City of Green River

To Regulate or Not To Regulate

February 11th, 2008

Parking, and more specifically, parking regulation in traditional commercial districts, is a hotly debated topic in many communities nationwide. Ask 100 different municipalities how to address downtown parking “problems” and you will likely receive 150 different responses on how to solve the issue. Answers many range from limited parking hours on streets to tiered parking zones, to fancy parking structures or even the demolition of key historic structures downtown to make room for additional parking facilities. As with many other issues facing our beloved downtowns, parking is no different, there is no “one size fits all” answer that will solve every situation in every downtown from coast to coast. The real first step is to determine if your community has an actual parking problem or a perceived parking problem. In most cases, the so called parking “problem” is probably more so a perception of a lack of parking or the fact that prime parking spaces are being consumed by businesses owners and or employees. In these cases, an appropriate signage and/or mapping program can help customers and visitors identify public parking facilities available within your downtown and properly educating business owners on the value of parking spaces can help deter them from using the prime spaces on the street and from allowing their employees to park in front of their and neighboring shops. The National Main Street Center’s website (www.mainstreet.org) has an Excel spreadsheet that can help one estimate the value of each parking space within their downtown. The overregulation of on-street parking can be more detrimental to downtown than the congestion it is meant to control. The intent of one-hour parking is to allow potential customers to find parking spaces right in front of the business they would like to visit, because businesses fear that if a customer has to walk a block to their shop they will not come downtown. However, a customer will park several hundred yards across a Wal-Mart parking lot and navigate treacherous conditions in inclimate weather to shop in their stores. Why is that? First and foremost, Wal-Mart has provided a visual terminus and a destination for the customer. If shops downtown do the same, our customers too will walk a short distance to our stores. However, one thing a Wal-Mart parking lot does not do is tell its customers they only have one hour to take care of their business and then they have to leave. By limiting the amount of time a customer has to park their vehicles on the street, potential sales are decreased. A typical trip to the salon lasts more than an hour, so does a lunch at a local restaurant. There are several other negative impacts of parking regulation. In many downtowns, many of the vehicles that are parked on the street all day are the vehicles of the people that are working downtown. Those employees make up approximately 25-30 percent of the regular, permanent customer base. Removing their vehicles from the street can create a perception for other potential customers that there is nothing happening downtown, therefore actually decreasing customer traffic. People attract people. If downtown looks dead, people passing by are less likely to stop, on the other hand, if it looks like things are happening, people are more likely to stop and check things out. In addition, according to Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck in Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, 2000, “Parked cars create a highly effective steel barrier between the street and the sidewalk, so that walkers feel protected from moving traffic.” This barrier adds to the sense of pedestrian friendliness and hence generates an atmosphere that is conducive to increased shopping and recreating in our downtowns. Hence, overregulation of parking in our downtowns could have very substantial detrimental impacts on the economy of our Traditional Commercial Districts. It is vitally important that each individual community take and honest and realistic look at the conditions of the parking in their downtown prior to making any major changes in their regulation structure. An actual parking problem implies that not only is downtown strong and vibrant, but that the community has achieved an appropriate balance of business types downtown and that the customer base is strong and supportive. The key is to find and keep a delicate balance so that a critical mass of vehicles remains on the street so that adequate parking is provided for potential customers while still portraying an image of life and vitality.

All News


	To Regulate or Not To Regulate February 11th, 2008 Parking, and more specifically, parking regulation in traditional commercial districts, is a hotly debated topic in many communities nationwide. Ask 100 different municipalities how to address downtown parking “problems” and you will likely receive 150 different responses on how to solve the issue. Answers many range from limited parking hours on streets to tiered parking zones, to fancy parking structures or even the demolition of key historic structures downtown to make room for additional parking facilities. As with many other issues facing our beloved downtowns, parking is no different, there is no “one size fits all” answer that will solve every situation in every downtown from coast to coast. The real first step is to determine if your community has an actual parking problem or a perceived parking problem. In most cases, the so called parking “problem” is probably more so a perception of a lack of parking or the fact that prime parking spaces are being consumed by businesses owners and or employees. In these cases, an appropriate signage and/or mapping program can help customers and visitors identify public parking facilities available within your downtown and properly educating business owners on the value of parking spaces can help deter them from using the prime spaces on the street and from allowing their employees to park in front of their and neighboring shops. The National Main Street Center’s website (www.mainstreet.org) has an Excel spreadsheet that can help one estimate the value of each parking space within their downtown. The overregulation of on-street parking can be more detrimental to downtown than the congestion it is meant to control. The intent of one-hour parking is to allow potential customers to find parking spaces right in front of the business they would like to visit, because businesses fear that if a customer has to walk a block to their shop they will not come downtown. However, a customer will park several hundred yards across a Wal-Mart parking lot and navigate treacherous conditions in inclimate weather to shop in their stores. Why is that? First and foremost, Wal-Mart has provided a visual terminus and a destination for the customer. If shops downtown do the same, our customers too will walk a short distance to our stores. However, one thing a Wal-Mart parking lot does not do is tell its customers they only have one hour to take care of their business and then they have to leave. By limiting the amount of time a customer has to park their vehicles on the street, potential sales are decreased. A typical trip to the salon lasts more than an hour, so does a lunch at a local restaurant. There are several other negative impacts of parking regulation. In many downtowns, many of the vehicles that are parked on the street all day are the vehicles of the people that are working downtown. Those employees make up approximately 25-30 percent of the regular, permanent customer base. Removing their vehicles from the street can create a perception for other potential customers that there is nothing happening downtown, therefore actually decreasing customer traffic. People attract people. If downtown looks dead, people passing by are less likely to stop, on the other hand, if it looks like things are happening, people are more likely to stop and check things out. In addition, according to Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck in Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, 2000, “Parked cars create a highly effective steel barrier between the street and the sidewalk, so that walkers feel protected from moving traffic.” This barrier adds to the sense of pedestrian friendliness and hence generates an atmosphere that is conducive to increased shopping and recreating in our downtowns. Hence, overregulation of parking in our downtowns could have very substantial detrimental impacts on the economy of our Traditional Commercial Districts. It is vitally important that each individual community take and honest and realistic look at the conditions of the parking in their downtown prior to making any major changes in their regulation structure. An actual parking problem implies that not only is downtown strong and vibrant, but that the community has achieved an appropriate balance of business types downtown and that the customer base is strong and supportive. The key is to find and keep a delicate balance so that a critical mass of vehicles remains on the street so that adequate parking is provided for potential customers while still portraying an image of life and vitality. All News

Email us: Administration, Community Development, Fire, Finance, Human Resources, Municipal Court, Police, Parks & Recreation, Public Works ©2008 City of Green River. All rights reserved.