Columbus' parking meter rates now higher than NYC and Boston!

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Columbus' parking meter rates now higher than NYC and Boston!

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Started 2 years ago by lizless
Latest reply from futureman

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rus

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gk wrote >>
People in Columbus have shown that parking is not a major factor in their decision to come downtown if we offer something that they can't otherwise get in the suburbs or is superior to or substantially different from anything they can get in the suburbs, as exemplified by the thousands that venture downtown for Blue Jacket games, Clippers' games, the arts festival, latino festival, jazz festival, red, white and boom, broadway shows, Columbus symphony, etc. We have lost many "destination places" over the past decade, such as City Center which offered a unique shopping experience for many years, the Garage - one of the hottest dance clubs in the city during its heyday, Out-on-Main, Brownstone, etc. . - which brought thousands downtown on a regular, weekly basis, including evenings.

Not sure about dance clubs, but all those events seem to have parking covered, one way or another. Last art festival I went to I had to drive past numerous people all too willing to rent me parking spot.

Posted 2 years ago #
Porky
C-Bus' East Side
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I think the meters down here are getting worse.
I hopped into N. Star the other day for lunch and added some time to the meter and it said something like 47 minutes. Now I know they're fast so after about 35 minutes I turned to Mishelle and said I think I need to add some more time. And she's all like "no way" we've only been here like 35 minutes and I said well let me go check. And the dam thing was expired. I added a quarter for more time and it didn't add any time. I was like WTF? So I dug in for a dime and added it still no time added. So I ran back in and told her we have to go because we are gonna get a ticket if we don't get out of Dodge.
I work and play downtown and consider myself a pretty savvy downtown parker and they almost got me!
The poor saps who aren't down here all the time have no chance.

Posted 2 years ago #
Brant
Gahanna
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lizless wrote >>
I wish I kept track of how many drinks or appetizers or meals we have comped because the meter attendants have been so rude to our customers. We have had folks run out to put more quarters in their meter only to find a meter attendant standing there waiting for their meter to expire. Adding insult to injury, meter attendants will then make rude comments to them. It's amazing the City refuses to acknowledge how awful our meter attendants are. It's the number one complaint of our visitors downtown and in the Short North.

You comp patrons' food and drinks for circumstances over which you have no control and aren't responsible? That's some serious goodwill.

Posted 2 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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HeySquare wrote >>
The longer I live in Columbus, the more I realize why people are afraid of downtown, and whisper with real fear: "but what about parking?" I suspect ticketing zealotry has been a major factor.

Agreed. I just went out to meet up with some friends at Surly Girl last night. I rode the bus, but everyone else drove to the event, mostly from the burbs. I was one of the first to arrive, and nearly everyone else was calling each other asking where to park. One guy was saying that he didn't know if the spot he parked was ok, but shrugged off the possibility of getting a ticket as being an ok thing because he doesn't venture Downtown very often. I was really surprised to hear every single person at the table complaining about how hard it is to park in the Short North. Especially since Surly has parking spots in the Goody Boy lot, and many of the streets around it have no restrictions other than summer street cleaning once a month.

gk wrote >>
I honestly think it has more to do with the general lack of retail and other unique attractions downtown than parking meters which prevent people from coming downtown these days.

Sounds like a bit of a chicken & egg scenario. Did retailers leave because their customers didn't want to deal with parking? Would overhauling parking possibly bring some of them back? I certainly don't think it would hurt to take a good look at some downtown parking reform and how it affects our retail efforts.

Porky wrote >>
The dam thing was expired. I added a quarter for more time and it didn't add any time. I was like WTF? So I dug in for a dime and added it still no time added. So I ran back in and told her we have to go because we are gonna get a ticket if we don't get out of Dodge.

The same thing happened to me not too long ago on Long Street. Put an hour's worth of money in. Came back 30 minutes later to find that the meter was reading expired and I had a ticket issued a few minutes prior to that. I called the contact number on the ticket, chose the option for broken meters, and left a VM explaining the issue and providing the meter number. A few days later I got a letter in the mail saying my ticket was being waived and that the meter was being repaired.

Brant Jones wrote >>
You comp patrons' food and drinks for circumstances over which you have no control and aren't responsible? That's some serious goodwill.

A bad experience with a parking meter can leave a lasting impression on customers and prevent them from wanting to return. I think a comped meal could leave a good enough impression to counterbalance that and bring them back again. It's a smart business decision in addition to serious goodwill. ;)

Posted 2 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Parking Meter Rate Adjustments Proposed

Posted 2 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Looks like the new plans are getting finalized...

Final Parking Meter Advisory Team Meeting Today

Posted 2 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Meter hike changed into aid for a hotel
MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010
BY DOUG CARUSO
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

As business owners clashed with Columbus over a city plan to raise parking-meter rates to help finance a planned Downtown hotel, two questions kept coming up:

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ How did building a Hilton next to the Greater Columbus Convention Center come to rely on how much change people drop into the city's meters?

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Why does a hotel need public financing anyway?

READ MORE: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/26/copy/meter-hike-changed-into-aid-for-a-hotel.html

Posted 2 years ago #
lizless
Columbus/Hocking Hills
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I wish Hilton or the City of Columbus could hire ambassadors to explain to our irate visitors and customers why the City needs them to help pay for the hotel. Retailers, bars and restaurants will be getting an earful in the coming months.

Posted 2 years ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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lizless wrote >>
I wish Hilton or the City of Columbus could hire ambassadors to explain to our irate visitors and customers why the City needs them to help pay for the hotel. Retailers, bars and restaurants will be getting an earful in the coming months.

That would assume a level of caring for which there is no evidence.

A.

Posted 2 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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lizless wrote >>
I wish Hilton or the City of Columbus could hire ambassadors to explain to our irate visitors and customers why the City needs them to help pay for the hotel. Retailers, bars and restaurants will be getting an earful in the coming months.

Personally, I don't really have a problem with the city putting up $1.4M in reserve bonds for the backup financing for the hotel. (That's less then 1% of the total cost of this $160M project).

The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority is the main financier of the project, and I don't think it's uncommon for the City of Columbus to assist in funding a Franklin County project, as we all stand to benefit greatly from the additional revenue this can bring in from outside the region.

The real problem here is that parking meters alone were looked at as a revenue generator to fund this project. There's no reason that retail businesses that utilize parking meters should have to foot this bill when the benefit will positively impact our entire region. If the city needs to pony up this $1.4M then we should have a funding mechanism that spreads that cost throughout the city a bit better. Parking Meters are not the answer for this type of thing.

Which is all the more reason why City Council needs to take control of setting parking meter rates again. Otherwise I fear that we're going to be walking down this same path again when the next big development project comes along and the Public Service Department pulls this same stunt all over again without public input.

Posted 2 years ago #
lifeliberty
Here
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http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/06/16/Parking-meter-rates-change.html?sid=101

City begins changing parking meter rates
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 04:01 PM
By Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Unlike that rate increase, this change has stirred no fuss among business owners in the Short North, Downtown or other affected areas.

Posted 1 year ago #
takeasiesta
Harrison West
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I've actually kept track of how much the meters cost. In the Short North if you put a quarter into the meters you get 30 min. I was near 5th and High outside of What the Rock. When I've gone to Gay St. for lunch or to go to Tip Top I think it was a nickel got you 4 minutes. So the meters are not consistent at all.

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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Are the meters around Capital Square still free after 6pm?

eta:

read the last proposal and it seems that it is free.

Posted 1 year ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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cc wrote >>
Are the meters around Capital Square still free after 6pm?
eta:
read the last proposal and it seems that it is free.

I'd doublecheck if I were you. I think Gay Street meters may stay on til 10pm:

http://www.columbusunderground.com/parking-meter-rates-being-updated-hours-extended

Posted 1 year ago #
cc

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It would be nice if they could provide a more specific map on a website showing what the rates/ enforcement times of the different areas are. Oh well, atleast the rates are reasonable.

Posted 1 year ago #
futureman
Grandview Heights
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Looks like Cincinnati is doubling meters raters to $2.50 per hour across all of the downtown area! (enforced till 6pm)

Cincinnati City Council doubles Downtown parking meter fees
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
JPRENDERGAST@ENQUIRER.COM
JUNE 30, 2010

...

Council voted 5-4 to double the cost of parking meters Downtown to $2 an hour and 50 cents elsewhere, based on a consultant's study that found the city needs more parking revenue to upgrade city-owned garages.

Councilman Chris Monzel, who voted against the hike, argued that increasing the cost would only make people less likely to want to come Downtown: "Last time I checked, Kenwood Towne Centre has free parking." Councilman Chris Bortz, who put forth the increases, said research shows that Downtown is not in direct competition with suburban malls.

...

READ MORE

Posted 1 year ago #