Pasadena Overnight Parking - BE CAREFUL Options

[sdmikewind]

Pasadena has a 'No overnight parking without a permit' policy. Frequently there will be NO signs describing this rule. I parked my car on a block where the only sign said "2 hour parking, 9AM-6PM". I figured it would be ok to park there overnight. In the morning, I had a citation for $42.50. Apparently they have signs indicating this policy when you get off the freeway. Also these citations are impossible to contest. What a sham.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear of your parking issues.

If you want to feel a little better, here in Hoboken (NJ) you need a resident sticker to park on the street... one side of the street is for stickers only, the other side will let you park there without a ticket for up to 4 hours, at which point you can't park your car anywhere in town on the street for the remainder of the day (ie- you can't just move your car to another space on the street).

If you park on the wrong side of the street, or remain 4+ hours on the 'wrong' side... you get a boot which immobilizes your vehicle and you need to call a number with a credit card to get the code to remove the boot. Cost (dont' quote me, but i believe it is) $145 for 'boot removal fee' and a parking ticket (another $45 i think) on top of that!

It's big money, so it's gotten hi-tech... simple version is that they have a van that drives around with a sensor looking for permits on cars. For cars that don't have one, it automatically records the licensce plate into a computer system. Later that day they drive the van around the city again, any cars that where there earlier without a permit and are still there are called in, and another parking utlity employee will come out and boot the car.