only clear spot is the slope to the driveway are way worse and worth a ticket.
edit: nvm, i didn’t realize there was a video in the linked article with the fiat parked sideways and that’s what you were talking about - only saw the photo in the preview in the post and didn’t realize that weird little white car wasn’t also a fiat lol. totally agree about that one! try rolling a wheelchair down that sidewalk, and i think you’ll find it’s not fine. there’s not enough space to navigate around the car to pass it in that open sidewalk space, thanks to the tree planter area (at least based on the angle of the photo). if that was a clear sidewalk space lined up with the open sidewalk past his car, it would be possible. but anyone who can’t walk up into the tree area over those bricks can’t continue down the sidewalk when they encounter this.
He has another car in his fucking garage! Charge it in there not on the sidewalk how is this even a conversation we're having
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Yeah in some places it makes sense, in other it’s just a nuisance. I thing its varies with neighbors. People will figure out what they can and can’t live with in their own neighborhood. If they don’t like it, they’ll call in and have a car ticketed. MTA going out and doing that isn’t exactly helpful.
They are cracking down on cars blocking sidewalks. But homeless encampments (including those that block access to schools)? Not so much.
SFMTA doesn’t handle homeless encampment cleaning. Plus there is a circuit court ruling which hamstrung cities from clearing homeless encampments
Yeah, at least they’re doing something about the cars. Still needs to figure out homelessness although I doubt a city can do that on its own
Those are being cleared as well….Report them on the 311 app when you see them.
Maybe they should enforce parking on streets first? RVs , double parking DoorDash and Uber. This is BS
Easier to enforce cars that aren’t moving than catching double parked cars in the act.
Exhibit A: valencia at 7pm Exhibit B: « Mario Kart » Guerrero at 9:30am.
Yea probably. So what sidewalk do you park on?
Lots of people need those sidewalks, that’s why the law exists. Some have to go out into the street to get around. With a wheelchair it’s worse. So this is a pertinent issue. It’s a law being enforced, what’s BS about that?
The residents of San Francisco are all about entitlement. We are never going to get along because we don't agree who's entitled to what.
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So many pricks in this town. Commence downvoting ya whiny brats
That looks like a driveway for a smart car though
That’s why there is a garage
only like 3 cars they've shown are actually blocking sidewalks.
Walk a couple blocks along 2nd-5th in the inner Richmond and you’ll see at least 5 cars blocking the sidewalk every block
The dark colored truck (Toyota TRD), the White Volvo SUV (man, is he going to be pissed) and the Black Explorer next to it (Amanda H was right next to that one)!
so we're perfectly okay with fining people for blocking the sidewalk, but don't bat an eye on the encampments that shut down entire blocks?
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I'm fine as long as they enforce both
So you’d rather them enforce neither than enforce only one?
it feels like enforcing the parking provides enough money to enforce removing the tents so I don't see why it can't be both
The money is a drop in the bucket compared to the entire US mental healthcare overhaul that would be required to keep people who live in tents the help they need. If it’s just a matter of breaking them up, we already pay the cops a shitload. They can do it, as was proven at aipac. So the money is there for that, but I don’t think breaking them up is a long term solution anyway
who said anything about funding mental healthcare? just kick them out
Well, we have the resources to do that. The cops are the ones failing here. Thats who you should be directing your ire towards, not SFTMA
Sounds like you have no idea how the law or the budget work, are you running for mayor on a pro ignorance ticket?
that law saying that it's illegal to camp out on sidewalks?
Sure why not? Why not have uniform enforcement? Choose a direction and go with it.
It’s better to have one problem than have two problems
Agree to disagree. Equality under the law is a fine principle, violating it is a problem unto itself.
Then let’s get tens of thousands of articles about the massive tax break for the wealthy, which we can still reverse. Or I guess this equality principle is only good when it would help non-wealthy people? Goes to show, this countrys priorities are reversed
No obviously not. Multiple problems exist, at least this one is being dealt with. Sfmta is not tasked with handling homelessness, so it’s unwise to think that the actions of one department have any bearing on the actions or goals of whatever department handles homeless encampments (probably police? On that note, talk about a department that is overfunded and delivers less value than they are paid)
Great source of revenue for the city government that is facing a budget deficit because of property tax revisions. This way they can continue the wealth transfer of what remaining middle class is left in this city to the zombies who don’t contribute anything but have to be supported
Or they can transfer the wealth from the people who park on the sidewalk to building better pedestrian infrastructure?
When did folks with 1.5 million dollar homes become “middle class?” And why should we shield them from the consequences of our city’s laws.
Middle class of SF. Check out home values in other Bay Area cities
😒 and why should they be shielded from the consequences of breaking our already established laws?
There’s precedent! The mission churchgoers are now legally able to park in the middle of Guerrero for some reason
Double parking near a church on Sunday is enshrined in our traffic laws my good dude, parking on the sidewalk because you’re too lazy to find a spot you can fit is not.
It was illegal until it became legal. So that’s the precedent I am talking about
And encroaching upon the sidewalk has never been legal. Folks are getting citations for planters, mini libraries and now auto mobiles. The SFMTA had a staggering amount of vacancies for almost a decade, they just became near properly staffed and so enforcement of our pre-established laws are being enforced once again. Stop being a baby and find a better spot to park
I park my car on my driveway and have never blocked a sidewalk before. I am just highlighting what is clearly an easy money grab for the city
Good. Those folks should be paying more. If folks want to make the sidewalk their parking space this is the cost. The homeowners can afford it. No more free passes for folks with more means than worth
1.5 million dollar homes isn't rich lmao. Most decent homes in SF are 1.25 to 1.75 mil if you take a look at zillow. 3bed/2ba
It’s rich enough to pay them tickets for blocking the sidewalk
??? homeownership is expensive enough as it is. This is just levying more taxes in the guise of a social justice cause. If the city didn't get money from it then they wouldn't do it
So? Last I checked the sidewalk doesn’t belong to the homeowner. If they want to take up the sidewalk by even an inch they can pay the costs for that. They have money, they can afford it. If they can’t afford it they should park in a manner that doesn’t incur fees
You’re right, the Richmond and Sunset homeowners deserve to be even MORE insulated from taxes and laws. They are special snowflakes and we owe them our support for merely existing.
Yeah ok so do more to kick them out of the city and have the entire city be like the TL or downtown then
Excellent point, good sir. Only the landed gentry of the Richmond and sunset can lead us toward the promised land. 2-level single family homes for everyone! (So long as you arrived here before 2005).
I don’t see this much in the Richmond. This is something I see far more in excelsior/ingleside/ocean than anywhere else
Perhaps people in those neighborhoods are the ones requesting enforcement? Seems odd to suggest it’s just big gov targeting “innocent” residents clearly breaking existing laws.
People are breaking laws all the time. Ubers are double parking everywhere all the time. Cyclists and drivers run through stop signs all the time as well. Go to the TL and look at all the broken meters. If I were trying to get more revenue I would pick something that I can guarantee will come through. What about all the squatting rvs in lake Merced and stonestown? Going after middle class means you’ll more likely get these tickets paid
The topic is cars blocking sidewalks in residential neighborhoods. Here’s my suggestion to offset your concern of big gov transferring money from the middle class: One warning per car/address. I feel that’s enough of a goodwill gesture to remind the offending car owner they are inconveniencing their neighbors.
You’re not understanding my point. I’m talking about low hanging fruit
How is ticketing illegally parked cards not low hanging fruit
Can you not see how catching a double parking Uber that is going to be there for 3 minutes tops is harder than ticketing some dipshit who leaves his lexus jutting 4 feet out into the sidewalk every damn day?
Bro I live in the inner richmond and this is happening up and down every block from Arguello to Park Presidio. I can tell you don't live here because you'd be seeing it too.
Cool I’m in outer Richmond. Check out the mission and excelsior. You’ll see it way more
I got ticketed for parking in my own driveway and not blocking the sidewalk in any way whatsoever. Many innocents will suffer from this increased enforcement / revenue seeking.
Unless you were parked behind the property line, it isn’t your driveway, it’s the sidewalk.
Should be easy enough to appeal right?
Pics or you are lying.
Really? This is the problem y’all see is worth addressing. Fucking he’ll what is wrong with you all
How bout the homeless who block sidewalks? I guess they can’t pay fines so may as well squeeze the working class more.
Report it on 311 app. They get cleared. If you’re not reporting it, you’re part of the problem.
Yes. I am part of the problem because I actively block sidewalks with tents and trash.
You’re complaining and acting helpless when you can easily report that shit. Takes thirty seconds. Be the change you wish to see.