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Our house is in a permit parking district. We were having big problems with those who live in nearby neighborhoods that have problems with overcrowded housing as they were parking their excess vehicles on our streets. Some lived far away enough that after they would park their cars, they would wait for someone to pick them up and take them home. All of this caused many quality of life issues. It was a long, drawn out process to get the local government to approve our district.
We were chatting with one of our neighbors who has a different take on the permit parking district. While he is happy that we have one, he thinks it could hurt house sales. I have a different take---I think it would help house sales.
I know if I were looking to buy in a permit parking district, I would consider it to be an asset. That said, I would have questions on just how things work (For example, can your house guests park there, etc?) In our community, we can purchase guest passes that we can give to our visitors to hang on their rear view mirrors. If someone is having a large party, they can contact the local government office that handles the permits and purchase one day permits for their guests.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you like the idea of a permit parking district or not?
If I understand what you mean by a permit parking district (I've never heard of this before and Google was surprisingly unhelpful), then no, I wouldn't buy a house with that. I also wouldn't buy somewhere with street-only parking. When we were looking in our current area for townhomes, there were many with street parking (assigned, which I don't think is quite what you're talking about) and fewer with driveways and garages. We held out for one with a driveway and garage. We also paid a premium for it. I'd rather do that. Then I don't have to be pissed off when someone parks where they're not supposed to anyway and leaves me without parking. It's annoying enough in public parking garages and the like whenever I have to go downtown.
I suppose if I had absolutely no choice and couldn't afford somewhere with a driveway, I would appreciate what I think you're talking about a little more. It still doesn't guarantee much, though, especially not when you're at the end of a long day of work or running errands and all you want to do is go inside and collapse.
I would consider it a benefit but also be aware that parking issues had occured in the past and will likely be an ongoing thorn in residents' sides. That said, the need for such controls usually reflect a highly desirable area.
If I understand what you mean by a permit parking district (I've never heard of this before and Google was surprisingly unhelpful), then no, I wouldn't buy a house with that. I also wouldn't buy somewhere with street-only parking. When we were looking in our current area for townhomes, there were many with street parking (assigned, which I don't think is quite what you're talking about) and fewer with driveways and garages. We held out for one with a driveway and garage. We also paid a premium for it. I'd rather do that. Then I don't have to be pissed off when someone parks where they're not supposed to anyway and leaves me without parking. It's annoying enough in public parking garages and the like whenever I have to go downtown.
I suppose if I had absolutely no choice and couldn't afford somewhere with a driveway, I would appreciate what I think you're talking about a little more. It still doesn't guarantee much, though, especially not when you're at the end of a long day of work or running errands and all you want to do is go inside and collapse.
That's what our local government calls them --- Permit parking districts. If a community is having serious problems with parking, they can petition to make their community a permit parking district. We have driveways in our community. Every house has a 2 car garage. Permit parking means that in order to park in the street you have to have a sticker on your car indicating that you are a part of the parking district. There are no assigned street parking spots. Only you and your guests are allowed to park there. The local police department tickets cars that don't belong in our parking district.
I once had a house in an area with a permit system. Usually a permit parking district is an in-town neighborhood convenient to shopping, employers, cultural institutions, etc. So usually a desirable place to buy.
I would consider it a benefit but also be aware that parking issues had occured in the past and will likely be an ongoing thorn in residents' sides. That said, the need for such controls usually reflect a highly desirable area.
Yes, more than a year after we got our permit parking district, despite there being plenty of signage that states it's permit parking only, we still, from time to time, get those who don't belong here parking their cars. The local police are proactive about ticketing and us residents can call the non-emergency number and an officer will come out and ticket.
I agree with you --- I think it's an asset to have a parking district. Before we got it, things were bad. Sometimes people would park and block our driveways enough so that we couldn't get out. On trash days, they would move our trash cans so that they could park and block the driveway! In fact, I would worry about having to sell our house when that parking nightmare was occurring. Once we got the permit parking, it's amazing at how much the quality of our lives has improved!
I posted this as I wondered how others felt about buying in such a district, given that one of my neighbors was concerned about how it might affect property values.
This is very common in the metro DC area. The further out you go, the frequency of restricted street parking diminishes. I don't deal with it every day, but I do live 1/4 mile from a major interstate in the outter-burbs and our little TH community has gone to parking passes for the spaces beyond our assigned parking. I think it helps sales, it sure keeps those catching the commuter bus out of our development. What makes it hard is the lack of spaces for visitor on street parking.
I used to live near a major urban university, and it was impossible to find any street parking during the day, what with all the students and faculty parking along my neighborhood streets. If you lived there, you learned not to move your car during the day, unless you'd be using it all day and not coming back until the evening.
And then the city put in a permit parking zone. It was like heaven on earth. All of a sudden, I could actually use my car and have reasonable assurance that I could find a place to park it when I got back. It was fantastic. So yes, if I were buying in a major city and I couldn't get an off-street space, then I'd definitely look for a neighborhood with permit parking.
Incidentally, I'm not sure how they work everywhere, but in my old neighborhood, the permit was in effect only during weekday hours. Nights and weekends, anyone could park there. So it was never any problem having guests come visit.
This is very common in the metro DC area. The further out you go, the frequency of restricted street parking diminishes. I don't deal with it every day, but I do live 1/4 mile from a major interstate in the outter-burbs and our little TH community has gone to parking passes for the spaces beyond our assigned parking. I think it helps sales, it sure keeps those catching the commuter bus out of our development. What makes it hard is the lack of spaces for visitor on street parking.
I'm in NoVA in an area where there will be a future Metro station. So, not only were we dealing with overflow parking from overcrowded housing but down the line, there would be Metro parking issues, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man
I used to live near a major urban university, and it was impossible to find any street parking during the day, what with all the students and faculty parking along my neighborhood streets. If you lived there, you learned not to move your car during the day, unless you'd be using it all day and not coming back until the evening.
And then the city put in a permit parking zone. It was like heaven on earth. All of a sudden, I could actually use my car and have reasonable assurance that I could find a place to park it when I got back. It was fantastic. So yes, if I were buying in a major city and I couldn't get an off-street space, then I'd definitely look for a neighborhood with permit parking.
Incidentally, I'm not sure how they work everywhere, but in my old neighborhood, the permit was in effect only during weekday hours. Nights and weekends, anyone could park there. So it was never any problem having guests come visit.
In our permit parking district it is effect 24/7 which is absolutely awesome!
That's what our local government calls them --- Permit parking districts. If a community is having serious problems with parking, they can petition to make their community a permit parking district. We have driveways in our community. Every house has a 2 car garage. Permit parking means that in order to park in the street you have to have a sticker on your car indicating that you are a part of the parking district. There are no assigned street parking spots. Only you and your guests are allowed to park there. The local police department tickets cars that don't belong in our parking district.
Ah, okay. That's different than I thought the meaning was. So you're basically objecting to someone parking on the street in front of houses and such? I can understand that, I guess, especially if the roads become too narrow and hazardous from poor parking decisions. At the same time, it would make it awfully difficult to have any sort of spontaneous guests or allow friends to invite other friends over for a get-to-know-each-other party.
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