Strip Parking (Lawrenceville, Penn: broker, transfer to, neighborhood)

[pman]

Originally Posted by UKyank

I only see a need for pay parking when there are never any spaces available as it stimulates turnover and makes parking available when it otherwise wouldnt be. As I've never not been able to find free spots in the strip on weekends I dont see the necessity for the meters at this point in time.

Ive had problems finding spaces..hence the $5 parking and I'd wager I'm not the only one otherwise the $5 spots would be empty and they're not. Mind you I don't go all the way to 31st when I'm trying to shop 17-21st. Perhaps they should leave the last 3-5 blocks free and just meter 17-26th or so.
Copa-we just use it differently. I drop. $60 in under 2 hours at Penn Mac, parma, buying prosciutto, mozzarella, or even Berkshire pork. The retailers need turnover...the bars need people to linger. If the bucs game is at night or on Sunday (most are) you can still park for free.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by pman

Copa-we just use it differently. I drop. $60 in under 2 hours at Penn Mac, parma, buying prosciutto, mozzarella, or even Berkshire pork. The retailers need turnover...the bars need people to linger. If the bucs game is at night or on Sunday (most are) you can still park for free.

I never pay for parking when attending a Bucco game any day of the week, always a free spot on the Northside. Just have a problem paying 20 bucks to rent a piece of asphalt for 3 hrs/9 innings, whichever is longer.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I never pay for parking when attending a Bucco game any day of the week, always a free spot on the Northside. Just have a problem paying 20 bucks to rent a piece of asphalt for 3 hrs/9 innings, whichever is longer.

And this shouldn't affect any day of the week except Saturday afternoon games. That's all I'm saying. I here you on stadium parki

[greg42]

When I go to the Strip I usually drive down Smallman. If I don't score a spot, I pull into the lot behind the produce terminal and pay 5 bucks. If I decide to try to be cheap and look around for a space the SO gets irritated. Note Copanut, this is 5 bucks is flat so not per hour or whatever. Pay when you go in, leave whenever. This works out well if you're going to spend hours, less well if only there for an hour or two.

[BrianTH]

Right, $5 is a reasonable amount to pay for parking as long as you want (6 hours or whatever), and people who intend to park long term like that should not be taking up the street spots.

And if having to pay $5 for parking is enough to make you stop doing something with your entire day that you otherwise enjoy . . . well, that's your business, but that seems like a strange set of priorities to me, unless you are in dire financial straits.

[Copanut]

No, just think things should be dirt cheap or free on weekends, that's all.

[Impala26]

Originally Posted by pman

The real problem I think is if the city puts rates too high and spaces are empty.if that happens they need to be lowered in response. I'd certainly prefer the $2 an hour to the flat $5 rate. I'd imagine the only way a garage would make sense is if it served as a park and ride for downtown as well. I suspect Saturdays could use a little parking management.

This is exactly the kind of issue the city faced with increasing the rates and enforcement hours of the meters along Schenley Drive and Frew Street near Carnegie Mellon. At my early years at CMU, these spaces were virtually ALWAYS taken, even during off hours (I believe the rate was like 50 cents an hour). Off-campus students would often use them to park for anywhere between 1 and 4 hours. However, since the city decided to raise rates to $1.50/hr. and enforcement until 10p (later backed off till 8 and 6pm in different places) virtually across the board, now roughly only a third, or at most half, of those spots are taken during even PEAK business hours with regular classes in session

I'm still not sure if it's the black-and-white raising of the rate from $0.50 to $1.50 per hour or if it's the increased inconvenience of having to carry around more quarters as the meters are quarters only or even both. I'd be curious to see the effect of raising the parking rates like this would have ended had the rate increase been the same, but new modern meters that accepted all coins and bills and even debit/credit cards had been installed concurrently.

So maybe this pay-by-plate thing isn't so bad when the alternative is looking like Uncle Moneybags from the Monopoly game carrying around sacks of quarters. :-)

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Copanut

No, just think things should be dirt cheap or free on weekends, that's all.

Not to beat you over the head, but do you expect to get your gas for free on weekends? Free meals at the restaurants?

Street parking is never really free, because it is the consumption of a scarce resource (the exclusive use of land in developed areas). Who pays, and how they pay, and how much they pay, all varies, but there is no magic on the weekends that makes the use of developed land costless.

[BrianTH]

Mayor halts plan to install meters in Strip District - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

And once again, rational parking policy falls to political expediency and fear of change.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Mayor halts plan to install meters in Strip District - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

And once again, rational parking policy falls to political expediency and fear of change.

and thats a joke, considering the dynamics and the vitality of the Strip, compared to, say, downtown, where meters are enforced.

the mayor backed down to suburbanites who make a killing with their businesses in the strip.