Remember when SDOT changed the cost to park on some streets around town? And remember when they started charging for parking until 8 p.m.? Well the city has a survey you should take to let them know how it’s going.
You can find the survey online here (takes 10-15 minutes, depending on how much time you like to spend writing lengthy responses to survey questions about parking meters).
From SDOT:
At SDOT, we manage the on-street parking network – all those pay stations, meters, and related signs. Right now, we’re working on a project that outlines different strategies to make paid parking in downtown and neighborhood business districts more available. The technical term is performance-based parking pricing. Other cities like San Francisco,Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. are testing out new strategies too.
We’d like to get a better sense for business owner needs, understand the customer parking experience, and look for ways to make it better. Take a survey!
Why is the city not charging rent for every on-street parking space?
I hope they realize that if they push paid parking back to 8:00pm, it will definitely have an impact on restaurant business on CapHill. Given the choice of paying for parking, waiting till 8pm to eat, or going elsewhere, a lot of people will choose the last. Maybe not everyone, but enough to feel it.
Another case: Deciding whether to grab a quick bite out for $5 or $6, or eating at home. Now you’ve made that $6 + $4 to park, so it becomes $10 or eating at home. $4 can easily tip that balance.
If you get rid of your car you’ll save about $3,000 a year in maintenance, gas, and insurance. That’s $250 a month of after-tax money in your pocket. That’s plenty for bus fare or to buy a cool bike, with cash left over for regular restaurant dining.
And if like most of us you CAN’T get rid of your car…it’s not $3000.
Not everyone can do with out a car.
Cool. I’ll get rid of my car — if you’ll drive me where I need to go.
Hey, yeah, great idea.
I could save a lot of money by getting rid of my car and just bumming rides off everyone I know with cars.
Sarcasm is for fools.
“…project that outlines different strategies to make paid parking in downtown and neighborhood business districts more available.” WHAT they really mean is that they will extend ALL on street parking to PAY parking. In front of your house? Too bad, pay up.NOTHING is safe from government looters.
THEY WILL.
… we shouldn’t piss the money away on conducting non-scientific biased surveys. Oy.
The whole city? That’s ridiculous. There’s no way the city could employ enough parking officers to patrol the entire city’s residential neighborhoods to charge for parking everywhere. It would be impossibly expensive to install parking meters in the whole city, and in most neighborhoods there would never be a payback. Plus the political shitstorm would be immediate and intense. Save your conspiracy theories for something that could actually happen, this ain’t it.
Thank you, Jim, for this little bit of realism and rationality.
Really not that crazy, I was in Chicago a few years back and they all paid for parking. They had a sticker that was self validated, bought in books, placed on the window for overnight/long term parking. Enforcement easily pays for itself.
STUPID Survey! I try NOT to drive around town & Walk & take the Bus within my (Capitol Hill) Neighborhood & Between neighborhoods. I HATE the new parking prices & Hours – it makes it 10x as hard for my friends to drive to see me – because there is no free parking left even though I have a zone visitor parking pass, also it drove up the price of paid lots in the area even more. Best of all, it makes it harder on bicyclists & pedestrians because people are scouting free parking INSTEAD of watching where they are driving! McGinn is an IDIOT!