They’ll just have to keep seeing red
As scenic neighborhoods in Glendale go, the Marion Drive portion
of Adams Hill is pretty nice. Many of the comfortable, single-family
homes that line the winding, hilly thoroughfare rise up and away from
the street, affording their owners impressive views of south Glendale
and into downtown. Most of the properties are well cared for, it’s
quiet, and dozens of walkers use Marion as a safe route during their
morning constitutionals.
Safe, that is, until a car, utility vehicle or delivery truck
needs to get by. Then scenic, idyllic Marion Drive becomes a
hazardous asphalt sluice, as drivers try not to hit the many cars
parked along the curb, and pedestrians scramble to get out of the way
of oncoming vehicles, or squeeze themselves between parked cars and
those forced to dramatically slow down or stop in the middle of the
roadway.
Consequently, it’s not too surprising that the city recently
decided to paint, bright red, a lot of the curbing on Marion -- and
we do mean a lot, if a recent walk up and down the street is any
indicator -- and designate it as a no-parking zone.
It’s a wise decision, given the street’s design, which makes it
impossible for more than one vehicle to pass when cars are parked.
Even with the new curbs, it’s a driving challenge. One wonders how
easy it would be for a Glendale Fire Department engine to get by on
many stretches of Marion, given the precision navigation exercise it
already is for the city’s trash haulers. The situation isn’t safe
under the best of circumstances, and if it’s a police vehicle or fire
engine that needs to get by, one can only assume the circumstances
aren’t the best and speed is of the essence, which makes things even
worse.
Some residents of the neighborhood, several of whom appeared
before the Glendale City Council on Tuesday, are unhappy about the
appearance of the red curbs, which -- in all fairness to the
residents’ point of view -- are garish and abundant on Marion all of
a sudden. “It’s almost like the entire town was painted red,” one
woman averred, and although that’s stretching a colorful simile,
she’s got a point. A walk along Marion earlier this week yielded an
explosion of crimson curb color, in jarring contrast to the greenery
that dots most of the landscaping in that neighborhood.
Neighbors also are concerned about the hassles the newly painted
curbs will create for those accustomed to parking their vehicles
there; that the paint job is encouraging some people to drive faster;
and that property values will drop as a result of the curbing
alterations.
Although figuring out where to park is a legitimate concern --
just as it is on countless other streets in south Glendale, where
off-street parking is severely limited -- the other worries seem
anecdotal and farfetched. The notion that a driver is speeding up at
the sight of a red curb is alarmist, and probably based on an
incident or two that had nothing to do with curb color and everything
to do with plain old bad driving.
And property values? It’s doubtful potential home buyers would
base their decision on what color some portions of the local curbing
might be. What’s more, those concerned about protecting the grand
idol of “property values” might consider what would happen to said
values should homes in the area burn down because emergency service
vehicles couldn’t get past parked cars.
City Manager Jim Starbird assured the residents that staff would
address their concerns, and there’s no reason to believe that’s not
so. (This, despite the fact residents were notified about the curb
painting some time ago, and had an opportunity to voice their
concerns then.) We’re certain the city will do what it can to
accommodate the residents and ease their worries.
But the bottom line is safety, and without a restriction on where
people can park on Marion, the street isn’t safe, parking hassles,
property values or no. Some degree of compromise might be possible,
but it shouldn’t be at the expense of safety.