Sound Off: The Top Issues in The East End

Back in September 2009, Barbara Masters, a resident of Neptune Towers at 25 Neptune Blvd., called Long Beach's East End the “stepchild of the city” when it comes to parking issues, and she called on the city to buy a vacant lot and build a parking lot there.

Masters told the City Council that the area is more densely populated than the West End due to its many highrises, and that even in the winter residents driving home from work at night must routinely circle their blocks several times and are lucky to find parking spots two or three blocks away.  She presented a letter to the council with 61 signatures, mostly from residents in her apartment building, proposing that the city buy a lot on Shore Road between Neptune and Franklin boulevards, to build either a two-level parking area, with 44 spaces, or a one-level lot, with 25.

The following month, the council voted to approve a plan to lease two vacant lots in the East End and constructed 65 parking spaces at the northeast corner of Shore Road and Monroe Boulevard, and 35 more spaces on the 700 block of East Broadway, between Coolidge and Wilson avenues.

Does parking remain one of the East End's top issues? Beside parking, what are some of the main issues facing residents of that part of town today? Let us know in the comments.