3 weeks ago
3
The new parking fees at Balboa Park are perhaps the least impactful of new costs San Diegans are being asked to pay.
Unlike some of the others, they’re optional. You don’t have to go to the park, of course, or could take (less expensive) public transportation, cumbersome though that may be. Also, out-of-towners pay more.
Understandably, none of that is likely to mollify those outraged by having to pay to park at the park, a destination that people for generations have largely arrived at by car.
The clumsy, confusing rollout of the fees certainly didn’t help — as many residents who were promised a locals discount couldn’t figure out how to tap that benefit.
The parking fees pale in comparison to the new first-time trash pickup fee on single-family homes and skyrocketing water and utility costs. Then there’s a whole variety of new or increased fees for things such as using recreational centers, obtaining fishing permits and parking downtown, all of which are aimed at helping close the city’s perennial budget shortfalls.
More levies are in the works.
But like San Diego beaches — where parking fees have also been discussed — the city’s “crown jewel” holds something of a sacred spot in the public consciousness. They are places that pridefully define the region where people ...
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