4 ms·

I vote we ban all free public parking and let the free market determine how much parking there is and where.

by lukas099 3y ago

rcpt 3y ago
Best and least popular thing we could do for our cities.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Spivak 3y ago
If you let the free market decide the answer will be "a lot" and "everywhere there's business that want customers from outside walking distance" and "everywhere there's apartments and houses that don't have garages." Parking minimums are one of those things that are a huge PITA when you hit edge cases but when you go to city council meetings residents and business owners ask for more and cheaper parking because it draws in business and keeps street parking available for residents. You can't remove parking in isolation, I genuinely wish you could. You have to fix the reason people want it in the first place. And high density public transportation is unfortunately a double-edged sword because it means you need a government blessing to make an area a new hot spot and drives business and residential rents way up in the spots people can get to easily.
- sokoloff 3y ago
  > You can't remove parking in isolation, I genuinely wish you could. You have to fix the reason people want it in the first place. This is both blindingly obvious and incredibly frequently overlooked. Here's the 5-step plan for improving our city: 1. Remove parking spots. 2-5. We'll figure it out later; I promise.
  - lukas099 3y ago
    You see it that way; I see it as we are taking one major step toward the goal.
    - jjav 3y ago
      I've seen this play out in many old town cores in the 90s. In those cases parking wasn't entirely removed, but it was converted from free to quite expensively metered. What happened? People stopped going to the small shops in the old downtown and went to the mall instead (free parking). The small shops slowly all died off and the old charming downtown is a boarded up ghost town. Yeah, great first step.
- lukas099 3y ago
  > when you go to city council meetings residents and business owners ask for more and cheaper parking because it draws in business and keeps street parking available for residents. Apparently not that much, since that's the point of the article. > If you let the free market decide the answer will be "a lot" I'm sure there will still be a lot of parking, but at least it will be 1. Allocated more optimally in space (businesses who don't need it won't build it) 2. Paid for by those who use it, not subsidized by those who don't 3. Built more vertically, thereby taking up less real estate 4. Not in the perfect spot for a bike lane or sidewalk
chinchilla2020 3y ago
The free market will reward massive retailers with lots of parking space that exist in the suburbs. There is no pre-existing infrastructure to bring customers to these parking-free locations in most cities. Furthermore, semi-urban neighborhoods and alleys will enter a battlefield between tow trucks and illegally parked cars.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Let it run! Those who want suburbs will have them, and the cities can become dense urban utopias. Wait, you say it doesn’t end up that way? Strange.
- lukas099 3y ago
  There is already a lot of private parking infrastructure in cities, and it wouldn't take long for profit-seekers to build new parking garages where demand exists. The new law could include a phase-out period if it's a problem. Over time the suburban big-box retailers will lose as fewer people will drive cars.
  - jjav 3y ago
    > Over time the suburban big-box retailers will lose as fewer people will drive cars. No, the downtown core will lose when the shopping traffic shifts to the mall as I noted in comment above. I had a SO whose family owned one of those small shops in the old downtown when parking became restricted, so I've seen first hand what happens to downtowns when parking goes away (all those shops are gone now).
sokoloff 3y ago
"I'm for both the free market and for banning a very common free market choice."
- lukas099 3y ago
  No, by public parking I mean parking on public streets.

I vote we ban all free public parking and let the free market determine how much parking there is and where.

rcpt 3y ago

Best and least popular thing we could do for our cities.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Spivak 3y ago

If you let the free market decide the answer will be "a lot" and "everywhere there's business that want customers from outside walking distance" and "everywhere there's apartments and houses that don't have garages." Parking minimums are one of those things that are a huge PITA when you hit edge cases but when you go to city council meetings residents and business owners ask for more and cheaper parking because it draws in business and keeps street parking available for residents. You can't remove parking in isolation, I genuinely wish you could. You have to fix the reason people want it in the first place. And high density public transportation is unfortunately a double-edged sword because it means you need a government blessing to make an area a new hot spot and drives business and residential rents way up in the spots people can get to easily.

sokoloff 3y ago
> You can't remove parking in isolation, I genuinely wish you could. You have to fix the reason people want it in the first place. This is both blindingly obvious and incredibly frequently overlooked. Here's the 5-step plan for improving our city: 1. Remove parking spots. 2-5. We'll figure it out later; I promise.
- lukas099 3y ago
  You see it that way; I see it as we are taking one major step toward the goal.
  - jjav 3y ago
    I've seen this play out in many old town cores in the 90s. In those cases parking wasn't entirely removed, but it was converted from free to quite expensively metered. What happened? People stopped going to the small shops in the old downtown and went to the mall instead (free parking). The small shops slowly all died off and the old charming downtown is a boarded up ghost town. Yeah, great first step.
lukas099 3y ago
> when you go to city council meetings residents and business owners ask for more and cheaper parking because it draws in business and keeps street parking available for residents. Apparently not that much, since that's the point of the article. > If you let the free market decide the answer will be "a lot" I'm sure there will still be a lot of parking, but at least it will be 1. Allocated more optimally in space (businesses who don't need it won't build it) 2. Paid for by those who use it, not subsidized by those who don't 3. Built more vertically, thereby taking up less real estate 4. Not in the perfect spot for a bike lane or sidewalk

chinchilla2020 3y ago

The free market will reward massive retailers with lots of parking space that exist in the suburbs. There is no pre-existing infrastructure to bring customers to these parking-free locations in most cities. Furthermore, semi-urban neighborhoods and alleys will enter a battlefield between tow trucks and illegally parked cars.

bombcar 3y ago
Let it run! Those who want suburbs will have them, and the cities can become dense urban utopias. Wait, you say it doesn’t end up that way? Strange.
lukas099 3y ago
There is already a lot of private parking infrastructure in cities, and it wouldn't take long for profit-seekers to build new parking garages where demand exists. The new law could include a phase-out period if it's a problem. Over time the suburban big-box retailers will lose as fewer people will drive cars.
- jjav 3y ago
  > Over time the suburban big-box retailers will lose as fewer people will drive cars. No, the downtown core will lose when the shopping traffic shifts to the mall as I noted in comment above. I had a SO whose family owned one of those small shops in the old downtown when parking became restricted, so I've seen first hand what happens to downtowns when parking goes away (all those shops are gone now).

sokoloff 3y ago

"I'm for both the free market and for banning a very common free market choice."

lukas099 3y ago
No, by public parking I mean parking on public streets.