There's a divergence of opinions in today's 'Opinion' section of the Spokesman-Review. First I found this letter from a man angry about having to pay for parking (and in his defense $40 IS pretty stiff for parking downtown):
Finding a place to park at the recent “Get Motivated” seminar was almost impossible. But if you were lucky enough to get a spot, the price could be steep.
At 9:30 a.m., it seemed every place was either filled or blocked off. I circled the Arena two or three times, and then out of the corner of my eye saw a space at the YMCA facility. The gate was down and Lady Luck was on my side.
I returned at 4 p.m., only to see a blocking exit bar. There must be a mistake. I pushed the “help” button and was told to read the screen. It was $40 for a six-hour period. I couldn’t believe it. The situation was akin to a predator setting a trap for its prey. I had an appointment to make so a credit card cleared the way. Would I go back to the Arena for a similar event? As Poe’s Raven said, “Never more.”
Bill Fitzgerald
Coeur d’Alene
Then I came on this Smart Bombs article about how free parking is bad for our country. The article talks about how the prospect of a cheap parking space compels many drivers to methodically circle downtown streets in search of a metered space. This increases congestion, wastes fuel and makes downtowns less inviting. Not to mention that high parking prices encourage many people to use public transit rather than pay the going price.
So what's your take? Cheap parking to encourage people to come downtown and shop, thus increasing tax dollars and improving the local economy or steeper parking prices to reduce congestion and encourage commuters to use public transit? I'm obviously playing devil's advocate here.
10 comments:
There is no such thing as free parking. It is paid for, whether it is through increased prices at the store you are visiting, through tax subsidies, etc.
That is why establishing a fair market rate for parking should constantly be sought after (which has happened and is currently happening in Spokane). The goal is to strike a balance so that there is a good occupancy rate that doesn't put too much of the burden on either the tax payers or the users.
Having an excess of asphalt in the city so that Bill from CDA can park cheaply for a couple of hours a year is not good policy. Bill got caught in a bind and paid a premium for his parking. If he had planned ahead, he could have found cheaper parking. Building more peak demand parking would lead to greater costs than benefits.
Solutions to Bill's problem are: planning ahead better, paying posted parking rates without whining, walking a little further or not coming.
Given the choice between $100 for a shirt at a boutique downtown or $7.99 at KMart, I don't think its the price of *parking* that drives people to suburban shopping locations.
Studies show that parking does actually play into decisions on where people park. Are they going to pay to park in a garage downtown and have to worry about being out by a certain time or try driving around finding street parking OR go to the mall where they know there are acres and acres of free parking? Seems trivial but a lot of people will choose the mall for that reason.
Well no one has commented on public transit, there is free parking at the park and ride lot out by Liberty Lake and then no costs for parking. I try to ride the bus when ever I go downtown or to the courthouse and have never had to pay that much for parking.
Yet another reason to ride transit, because you not only save on gas and wear and tear to your vehicle, but also on parking. I use the Liberty Lake park and ride almost every day and love it. And I would definetely recommend riding the bus if you go to the court house. The last two times I drove there, I was about two minutes late getting back to my car and already had a ticket. The parking enforcement is quick over there.
I say block off all downtown streets for a certain number of square blocks on the weekends; allow a HUGE amount of street vending, arts and entertainment; give free bus fares to downtown; and provide lots of free bicycle parking then see if droves of people come or not. Be fair and give it a WHOLE SUMMER to get the word out.
Imagine... a place where there is no car noise, where walking is easy and safe, and shopping is plentiful and pleasant.
Spokane could pull way past Portland and put Western Washington to SHAME! :)
Doesn't Diamond have a monopoly on private surface parking lots downtown? While I'm not in favor of cheap or free parking, that hardly seems fair.
- Ventura
Diamond does have a monopoly on lots in downtown Spokane. I thought they owned all that land but it turns out they lease it from the property owners.
As for blocking off traffic in parts of downtown, that's what the Summer Parkway events this summer were about. They had good attendance for new events, but will take time to build up to the level of Portland or other cities.
Note that Bill circled the parking all by himself. Perhaps if he had carpooled he and the others would have been able to find one of the 3-4 spots they freed up by not each driving individually. Transit is even better for parking availability since they don't park at all, but for people who can't or won't consider it why not carpool? We're social animals.
Possibly more than you want to know about parking policy worldwide is available at www.reinventingparking.org.
I just discovered it via the great Human Transit blog www.humantransit.org.
@BarbChamberlain
Check out what San Francisco is doing with technology and flexible pricing: http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2010/08/16/better-parking-through-technology/
@BarbChamberlain
Post a Comment