Los Angeles Parking Spots | Squat the Planet

EphemeralStick

Andie of the House of Queer
Joined
Aug 21, 2010
Messages
1,700
Reaction score
2,442
Location
New Orleans
As some of you know I've been spending the last few months bouncing between Los Angeles and Slab City. The reason being that I've been working in LA as a Postmate bike messenger. (More on that in a separate thread, eventually.) As such I've been trying out various areas of the city and with each new place I have found some decent areas to park your vehicle.
Please note that my van is about the size of a minivan; so those of you driving larger vehicles or trailers might not find this as useful.

The first spot worth mentioning is in Venice, not too far from the beach. There is a small residential neighborhood that is quiet and has a few alley-like streets that make it easy to step out for a late night piss. This area is within the boarders of Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice Blvd, Lincoln Blvd, and Washington Blvd.
This area has street sweeping parking restrictions that vary depending on what street your on. Typically there will be a two hour window when you cannot park there on the posted day. I don't find this a problem since the times are usually in the mid-afternoon and it is easy to just pull around somewhere else.
One thing worth mentioning is that there are nightly restrictions for any vehicle over 7' high or 22' long. This means that buses, trailers, and rv's are not recommended.
What I like about this one is that it is very quiet at night and it's a short walk to the beach. If you're a morning shitter than you'll enjoy this spot simply because you can take a morning walk to the public restroom, it's what got me out of bed that's for sure.

Next we'll move on to Santa Monica. The area I found here is limited to Lincoln Blvd, between Wilshire Blvd and Montana Ave. Similarly to the Venice spot this one has daily street sweeping restrictions that vary depending on the day. Unlike Venice there are no vehicle length nor height restrictions.
This area is both residential and on a busy street, plus it's in ritzy-ass Santa Monica so I recommend using as much discretion as possible. While it's true that there aren't any height/length restrictions, I also very rarely see anyone with larger vehicle there.

Hollywood has two spots that are worth mentioning. First of which is great for chilling at during the day, however there is nightly restriction that allows for only two hour parking between the hours of 10pm and 6am. This area is on Romaine St, between Highland Ave and Seward St.
The next area is on De Longpre Ave, Between Ivar Ave and Gower St. This area has been a decent place to park at night, however it is often difficult to find actual parking here. It usually gets filled up as the night goes on and while there aren't any size restrictions it will be difficult for larger vehicles to find space here.
However, I've often seen rv's and trailers over here so it's not altogether impossible. The downside to this area is that there is constantly foot traffic and it can get loud and aggro at night. I wouldn't recommend posting up here for too many days since I've seen it get sketch but it'll do if you wanna hang around Hollywood for a bit.

Finally there is the Art's District. One of the neat things about this area is that there are pockets that have zero parking restrictions at all. This makes it a great place for large vehicles to post up for a long time. A few of my friends even keep there buses here, just parked on the side of the road long term.
Typically the whole area is good for parking but I've found the best spots are usually Between Santa Fe Ave, 8th St, Mateo St, and Palmetto St. It's relatively quiet at night and the remoteness of the area makes it easy to take a late night leak without getting disturbed.
The downside to this spot is that there isn't shit to do around it. Aside from the Greyhound Station there isn't anything really worth mentioning. It's kind of close to downtown, but there isn't much to do there neither. I only ever come here to visit my friends who all lurk around this area.


I hope this helps. Does anyone know of any other neat places to park?
 

Satanic Botanic

Active member
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Messages
35
Reaction score
99
Location
Denton, Texas
Very useful. Just left LA.

There's some nice nature hangout spots in Griffith Park, but not much overnight. I usually hang out at Griffith Park or the beach during the day. If I'm near Griffith Park, I park near Silver Lake/Glendale. There's lots of side street parking around these areas. My main spot was near N San Fernando Rd and Hallet Ave. There were some other RVs and Vans around this area as well.

The walmart on Inglewood Ave in Hawthorne also had vans n shit too. Never had a problem staying there, though most other walmarts in LA don't allow overnight.

I've found most of LA is just driving around looking for all the little hubs of RVs/vans and just parking near them or driving down random streets until you see an open spot. That kinda goes for any city tho.

Also, how much you make per hour on average with postmates in LA? Not a bad lil setup.
 
  • Useful
Reactions: EphemeralStick

EphemeralStick

Andie of the House of Queer
Joined
Aug 21, 2010
Messages
1,700
Reaction score
2,442
Location
New Orleans
Honestly, not that much. In theory, making money doing postmates deliveries on the road was great idea. In practice, not so much. I'd work six hour shifts and only complete around two to four deliveries (like $30 ish total). The main problem was that postmates in LA isn't ideal for bike deliveries. I had much better luck in Chicago, and Austin when I worked for a separate company, since postmates wasn't making me any money there either.
 

About us

  • Squat the Planet is the world's largest social network for misfit travelers. Join our community of do-it-yourself nomads and learn how to explore the world by any means necessary.

    More Info

Help us pay the bills!

Total amount
$10.00
Goal
$100.00

Latest Library Uploads