Parking Meter Rate Increases (Pittsburgh, Washington: low income, flat fee, neighborhoods)

[SteelCityRising]

The extended enforcement hours will DEFINITELY make me reconsider where I spend my discretionary income in the evenings. Right before the Arts Festival, too, eh? Looks like I WILL be walking down to the Point from Polish Hill after all.

[Caladium]

Yes, I suppose that's the silver lining (if there is one). If it gets more people walking, it could be a hidden blessing.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Yes, I suppose that's the silver lining (if there is one). If it gets more people walking, it could be a hidden blessing.

Very true, Caladium. Then again with how revenue-hungry our city is I can envision parking meters going up next on bike racks if enough people become fed up with the exorbitant parking fees and enforcement and decide to eschew their cars entirely. To be quite honest I've flirted with the notion of going sans car myself and saving myself the $400/month or so I spend on my car payment, insurance, gasoline, and maintenance. I can walk to take the East Busway to and from work in East Liberty. I already walk Downtown, to the North Shore, to the Strip District, and Lawrenceville. My better half has a car, and he also lives within walking distance of the East Busway. I could always rent a car if and when I wanted to visit family or friends outside the immediate area.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

The extended enforcement hours will DEFINITELY make me reconsider where I spend my discretionary income in the evenings. Right before the Arts Festival, too, eh? Looks like I WILL be walking down to the Point from Polish Hill after all.

During the arts fesival it might actually make sense to not have free parking, since spots will be in demand (I would assume, I've never gone). But just any old weekday night? That's just a cash grab that encourages people to eat, dine, and be entertained in the suburbs.

[Caladium]

I'd try walking to work for a full year of seasons first before deciding to ditch the car entirely. It may be a pleasant walk during fall and spring, but an entirely different matter during the dog days of summer or in the middle of winter.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

But just any old weekday night? That's just a cash grab that encourages people to eat, dine, and be entertained in the suburbs.

The Downtown, from what I've heard, is undergoing a sustained (yet fragile) renaissance now unlike any other so-called "rebirth" it has had in decades. The vast majority of people in our area live in the suburbs for whatever reason. If you want people like h_curtis or Hopes to still come Downtown with their families once in a while on a weekday evening for a nice dinner on Market Square or something, for example, do you really want to risk having them spending their dollars at a chain restaurant near the Ross Park Mall instead with its nearly unlimited free parking? I will also add as a delivery driver who has had to pay three parking tickets Downtown in the past six months when the meter ran out before he was done making a delivery to a high-rise that the penalties are quite expensive.

It would be different if this area had a massive and well-integrated mass transit system consisting of more Busways, light rail, and, yes, maybe even BrianTH's gondolas, but we don't. This is still a VERY auto-dependent area. While the city proper is doing a great job of identifying problem areas and trouble spots to address for better pedestrian- and cyclist-connectivity (my own oft-maligned Bigelow Boulevard in Polish Hill is amongst the top identified as needing a "road diet", and I will let you all know more about this after I attend a related urban planning workshop on Saturday) the suburbs, mostly, still have no clue. I cringe when I see high school cross country athletes trying to run or soccer moms in spandex trying to power-walk with their dogs along some of those narrow, windy, hilly roads in much of the non-sidewalked and non-shouldered 'burbs in the North Hills. All it takes is one person in an SUV texting or otherwise being distracted to veer slightly to their right and cause a tragedy (as we just saw with the two doctors plowed over at the intersection of Allegheny River Boulevard and Washington Boulevard in Highland Park).

[UKyank]

These are the same people that sit around scratching their heads wondering why people don't come into the city for anything other than work.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

The Downtown, from what I've heard, is undergoing a sustained (yet fragile) renaissance now unlike any other so-called "rebirth" it has had in decades. The vast majority of people in our area live in the suburbs for whatever reason. If you want people like h_curtis or Hopes to still come Downtown with their families once in a while on a weekday evening for a nice dinner on Market Square or something, for example, do you really want to risk having them spending their dollars at a chain restaurant near the Ross Park Mall instead with its nearly unlimited free parking? I will also add as a delivery driver who has had to pay three parking tickets Downtown in the past six months when the meter ran out before he was done making a delivery to a high-rise that the penalties are quite expensive.

It would be different if this area had a massive and well-integrated mass transit system consisting of more Busways, light rail, and, yes, maybe even BrianTH's gondolas, but we don't. This is still a VERY auto-dependent area. While the city proper is doing a great job of identifying problem areas and trouble spots to address for better pedestrian- and cyclist-connectivity (my own oft-maligned Bigelow Boulevard in Polish Hill is amongst the top identified as needing a "road diet", and I will let you all know more about this after I attend a related urban planning workshop on Saturday) the suburbs, mostly, still have no clue. I cringe when I see high school cross country athletes trying to run or soccer moms in spandex trying to power-walk with their dogs along some of those narrow, windy, hilly roads in much of the non-sidewalked and non-shouldered 'burbs in the North Hills. All it takes is one person in an SUV texting or otherwise being distracted to veer slightly to their right and cause a tragedy (as we just saw with the two doctors plowed over at the intersection of Allegheny River Boulevard and Washington Boulevard in Highland Park).

It's a delicate balance between charging enough that parking spots are available, and charging little enough that people will still come in to downtown. You're right that lots of people don't want to come pay for parking, but just as many don't want to drive in circles downtown for 15 minutes waiting for one of the free spots to open up.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by UKyank

These are the same people that sit around scratching their heads wondering why people don't come into the city for anything other than work.

Precisely. Washington, DC is a nightmare when it comes to parking in terms of enforcement, hourly meter rates, and, well, just finding a spot in general; however, their nightlife continues to thrive because (most) major suburban areas have easy transit access into the heart of the city. The Metrorail system may be plagued with problems, but I'd frequently drive from my home in Reston, VA to Falls Church, VA, park at a FREE garage (on weekends and non-peak weekday hours) and then take the Orange Line into the heart of the city in about 20 minutes. One thing I will admit missing about the DC Area was the extensive rail system. Granted the Silver Line to major areas like Tysons Corner, Reston, and Dulles Airport was LONG overdue, but at least it's finally being worked on.

That's not the case in Pittsburgh. Yeah, if you live in Dormont or select parts of Mt. Lebanon you can just hop the "T" to get Downtown via light rail. If you live near the East Busway that works, too, but then again that only terminates in Swissvale, if I'm not mistaken. The vast majority of our area's largest suburbs---Penn Hills, Robinson Twp., Moon Twp., McCandless Twp., Ross Twp., Scott Twp., Upper St. Clair, Hampton Twp., and Shaler Twp., to name just a few---don't have easy and direct access from most areas to Downtown Pittsburgh. Like it or not most people decided to settle in these urban sprawl zones in our region, and until we figure out a way to better serve them via mass transit it's NOT in the city's best interest to make it more heinous for them to drive into the city to spend their discretionary income. Applebee's suddenly looks more attractive than trying NOLA to a suburbanite when they have to pay more for parking and keep an eye on their wristwatches all the time to run back to feed the meter if need be. I can say from personal experience, too, that you'll receive a ticket nearly immediately after your meter runs out.

[ferraris]

Applebee's suddenly looks more attractive than trying NOLA to a suburbanite when they have to pay more for parking and keep an eye on their wristwatches all the time to run back to feed the meter if need be.

That's one reason I'll sometimes use the garages downtown if I'm not sure how long I'll be. It'll cost more than a metered space, but at least I don't have to make a mad dash to feed it a few quarters if I take a bit longer than I had planned.

You're absolutely right about mass transit being the best solution, but in the mean time I think it is better to price parking in such a way that having spaces available is preferable to having spaces free of charge. It's possible that spaces can be both available and free of charge during certain timeframes, though, of course. The worst impression is for there to be entire blocks of empty metered spaces to park at, and then still make people have to feed it a few dollars in quarters.