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An article in today’s Dispatch is reporting that some city officials are considering a 50% rate hike to parking meters throughout Downtown, the Short North, the Arena District, German Village and other urban neighborhoods. The increase is estimated to bring in an additional $1.5 million in revenue. This news comes just three weeks after parking meter restrictions were lifted in order to make Downtown on-street parking more convenient for businesses.
You can read the full Dispatch article here.
Another brilliant Coleman move.
Not a good idea if the city is trying to get people to come downtown..enough with the the hikes on everything..damn
Booooooooooo!
kcrissinger Says: Another brilliant Coleman move.
Anyway… I can’t say I’m a fan of this move. I understand the reasoning behind it, and I realize that public parking Downtown is generally cheaper thank the privately-owned parking lot rates, but it sounds like the folks behind this proposal aren’t looking at the big picture and how this will impact businesses.
Downtown businesses (whether they’re offices or retail or restaurants) count on their customers and employees to have affordable parking solutions. They’re not looking at competition between public meters and private lots… they’re looking at competition with shoppers who could use as easily head to Easton or Polaris or Walmart where parking is free. Offices who lease space downtown could just as easily relocate to a suburban location where parking is more abundant for their clients and employees.
I’d suggest that the officials in the Public Service and Transportation Departments explore another source of revenue if they really need it. Jacking up the parking rates by 50% is going to have a huge detrimental impact to doing business Downtown with nothing tangible in return. I’m afraid that this would be a big step in the wrong direction.
Sethers33 what kind of dog is that? I want one
My initial reaction is **** no, that’s a terrible decision. But once I started thinking through it a little more, I want to see some data. For instance, you raise that point that downtown businesses count on those spots for their employees to find affordable parking solutions. If a spot becomes too expensive for an employee to feed for a 6 hour shift and 4 carloads of shoppers fill that space in that 6 hours, it’s much better for business. Meters are meant to cycle people through a neighborhood so, again, I would like to see studies on actual business impacts of a small parking meter increase. It might have some surprises.
I’ve lost count of the amount of business owners I’ve spoken to who won’t locate their business downtown due to the city’s handling/ mishandling of public and metered parking.
Then there is the public’s perception of downtown parking. This introduces even more confusion to an existing perception problem with a net result that hurts other businesses and the growth of downtown.
It would be yet, another nail in the coffin.
Mr. Snarky Walker:
I’m not saying he proposed the hike. However, the mayor does have a say in things. In the wake of the recent tax increase, this seems a bit too much.
Peace.
I wasn’t being snarky at all. I was asking a serious question. Your original simplistic four-word comment implied that you had no basic comprehension of what was being said in this news announcement, so I was under the impression that you had not read it and instead took the opportunity to make a baseless kneejerk reaction about Coleman. Anyway, I agree with you that the mayor “does have a say in things” but that still doesn’t explain your original post where you make it sound as if this were his idea to begin with.
Anyway, I agree with Tigertree, that more research wouldn’t hurt, but I’m 95% sure that research will just prove what most people are probably already thinking… this will be a bad move for downtown businesses overall.
For some areas, this might make sense. On Park Street, you get something like a half hour for a quarter. But in other areas, like Gay Street, its something ridiculous like five minutes for a quarter. Why not make all meters the same, predictable rate?
But if it’s going to cost me eight quarters to park while I’m dining, make sure those meters have a debit card function.
Im all about keeping parking cheap, but I think its a great idea to upgrade to the credit card friendly machines. As a person who generally does not carry much cash and rarely, if ever, keeps several dollars worth of quarters in my car, I can tell you that It’d be more likely for me to use a more expensive meter than stop, get change, and plug in coins.
One huge thing that should/could be considered are free downtown parking zones for residents and/or pre-paid passes for guests; similar to the permit parking offered in the neighborhoods. When most of the downtown condos only have one parking space included, its tough to make guests park far away where its free or have them constantly plug a meter.
“I wasn’t being snarky at all. I was asking a serious question. Your original simplistic four-word comment implied that you had no basic comprehension of what was being said in this news announcement, so I was under the impression that you had not read it and instead took the opportunity to make a baseless kneejerk reaction about Coleman. Anyway, I agree with you that the mayor “does have a say in things†but that still doesn’t explain your original post where you make it sound as if this were his idea to begin with.”
I’m sorry that my baseless, simplistic statement that lacked any basic comprehension didn’t sit well with you.
or with others kcrissinger. I’m sorry but it looked like a classic “mikey” comment on the dispatch. We can only hope that mayor will come out against it.
Oh and is that the water garden in the Westgate Park as your picture?
This seems to be a horrible move and I would imagine that it will definitely hurt downtown businesses. Metered parking in Columbus is already ridiculously expensive. After living in Cincinnati for a year where a quarter or two will get you two hours of parking, and then trying to park on Gay St. for dinner at the Tip Top and having to scavenge up something like $2 was a bit of a shock. Aside from the expense, I think the biggest issue is the inconvenience factor–who keeps that much change in their car? If there were to be an increase, it should at least coincide with an immediate installation of the “modern, credit-card-friendly replacements.” The city should finance the installation of them before waiting for the additional revenue.
kcrissinger Says: I’m sorry that my baseless, simplistic statement that lacked any basic comprehension didn’t sit well with you.
Apology accepted. Now let’s try to get this back on topic and turn it into something thoughtful and productive. ;)
jasonjfisher Says: …then trying to park on Gay St. for dinner at the Tip Top and having to scavenge up something like $2 was a bit of a shock. Aside from the expense, I think the biggest issue is the inconvenience factor–who keeps that much change in their car?
FYI – Almost all meters Downtown are “off” after 6pm. That allows for free parking for dinner at Tip Top. It’s lunch that will cost you around $2 to park. I agree about the change thing though. I rarely even use cash at all anymore, so gathering change for parking is generally something I have to plan out in advance. Increasing the rates is going to make this more of a chore for many people who are instead just going to opt to go eat lunch elsewhere.
We tried the credit card solution already and people couldn’t figure them out.
City tried about 5 different digital solutions for CC use on meters. The “box” ones in the Short North did not work well and attracted a line of homeless, but the system tried more recently at Gay Street was a total success. They are very easy to use and didn’t break down in cold.
The increase will allow the City to upgrade and put the solar powered meters at all 4,200 parking sites over a couple years. New meters are more convenient, you won’t need quarters, and are more reliable for users, and the increase is long overdue. These meters are intended to keep turning over cars in prime areas, not be all day parking spaces. The valet question is being handled through another process and should end up getting most of them off public meters in a year.
The Department is considering extending “on” hours at meters as well in areas like Short North that are clearly entertainment districts… possibly until 8 or 9 p.m.
Thanks for some clarification, Mike. A rate increase sounds more attractive if it’s funding meter improvements (I really miss the most recent batch of credit card test meters on Gay Street), but I still think it’s got the potential to be harmful to some businesses as well. I’m hoping all of that at least gets studied before anything moves forward.
I figured we’d eventually see more meters running later as well, as more businesses remain open later. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner in the Short North.
Futureman: “Oh and is that the water garden in the Westgate Park as your picture?”
Yes, it is the rain garden at Westgate. The rain garden was my brainchild and our group (Friends of the Scioto River) invested over $1,000 to have it installed. Hope you like it.