In California, when you take your driving test, the tester will immediately tell you to pull over and park (when you leave the dmv site). If you park without using your parking brake, you fail.

Neutral + parking brake = bad. I've had one car that had it's parking brake up, yet I can still push the car around =P I'd always use the parking brake as a primary stopping force for the car, and then the transmission (in gear for manual, or park for auto) as a backup. I can't imagine using the engine/transmission to keep a car from moving, especially when that job is supposed to be done by the parking brake (which activates your rear wheel's brakes manually so the brakes hold the car in place).

As for moving, I only use e-brake for doing sharp u-turns. I don't use it to slow myself down as much...always alot of sand/debris which could cause me to lose control