Astoria being Portlandized? (Warrenton: sales, homes, live)

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Came across this article in the Daily Astorian.
To me this seems totally backwards.

The last thing Astoria needs is less parking.
I love to walk around Astoria's downtown, but more often than not, the weather is crappy and I can't find a parking spot so I drive on.
There are lot's of shops and businesses and restaraunts I'd love to partronize, but parking can be a royal pain.
I really don't feel like parking three blocks away and casually strolling through a "vibrant" downtown when it's cold, rainy, windy and wet.

From the article:

“Every single downtown has troubles with parking,” she said. “What I say is create a parking problem.”

‘You have to become the anti-strip mall’ - Daily Astorian: Free

[hamellr]

You know, I really do not know how any one can say Downtown Astoria doesn't have enough parking. Over 30 years at all times of the season from the low of Winter to the very busiest tourist days I have never had a single issue parking "downtown." Sure, I may not be able to find a parking spot directly in front of the place I want to go do, but there is always ample parking within 5 or 6 blocks. Ten at the very worse. That's not even half a mile to walk!

On the other hand, study after study, and plenty of real life examples that prove exactly what Mrs. Reeves is saying. Less Parking results in more Foot traffic through the area. The key is right here: "Increased foot traffic, she said, equals higher sales."

There is plenty of examples here in Portland. For instance stores and restaurants that have the bike corrals in front of them all report increased sales since they were put in.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

That's not even half a mile to walk!

Sure, but some people can't or don't want to leave their car and walk half a mile.
Think of the "older" tourists and residents that have money to spend but ain't spring chickens anymore.
Or people with young families.
Or people on vacation with a car load full of personal belongings and valuable stuff that would prefer not to have their car sit five blocks away from some little store full of knick-knacks that they want to go shopping in, or while they sit eating lunch for an hour.

There is plenty of examples here in Portland. For instance stores and restaurants that have the bike corrals in front of them all report increased sales since they were put in.

But Astoria is not Portland.
Last time I checked, the "cycling culture" wasn't very strong in Astoria.
The city is basically built on the side of steep hills and the weather doesn't really compliment riding around on a bike.
The few "touring" cyclists I've seen looked miserable dealing with the weather and/or traffic.

Astoria needs to cater to the tourists during the short summer tourist season and make it easy for them to stop on a whim and spend money, not make them drive around for 15 minutes looking for a parking spot and then having to hike half a mile to shop.

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Came across this article in the Daily Astorian.
To me this seems totally backwards.

The last thing Astoria needs is less parking...............

It started decades ago. Businesses started moving out of downtowns to relocate to malls, strip malls ….. anywhere, among other things, where parking was easier.

All that was left in downtowns were empty buildings, second hand stores, artsy-craftsy stores always on the verge of going out of business, etc., etc.

No matter what the local leaders tried, they could not get the JC Penneys and Sears and other major retailers to come back downtown – not even the locally owned hardware store. The leaders were always told that parking was too difficult.

Lots of money was spent on outside consultants but it did no good.

In reality, the world had changed, and it wasn't going to change back.

But some people don't want to believe that. They will hire an expert such as Michele Reeves in Astoria who tells them things they want to hear: Don't believe the experts who run businesses. Don't believe your lyin' eyes. Believe me instead. Lack of parking is not a weakness, it is a strength. Your secret to success is to make parking even more difficult.

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Sure, but some people can't or don't want to leave their car and walk half a mile.
Think of the "older" tourists and residents that have money to spend but ain't spring chickens anymore.
Or people with young families.
Or people on vacation with a car load full of personal belongings and valuable stuff that would prefer not to have their car sit five blocks away from some little store full of knick-knacks that they want to go shopping in, or while they sit eating lunch for an hour.

Ironically I end up walking much further when I go to somewhere like Washington Square Mall or Costco from their giant parking lots during a crowded weekend than I'd ever have to walk from my car in Astoria. Actually, I can't remember ever having much trouble finding parking in Astoria--a good chunk of the downtown is basically parking lots--and another chunk of the downtown is pretty sleepy and dead...

Not sure why some consultant is making a big deal about removing parking from downtown Astoria other than just justifying her own job security--but it doesn't seem like either a lack of or surplus of parking for a small village like Astoria with a limited tourist season should be that big a deal...

[robertpolyglot]

I don't think Astoria will ever wake up, let alone become Portlandized. It has a great location and a good port, but it seems like it keeps aging and nothing is being done to upgrade it. Astoria is sort of a smaller and less industrial version on Duluth MN on the more temperate Pacific, having been to Astoria numerous times and having only read about Duluth MN, which sounds interesting. Both have Victorian homes on steep streets which plunge down to the water side, and are compared to San Francisco in this regard.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

IMHO, Astoria IS changing, but I think it's cleverly changing to a tourist town during the summer while keeping it's real working port history/business/atmosphere for the rest of the year.
Warrenton on the other hand is becoming big box/strip mall hell.

Good and bad, that region really needed a place like that for the people that actually live there.

There are a lot of "upgrades" and "new" in Astoria (buildings don't last very long there if they are neglected), it's just overshadowed by what has gone on in Warrenton the last few years.