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The level that allows all cars to park at peak times is not the economically efficient level; that hugely increases the overall cost, as you cant use parking fo

The level that allows all cars to park at peak times is not the economically efficient level; that hugely increases the overall cost, as you cant use parking for any other use. Peak cases should have surge pricing to ration the space there are for efficiency, and the overall level should be less.

crazygringo 8y ago
But they already mostly do. In far-out suburbs, huge mall parking lots aren't competing with anything else, there's plenty of space. And in downtown cities, parking garages are alreay expensive. $30-50/day in Manhattan, for example. (I would agree that street parking should match garage rates, and not be effectively subsidized, though.)
- CalRobert 8y ago
  That seems pretty cheap. How much is rent on a similar amount of space? Remember all the space needed for accessing the spot, administration (if any), too! Or are there different rules for storing cars than people? (Incidentally, there very much are different rules, and for the most part US cities have worked very, very hard to make it easier to add cars than people).
  - crazygringo 8y ago
    Well, at $5/sq ft/mo. for average real estate (Manhattan, e.g. a 600 sq ft apt is $3K/mo), and if a parking space is 180 ft, then that's $900/mo., or $30/day, plus overhead/access. So $30-50/day seems right, especially considering parking garages tend to be underground, no plumbing, etc., so the space is presumably cheaper than residential/office.
    - adrianN 8y ago
      If you build only one story above the parking space...
nmoaenm342nt 8y ago
Where I live (Los Angeles), parts of parking lots are rented out for other things. You often see radio station promotions, paper shredding companies, and things like that renting parts of the parking lots of grocery stores, etc. at off-peak times. My employer, however, does not rent their parking lot out after hours. They might be able to make some money if they did, though.
Spooky23 8y ago
If it wasn’t economically efficient, they wouldn’t exist. My uncle runs a small parking lot in a central business district. He clears a very healthy living working 5:30-9 five days a week, plus events. When he is ready to retire, he can sell it for a couple of million dollars or pass it on to his kid. Most older central city parking is like that... modest income to cover taxes and expenses to park the property for future speculation or security for loans. Newer ones are usually part of another development and are tax exempt or taxpayer funded. The malls were very economically viable in the 80s and 90s. In my areas, malls whose bonds are getting paid off are in-filling the outer areas of the property and some lots with the current hot real estate hustle... hotels and giant gas stations.
- xapata 8y ago
  Reminds me of that old joke: Two economists are leaving a lecture. One says, "Hey, there's a $100 bill on the floor!" The other replies without looking down, "Can't be. If there were, someone would have picked it up." The market can be inefficient. It's a construct of society and society can set some nonsensical rules. Heck, the market can be inefficient even under simple rules. It's easy to construct dynamical systems with different phases, some with equilibria and some without. Most economic analysis -- that whole supply/demand thing -- assumes an equilibrium to make the math easier.

crazygringo 8y ago

But they already mostly do. In far-out suburbs, huge mall parking lots aren't competing with anything else, there's plenty of space. And in downtown cities, parking garages are alreay expensive. $30-50/day in Manhattan, for example. (I would agree that street parking should match garage rates, and not be effectively subsidized, though.)

CalRobert 8y ago
That seems pretty cheap. How much is rent on a similar amount of space? Remember all the space needed for accessing the spot, administration (if any), too! Or are there different rules for storing cars than people? (Incidentally, there very much are different rules, and for the most part US cities have worked very, very hard to make it easier to add cars than people).
- crazygringo 8y ago
  Well, at $5/sq ft/mo. for average real estate (Manhattan, e.g. a 600 sq ft apt is $3K/mo), and if a parking space is 180 ft, then that's $900/mo., or $30/day, plus overhead/access. So $30-50/day seems right, especially considering parking garages tend to be underground, no plumbing, etc., so the space is presumably cheaper than residential/office.
  - adrianN 8y ago
    If you build only one story above the parking space...

nmoaenm342nt 8y ago

Where I live (Los Angeles), parts of parking lots are rented out for other things. You often see radio station promotions, paper shredding companies, and things like that renting parts of the parking lots of grocery stores, etc. at off-peak times. My employer, however, does not rent their parking lot out after hours. They might be able to make some money if they did, though.

Spooky23 8y ago

If it wasn’t economically efficient, they wouldn’t exist. My uncle runs a small parking lot in a central business district. He clears a very healthy living working 5:30-9 five days a week, plus events. When he is ready to retire, he can sell it for a couple of million dollars or pass it on to his kid. Most older central city parking is like that... modest income to cover taxes and expenses to park the property for future speculation or security for loans. Newer ones are usually part of another development and are tax exempt or taxpayer funded. The malls were very economically viable in the 80s and 90s. In my areas, malls whose bonds are getting paid off are in-filling the outer areas of the property and some lots with the current hot real estate hustle... hotels and giant gas stations.

xapata 8y ago
Reminds me of that old joke: Two economists are leaving a lecture. One says, "Hey, there's a $100 bill on the floor!" The other replies without looking down, "Can't be. If there were, someone would have picked it up." The market can be inefficient. It's a construct of society and society can set some nonsensical rules. Heck, the market can be inefficient even under simple rules. It's easy to construct dynamical systems with different phases, some with equilibria and some without. Most economic analysis -- that whole supply/demand thing -- assumes an equilibrium to make the math easier.