Parking problem downtown - too much of it? Not enough?

[GRDadof3]

So not less than an hour ago, I'm sitting at a metered spot downtown, with my car running, trying to get the parkmobile app to work on my new phone. The meter reader lady walks up to the meter, walks over to the car and motions for me to roll my window down. She yells, gruffly "Gotta put money in the meter or move it along!"

Is this what they mean by "mobility department?" Harassing people? If anyone from the city is reading this, let me know and I can describe where she was working.

I didn't even give her the courtesy of a response, just went back to my phone and she walked away.

 

[wingbert]

8 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

So not less than an hour ago, I'm sitting at a metered spot downtown, with my car running, trying to get the parkmobile app to work on my new phone. The meter reader lady walks up to the meter, walks over to the car and motions for me to roll my window down. She yells, gruffly "Gotta put money in the meter or move it along!"

Is this what they mean by "mobility department?" Harassing people? If anyone from the city is reading this, let me know and I can describe where she was working.

I didn't even give her the courtesy of a response, just went back to my phone and she walked away.

 

 

If you'd ridden your bicycle this never would've happened. More bike lanes!!

 

[GRDadof3]

1 minute ago, wingbert said:

 

If you'd ridden your bicycle this never would've happened. More bike lanes!!

 

The same lady probably would've pulled me over!

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/03/cyclist_wins_traffic_obstructi.html

[GRDadof3]

When this discussion started back in 2007, the city had probably a 40% vacancy in monthly parking permits? 

Now the city only has 131 monthly parking permits left, out of what? 6000?

 

I happened to be trying out the new GR Park app to look at ramp availability for non monthly parking people. This was just a few minutes ago (9:00am on a Thursday)

 

Thoughts? 

 

[SupercityGR]

^ More highrise apartment buildings without attached parking should fix the issue 

[GRDadof3]

The most interesting thing on that app is that Louis Campau shows availability. I looked at it last night and EVERY ramp was full, except for Government Center (under Calder), Devos Place and the Louis Campau ramp. Seems like that's a prime spot for parking. Do people miss it when they drive by? 

 

[ctpgr34]

The parking on Ionia that use to be free and now has the signs (instead of meters), is virtually unused now.  Pre signs I would drive by at 7am it was almost completely full, since the change maybe at the most 3 spots are used.  I assume its a combination of "might as well park closer since I have to pay" and "screw you city".

[GRDadof3]

2 hours ago, ctpgr34 said:

The parking on Ionia that use to be free and now has the signs (instead of meters), is virtually unused now.  Pre signs I would drive by at 7am it was almost completely full, since the change maybe at the most 3 spots are used.  I assume its a combination of "might as well park closer since I have to pay" and "screw you city".

No, those people switched to riding their bikes. 

[Sparty97]

7 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

When this discussion started back in 2007, the city had probably a 40% vacancy in monthly parking permits? 

Now the city only has 131 monthly parking permits left, out of what? 6000?

 

I happened to be trying out the new GR Park app to look at ramp availability for non monthly parking people. This was just a few minutes ago (9:00am on a Thursday)

 

Thoughts? 

 

 

I saw this the other day. I'm still not 100% sure where Area 8 and 9 are.  I'm almost certain they are not right downtown. So, essentially, if you get a job downtown, you will have to take a bus or have someone drop you off.  Not a good situation to be in.  Thank goodness I already have my monthly pass.

[GRDadof3]

4 hours ago, Sparty97 said:

I saw this the other day. I'm still not 100% sure where Area 8 and 9 are.  I'm almost certain they are not right downtown. So, essentially, if you get a job downtown, you will have to take a bus or have someone drop you off.  Not a good situation to be in.  Thank goodness I already have my monthly pass.

Area 8 and 9 lot are on the other side of Ferris Coffee by the Y over on the West Side:

http://grcity.us/enterprise-services/Parking-Services/Documents/13580_Downtown City parking_7_30_10.pdf

They are DASH lots, so it's not too bad. 

[MJLO]

If Devos place and the Government center are always open for anyone to park it would seem that the word needs to get out that people can park in them.

[Raildude's dad]

Much more expensive for those 2.  http://grcity.us/enterprise-services/Parking-Services/Documents/grparkingratesCHART.pdf

[GRDadof3]

8 hours ago, MJLO said:

If Devos place and the Government center are always open for anyone to park it would seem that the word needs to get out that people can park in them.

 

1 hour ago, Raildude's dad said:

Much more expensive for those 2.  http://grcity.us/enterprise-services/Parking-Services/Documents/grparkingratesCHART.pdf

When they increased rates not long ago, I thought they actually decreased a couple, including these. Maybe I'm delusional. 

Now that Megabus is no more, and Amtrak moved, why aren't those two lots at Wealthy and Market being used for the DASH system? Seems like a no-brainer. 

[wingbert]

Perhaps the answer lies in creating more TODs?

How transit-oriented developments are transforming US cities

[TheSutterKing]

I used to park on the west side on a side street and either take 5-10 mins to walk downtown or hop on the dash bus. Plus after 6 the dash lot on Seward is free. I've also had luck parking on the Fulton st. Bridge.

[GRDadof3]

12 hours ago, wingbert said:

Perhaps the answer lies in creating more TODs?

How transit-oriented developments are transforming US cities

There are 27,000 or so workers downtown. How many TOD's you planning?  

[wingbert]

On 2/3/2017 at 10:30 PM, GRDadof3 said:

There are 27,000 or so workers downtown. How many TOD's you planning?  

The answer is 42 but I don't think you've asked the right question.

[discgrab21]

2 hours ago, wingbert said:

The answer is 42 but I don't think you've asked the right question.

Well played...

[x99]

There are a lot of downtown employers right now who are up a creek without a paddle.  I realize I've been a rather contrarian broken record about building more ramps for a few years now, but we're really going to start paying the price for this bicycle and bus bulls---.  The parking situation means businesses can't expand, and empty space cannot be rented.  I suspect the parking situation will get less tight when leases start expiring and companies start moving out.  But even then, that's barely going to dent the waitlist... 

I can't even wait for the clusterf---- that is the Venue Tower.  Rumor has it most of their reserved spaces in Fulton/Ottawa were basically double-booked spaces, and there certainly doesn't seem to be any empty space in the ramp.

Edited February 6, 2017 by x99

[GRDadof3]

6 hours ago, x99 said:

There are a lot of downtown employers right now who are up a creek without a paddle.  I realize I've been a rather contrarian broken record about building more ramps for a few years now, but we're really going to start paying the price for this bicycle and bus bulls---.  The parking situation means businesses can't expand, and empty space cannot be rented.  I suspect the parking situation will get less tight when leases start expiring and companies start moving out.  But even then, that's barely going to dent the waitlist... 

I can't even wait for the clusterf---- that is the Venue Tower.  Rumor has it most of their reserved spaces in Fulton/Ottawa were basically double-booked spaces, and there certainly doesn't seem to be any empty space in the ramp.

I do not think more ramps downtown are the answer, except those that are directly attached to a specific project. I truly believe they have to find a way to get more people to NOT drive downtown for work. Getting 10% of the 6000 monthly parkers (600) would be a reasonable goal to start with I would think. 

[joeDowntown]

1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:

I do not think more ramps downtown are the answer, except those that are directly attached to a specific project. I truly believe they have to find a way to get more people to NOT drive downtown for work. Getting 10% of the 6000 monthly parkers (600) would be a reasonable goal to start with I would think. 

I think that may be a good long term goal, but we do need more parking. No way you're going to change habits, or heck, an entire transportation system in 1 or 2 years. Start now, but know that it is a 15 year goal (even if someone says "they started 10 years ago", I still think we're a good 15-20 years from what you're saying. 

I'm surprised the Parking Commission doesn't partner up with some of these developments. Warner Tower, partner to add MORE parking. Embassy Suites, more parking. Hinman, more parking (if it is even possible). If these developments already have a parking component, why not add more since it's already being built (and the buildings could be built taller)?

I was looking at DeVos Place the other day and wondered, if the parking entrance was on Monroe instead of Michigan, would people see it, use it? That's a dead zone. Just far enough away too be inconvenient, and buried so no one realizes it was there. 

I do not agree with @x99 on his assessment of The Venue Tower being a Clusterf*ck though. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and I'm sure they'll find parking. Maybe a tiered, "how far do you want to walk to park?" price for the apartments?  

Joe

 

[organsnyder]

1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:

I do not think more ramps downtown are the answer, except those that are directly attached to a specific project. I truly believe they have to find a way to get more people to NOT drive downtown for work. Getting 10% of the 6000 monthly parkers (600) would be a reasonable goal to start with I would think. 

We need to offer more flexible options. My hunch is that many monthly parkers would be willing to take the bus some of the time, but they've already paid for their reserved spot, so they might as well use it. If there were ways to purchase a part-time spot (yes, I realize that scheduling would be more complicated), I bet we could use our existing parking much more efficiently.

Speaking from experience, here. I take the bus downtown, but some days (like tomorrow, when I have a doctor appointment at 10am) I wish I had a dedicated spot. Even the ability to reserve a spot the night before (at a rate somewhere between the daily cash rate and the per-day cost of a monthly pass) would be a huge benefit. I'm planning to work from home tomorrow morning, and go in to the office after my appointment. Many people don't have the luxury of such flexible working arrangements.

[GRDadof3]

13 minutes ago, organsnyder said:

We need to offer more flexible options. My hunch is that many monthly parkers would be willing to take the bus some of the time, but they've already paid for their reserved spot, so they might as well use it. If there were ways to purchase a part-time spot (yes, I realize that scheduling would be more complicated), I bet we could use our existing parking much more efficiently.

Speaking from experience, here. I take the bus downtown, but some days (like tomorrow, when I have a doctor appointment at 10am) I wish I had a dedicated spot. Even the ability to reserve a spot the night before (at a rate somewhere between the daily cash rate and the per-day cost of a monthly pass) would be a huge benefit. I'm planning to work from home tomorrow morning, and go in to the office after my appointment. Many people don't have the luxury of such flexible working arrangements.

Right, and 3/4's of the population of the metro area lives nowhere near a bus line, and don't have the option of park-n-ride because there are very few lots near the bus stops. 

For a city that prides itself on "partnerships," this disconnect between Downtown GR and The Rapid partnering together more seems like a huge failure. As in, heads should roll. If it starts costing office occupancy, they'll all stand around like dunces not knowing what happened, and pointing fingers at everyone else. 

 

25 minutes ago, joeDowntown said:

I think that may be a good long term goal, but we do need more parking. No way you're going to change habits, or heck, an entire transportation system in 1 or 2 years. Start now, but know that it is a 15 year goal (even if someone says "they started 10 years ago", I still think we're a good 15-20 years from what you're saying. 

I'm surprised the Parking Commission doesn't partner up with some of these developments. Warner Tower, partner to add MORE parking. Embassy Suites, more parking. Hinman, more parking (if it is even possible). If these developments already have a parking component, why not add more since it's already being built (and the buildings could be built taller)?

I was looking at DeVos Place the other day and wondered, if the parking entrance was on Monroe instead of Michigan, would people see it, use it? That's a dead zone. Just far enough away too be inconvenient, and buried so no one realizes it was there. 

I do not agree with @x99 on his assessment of The Venue Tower being a Clusterf*ck though. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and I'm sure they'll find parking. Maybe a tiered, "how far do you want to walk to park?" price for the apartments?  

Joe

 

That is another good idea Joe. Apparently the smartest people in GR are on this board and not serving on the parking commission.

 

[Morris]

I have always found free parking right downtown!

http://grcity.us/enterprise-services/Parking-Services/Pages/FREE-Scooter-Parking.aspx

Maybe you should get one!

[organsnyder]

8 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

For a city that prides itself on "partnerships," this disconnect between Downtown GR and The Rapid partnering together more seems like a huge failure. As in, heads should roll. If it starts costing office occupancy, they'll all stand around like dunces not knowing what happened, and pointing fingers at everyone else. 

There is a general perception that The Rapid is only used by people too poor to own a car. That's certainly not the reality (a lot of downtown commuters use it), but I wonder if this thinking permeates within The Rapid leadership as well. I'm sure it's not a conscious thing, but I doubt that many in The Rapid leadership actually use their service for their own daily commutes.

I've noticed this throughout a lot of the "urbanist" crowd: Everyone wants transit and walkable communities, but most people still use their cars almost 100% of the time. I've found I have a different perspective after busing/walking to work for the past 1.5 years: I notice a lot of things—crosswalk timings, plows pushing snow up onto sidewalks, construction blocking sidewalks for a year at a time...—that I didn't notice before; most of these are minor annoyances, but some of them can be hazardous. If we're truly serious about effecting a mode shift, our city's leadership needs to experience it personally.