A new program in Los Angeles, based on an existing program in Denver, aims to give the humble parking meter the power to truly heal. It will do so by turning the city’s 1,140 sad, outdated meters (they are switching from coin to card-operated) into donation centers for the homeless.
Now all the people who don’t give to panhandlers because they’re afraid they’re going to use it to get wasted or (horror of horrors) to buy cigarettes and soda, can put change in one of these things and be confident that their money is going to a responsible organization. Plus, some good finally comes of all this downtown parking infrastructure. Too bad the parking meters are obsolete because of newer better parking meters, instead of a lack of cars.
