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Wednesday Parking Round-Up: Pearl District Condo proposes 192 parking spaces, parking can be easier but not likely cheaper, and more

June 14, 2016 By Shoupista 1 Comment

(Photo Source: Nashville Public Radio)

Block 20 Condominium Tower in Portland’s Pearl District will include 149 residential units and 192 parking spaces.

New Orlean’s proposed zoning change could severely limit short-term rentals like Airbnb with parking requirements.

Parking can be easier but not likely cheaper – that is definitely true for Nashville and other American cities that are growing.

A parking loophole in San Francisco has allowed people to have their own private on-street parking space for years. The City is trying to change that.

If you made it this far, you should be rewarded with some really wonky parking articles: (1) The Time Dimension of Parking Economics (sounds like an useful article for PBOT’s performance based parking initiative); (2) Charging for Parking to Finance Public Services (the latest published article from Donald Shoup)

Wednesday Parking Round-Up: Free of religion = freedom to park in the bike lane, sexist parking spaces in China, and more

June 1, 2016 By Shoupista 1 Comment

(Photo source: Global News)

Freedom of religion = freedom to park in the bike lane. In NYC, parking for church goers becomes more important than the safety of people on bikes.

Uber and a Bay Area landlord will pay new tenant a $100 a month to go car free to “avoid having to create more parking spaces”

A parking lot in China provides women-only parking spaces that are 50% wider than normal spaces for completely sexist reasons. And guess what? The person came up with this idea is a man.

Automated parking garages that make parking safer, greener, and more efficient are popping up all over the world! See this one in West Hollywood and this one in China.

State law forbids Denver’s transit agency (RTD) from charging for parking; forcing the transit agency forging $8.2 million a year.

Wednesday Parking Round-Up: parking management is the most effective car-restrictive policy, tons of parking in low income TOD in San Diego, and more

May 25, 2016 By Shoupista Leave a Comment

National City, CA, new development is walkable, close to transit, and still has tons of parking. State and federal funding needs to encourage low-income housing and transit oriented development without excessive parking. City permitting process also needs reform to promote development without parking.

Residential parking permits in the UK is extremely expensive. City of Birmingham charges £785 ($1154) a year for a residential permit. Portland currently charges $0. Somewhere in the middle is probably good.

Menlo Park, CA, considers removing 14-21 parking spaces for outdoor seating for 200 people. Some businesses understand that it is not parking that helps them thrive but people.

For all of you real transportation / parking wonks: A recent study of five European cities show that parking management is by far the most effective car-restrictive policy in reducing car-dependence.

Will City Council Impose Rent-Raising Minimum Requirements In NW PDX?

May 24, 2016 By TonyJ 2 Comments

On July 6th at 2PM City Council will consider a Planning and Sustainability Commission (PSC) recommendation to allow for more flexible and efficient uses of the existing parking supply in NW Portland, a smart move. During the hearing, however, Northwest Parking Stakeholder Advisory Committee (NW Parking SAC) members will ask council to amend the proposal and add back in minimum parking requirements.

In March, Portlanders on the NW Parking SAC asked the Planning and Sustainability Commission to recommend new minimum parking requirements for multi-family developments in northwest Portland.

The Planning and Sustainability Commission declined to make the recommendation due, primarily, to concerns about the effect of parking minimums on housing affordability. Furthermore, as Commissioner Chris Smith pointed out, the NW Parking SAC could have requested higher monthly parking permit fees or denied access to permits in new developments without parking, both would be more effective at solving the perceived problem than minimum parking requirements.

It’s possible that the committee will eventually look to market-rate permit prices to manage the on-street supply, but apparently not until they are sure they can’t pass the cost of parking onto new residents instead.

According to the minutes from the committee’s May meeting, they will give testimony concerning “affordable housing, market behavior, car ownership, and permit restrictions.”

This will be an important test of City Council’s resolve to deal with the affordable housing crisis.

Mark your calendars and prepare testimony, all the Shoupistas in Portland can send a strong message to council that we don’t want to see another step backwards with parking policy. The way forward is with market-rate permits and other progressive parking policy.

Wednesday Parking Round-Up: Capping parking requirements, LA’s park n’ ride issue, Seattle considers shared-parking pilot project, and more

May 18, 2016 By Shoupista 1 Comment

(Parking near the Expo Line – LA Metro)

The latest article from the parking guru, Donald Shoup: “A city where everyone happily pays for everyone else’s free parking is a fool’s paradise”

Such a Los Angeles problem. Now we have a light rail line, but how will we get to the stations without parking at every station? More parking = more driving, which really doesn’t help public transit.

Seattle considers pilot project for shared parking in residential buildings, boost transit use, and manage transportation demand.

Myrtle Beach, SC, says “we are not going back to free parking”

San Mateo, CA launches online parking permit system and new pricing structure that charges monthly permit prices based on demand.

Police chief busted for parking on the sidewalk wrote himself a ticket. it is surely a good thing to practice what you preach, but is that standard good enough for law enforcement?