SeeCalifornia.com

Left: Orange County beaches in Southern California; Right: Sonoma County beaches in Northern California. Both pictures were taken on a summer weekend.

California has one of the largest economies in the world but its citizens and businesses carry the burden of some of the heftiest taxes. Spats between the North & South usually boil down to finances, resources and control issues. No one has successfully split the state into two separate states since its founding in 1850 when the population was around 92,000, but there have been attempts. Here is an example that shows just how different the two entities think & operate…

NORTH: This week  the State of California’s Parks Department requested permits to add parking meters to Northern California’s popular beaches and begin charging $7 at Russian Gulch, Portuguese Beach, Goat Rock, Shell Beach, Campbell Cove, Stump Beach, Schoolhouse Beach, Bodega Head and North & South Salmon Creek. However, locals don’t want the meters and the Sonoma County Supervisors backed them up by just saying “no”.

SOUTH:In Southern California not only are there parking meters or gate attendants at California State Beaches, but the requested rate hikes for the most visited beaches on days such as the 4th of July passed with flying colors.

NORTH: Open space–Sonoma County has around 500,000 residents. In Sonoma County there are initiatives to preserve open space for uses that include farming and agriculture. The beaches simply don’t face the crowd control problems seen in the South, and residents argue against beach parking fees as an affordability concern.

SOUTH: Crowds & congestion–Los Angeles County has around 10 million residents, and Orange County has over 3 million. Add another 40-50 million tourists visiting Disneyland and the beaches, and you have a system pushed to its limits.  While locals are resigned to paying exorbitant prices for beach parking, they also recognize supply and demand pricing in effect.  Roads filtering to beach parking lots are gridlocked on summer weekends, and parking lots fill up before noon when $15 per car is charged. If Disneyland can raise its rates to $92 for one theme park admission, plus $16 for parking, why shouldn’t the popular beaches raise parking rates?  In fact, they should raise the rates to what the market will bare- why not charge $30-50 for parking on the most popular days?   With nowhere else to park for miles, people will pay it.

Northern and Southern California Beaches provide examples of  how rules and regulations don’t necessarily fit all situations and destinations.