Lincoln Heights' residents protest insufficient street parking

LINCOLN HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Frustrated residents of Lincoln Heights protested the lack of street parking available after an affordable housing complex was built in the neighborhood.

Many residents said they've been forced to park two or more blocks away from their homes, which is not only inconvenient, but also said it's dangerous.

"It's about a 10 minute walk and it's not, it's kind of dangerous right there because they get robbed. A lot of people get robbed," resident Jesus Gonzales said.

A new 534 unit affordable housing complex, in addition to the nearby Metro Gold Line had made it extremely difficult to find street parking.

"This is not us between (the tenants of those apartments). This is us between the city because not only did the city do us wrong, they did those tenants of those apartments wrong, also, by not building sufficient parking," resident Ruben Sanchez said.

The city said it's working to find a solution to the problem.

"We can offer special permits for people who live there and people who work there, and hopefully that will help them," Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo said.

Residents said they like the idea as long as it wouldn't cost them money.

"We don't have to pay because they want us to pay. Why should we have to pay if they made us that promise that we weren't going to have a parking situation?" Salazar asked.