If your street is not part of a residential parking district, you and your neighbors may petition the City to establish such a zone. But your area must meet certain conditions: a minimum of 80% of available street parking must be filled during the day and at least 50% of the vehicles must be owned by non-residents. If you decide to proceed with a petition, note that you will need the signatures of 250 households within the proposed area and all affected blocks in the zone must run contiguously for a minimum of one mile. Completed petitions should be sent to the DPT's Traffic Engineering Division of the SF Municipal Transportation Agency at 11 South Van Ness Avenue, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103. You may also pick up blank petition forms there. A number of city agencies, including the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor, must review and/or approve all petitions, so the process is not a quick one. Don't expect to see the actual establishment of your residential parking zone until about 12 months after you have submitted your request. Call the SFMTA at (415) 701-4500 for details.

To obtain more information, including permit fee schedules, how to request a waiver for additional permits, and procedures for extending existing residential parking areas, visit the SFMTA online. 

Finally, for insights into the City's perspective on the parking situation, read through the Planning Department's policy paper, Parking and Better Neighborhoods: Getting It Right.