Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Streetsblog SF

Someone Finally Figured Out How to Fix Parking Forever: Blame Canada!

Who's taking your parking space now? Delaware and Canada!
false

Car owners in Hayes Valley will not stand by as "their" parking spaces are usurped by safe streets measures and "foreign" car-share "corporations" from places like "Delaware" and "Canada."

That's according a couple of bizarre anonymous flyers spotted recently around the neighborhood that appear to take aim at the arrival of on-street car-share parking spaces and plans to make crosswalks safer with daylighting and sidewalk bulb-outs.

On the subject of car-share spaces -- each of which, by the way, helps people let go of owning a private car -- one barely-coherent flyer has this to say:

STREET PARKING BELONGS TO HAYES VALLEY RESIDENTS NOT TO FOREIGN (CANADA-- GETAROUND---ZIPCAR HERTZ A DELWARE CORPORATION EXEMPT FROM PARKING TICKETS

At the risk of taking this all too seriously, a quick Google search reveals that Getaround, which lets people rent their cars to their neighbors, is based in San Francisco, though its vice president of marketing was born in Canada (A-HA!). ZipCar is based in Boston, and owned by New Jersey-based Avis, not Florida-based Hertz -- but we digress.

No word yet on whether the car owners who take up the other 99 percent of Hayes Valley's curb spaces are 100 percent native San Franciscans with a legitimate birthright to free parking.

As for the flyer opposing the SFMTA's plans to daylight up to 30 parking spots to improve visibility between drivers and pedestrians:

JUST SAY NO! No removal of any parking spaces in HAYES VALLEY

Parking belongs to the citizens -businesses--taxpayers & voters!

Major Person(s) responsible for proposed 30 parking spaces removal ricardo.olea@sfmta.co

Taxpayers and voters do foot the bill for on-street car parking, whether or not they use it. As it happens, many also prefer not to get injured because a parked car obscured a motorist's line of sight.

All-caps flyers ranting about parking have a storied tradition in San Francisco, but they don't appear to resonate with many people. At an SFMTA Board meeting in May, only three people protested seven daylighting spaces, according to Hoodline.

Photo: Charlie Dunlap
Photo: Charlie Dunlap
false

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Thursday’s Headlines

Calmatters continues their great reporting on the state's lack of teeth when it comes to dealing with deadly drivers.

July 10, 2025

Five of the Ugliest Transportation Policies In the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill

Here's a rundown of some of the transportation provisions in the Republicans' reconciliation package, and what they might mean for your community.

July 9, 2025

Whittier Councilmember Fernando Dutra Is New Metro Board Chair

Board Chair Dutra: "[Metro is] not just a train and a bus company. We also manage projects on the freeways... Our projects along the 5, the 605, 91, and 105 Freeway are very very important... I'll be focusing on making sure we keep our freeways moving freely."

July 9, 2025

Dangerous Intersection on Freitas Parkway Claims Life of Beloved Mountain Bike Coach

The deadly crash was preventable and should have been anticipated due to a history of similar collisions at the same location.

July 9, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines

I'm still traveling, so we won't have a new unique story until Friday.

July 9, 2025

Removing ‘Rainbow Crosswalks’ Won’t Make America’s Arterials Safer

Secretary Duffy wants to tackle dangerous arterials. So why is he coming after rainbow crosswalks most often seen on narrow city roads?

July 8, 2025
See all posts