I live near Highland Park and I see a lot of people using the carts to get their groceries home. I can remember when the old Luckys store (Ave 35 & Fig) instituted controls and they caused more problems than they solved. I haven’t seen it done anywhere in the US, but in France if you want to use a cart you have to insert a coin (1 euro) which releases the cart. When you return the cart to the kiosk, you push the male part into the female part and the coin is returned. The mechanism is simple, attaches to the handlebar of the cart and is very low tech.
I do see some stores use a service to have their errant carts picked up on a regular basis (another good small business).
I think providing a financial incentive to get the carts back to the market is easier than draconian constraints. And who knows-maybe some carts get bored and want to escape from the dull parking lot.

As with any feral population I’d advocate for a catch-snip-release program.

I live in Highland Park and being the pedestrian utopia it is, shopping carts can be found on every avenue, with the purple 99¢ carts being the most prolific. Shopping cart retrieval seems like the most recession-proof job here.

Sadly, like the trash in the gutter, all the shopping carts seem to inadvertently make their way into the Arroyo Secco and down the LA River to the sea.

I really like the idea of putting a redemption value on shopping carts. Look at what it did for bottles and cans.

I live in Highland Park and being the pedestrian utopia it is, shopping carts can be found on every avenue, with the purple 99¢ carts being the most prolific. Shopping cart retrieval seems like the most recession-proof job here.

Sadly, like the trash in the gutter, all the shopping carts seem to inadvertently make their way into the Arroyo Seco and down the LA River to the sea.

I really like the idea of putting a redemption value on shopping carts. Look at what it did for bottles and cans.

If I woke up tomorrow and did not trip over a shopping cart in my front yard, I would not miss it.

One of my petest peeves. (Along with litter and graffiti.) I like the redemption idea, too.

I’ve seen the redemption mechanism at work in Australia and South Korea. And I don’t recall seeing any errant carts in those places. Hmm…

But if we allow Ralphs carts and Target carts to marry, next thing you know, those bestiality-loving Petsmart and Petco carts will want to marry. And then the ToysRUs carts — what about the children!?