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Can Retail Downtown Survive $4/Hour Street Parking?

Being a public-sector employee, I understand just as well as anyone the dire financial situation our local municipalities are in, due to substantially lower revenues from sales, property, utility, real estate excise other taxes. And I am all for creative solutions. Keep ‘em coming!

But I have to agree with Kemper Freeman, Jr., that Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn’s  plan to hike Downtown on-street parking rates is ill advised. There is no doubt that it would raise needed revenues. And if you’ve driven the obstacle course of potholes that our local streets have become, you certainly can’t argue that SDOT needs more revenue. But a healthy, thriving and competitive retail sector is crucial to the continued success of one of this nation’s most successful downtowns. Parking for $4 an hour is a mighty high rate. In fact, it would be one of the highest in the country.

Is it high enough to scare away retail shoppers, restaurant-goers, theater-goers, etc.? That’s hard to say, but is it worth the gamble?

In the early 1990s, during Downtown Seattle’s possibly darkest period, after the closing of several venerable retail establishments, not the least of which was Frederick & Nelson, I served on a task force convened by Mayor Rice. The objective of that task force was to study Downtown parking options. Without going into detail about our findings, the prevailing notion was that there were enough obstacles to retail’s success in Downtown, and parking rates (something the City could actually control) should not be another!

We should not rest on the laurels of our recent successes Downtown by assuming that the retail community is so rock-solid that it can withstand yet another blow after the Great Recession. If substantially increased hourly parking rates deter retail visitors, that could be the proverbial last straw for many retailers.

Portland, a city we often look to enviously for its innovative and progressive ways, has both an easily accessible system of public parking garages, as well as an affordable set of parking rates, due to an aggressive validation campaign.

Perhaps we should look to our neighbors for some creative ideas. Perhaps the $4/hour parking rate would be palatable if there were an ambitious new validation system. Perhaps a more modest hike in parking rates would pass under the radar, yielding more revenue without scaring away customers. I’m sure there are many ideas that perhaps a new Downtown parking task force could take under advisement. The Mayor would do well to consider convening such a task force before a unilateral parking-rate hike.

This entry was posted by Patrick Doherty on Thursday, October 21st, 2010 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Government, Planning, Politics, transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Belltown

    A task force? That’s what people ask for to bring to a complete halt something they oppose, clinging to the status quo like a lifeline. It’s not enough that the technical studies have been done. On street parking is a convenience, and having enough street parking spaces open to find one quickly when you’re in a hurry should be a convenience worth paying for. There’s plenty of parking, but most of it is hidden in garages, full of uncertainty. Where do I go? Will there be space inside? What is the price? Put in a system that shows where garage space is open, require prominent posting of prices at the entrances, and raise the on-street parking price appropriately.

  • Ron Burgundy

    I appreciate McGinn’s desire to rid the streets of evil cars and generate revenue for the city. What McGinn has not done is taken a look a the empty storefronts and struggling retailers. His plan will kick these retailers while they are down, when what they need is a boost. Public pay lots clearly marked. Reasonable rates, enforced aggressively as they are being now. Our new parking plan will be more expensive than NYC! They have a subway system. We have metro buses. The GDP and density of that city dwarfs ours. How can we charge more for parking. The subway systems efficiency vs. our metro line is night and day. Huge difference in how downtown employee, tourist, or local Washingtonian who does not live in the city can visit our commercial core. On one end of the argument you have Kemper Freeman, on the other you have McGinn. The solution is in the middle. I hope that McGinn does not road-diet us out of a vibrant downtown.

  • Matt the Engineer

    The argument against raising parking fees has no logical bite. Do you really believe that $4/hr parking will give us empty streets? Of course not. If we’re lucky there will now be a spot open every block or two. This means you have just as many shoppers in stores – possibly more, since people will park for a shorter period of time and we’ll get more churn. If there really are empty spots every block or two, then we’ve just removed a major deterrant to shopping downtown: the pain of searching for parking. Every person parking has now freed up minutes of their day. 20% of traffic that right now is circling for a spot is suddenly gone, and our streets are less crowded. And as a bonus our city gets more money.

    Where, exactly, is the problem?

  • joshuadf

    Perhaps you’d enjoy the study “Modal Choices and Spending Patterns of Travelers to Downtown San Fransisco” which found that retailers in that city were unaware that the majority of their customers (and the ones who spent the most) actually arrived via transit, not cars. I honestly can’t think of the last time I drove to downtown Seattle… I think I only did it once shortly after I moved here, and quickly realized that the bus was far more convenient. And for the relatively small number of people who drive to downtown, as Matt states the higher parking rates would actually make it easier for them to find an open space. The only part of the proposal I’m not convinced about is Sunday rates since transit service is not as good on Sunday.

  • JoshMahar

    I agree with a few of the other commenters here. I can only speak for my family and friends, but not once have they ever even considered parking on the street, because it is way too hard to find. Like them, the vast majority of downtown shoppers are already using garages which charge far more than the on street rates.

    In addition, I fail to see any data proving that additional parking rates will “scare off customers”. Shoppers already have plenty of alternatives to downtown (bellevue square, Northgate, Southcenter) which not only offer free parking, but are also probably closer and allow you to avoid traffic.

    The people who come to downtown Seattle do it because of the many things they can’t and won’t find anywhere else: SAM, Benaroya, Pike Place Market, the Convention Center, etc. If a few more of these people can find on street parking rather than using a garage, that means a few more dollars in their pocket, and a few more dollars to local retailers and businesses.

    Since this argument comes up so often, can someone please provide examples of places that killed themselves by raising parking rates?

  • Matt Hays

    I’m conflicted on this one.

    The $4 rate is certainly sticker shock inducing and would scare some shoppers away. But it has its benefits: If higher prices mean vacant spaces, that would be a big draw for more shoppers, particularly quick ones.

    Offices would be affected too, mostly regarding visitors. The same dual affectors — higher price, better availability — would be an interesting factor.

    One part I’d like, sort of, is that we would be pricing valuable common space closer to its value. Public parking is renting out public space that could otherwise be wider sidewalks, trees, etc. I’m conflicted about this too….we need to bring people in and parking is a crucial element of that…

  • Matt the Engineer

    “Offices would be affected too, mostly regarding visitors.”
    I’m not picturing the office visitors you are – can you expand on this? In my world visitors are clients, architects, and vendors. I can’t imagine any of these not visiting because parking is expensive, but I could imagine each of these highly valuing the time they wouldn’t spend looking for parking.

  • Matt Hays

    I agree that the cost would be a small factor for most visitors, and offset by the increased availability. The effect might be a slightly bigger factor in location decisions. Small factors, when combined, frequently play a big role in where companies locate. Parking is often on the list when companies move and say why. (Thankfully transit and Downtown’s ability to help recruit/retain staff are reasons at least as often.)

    On street parking is used a fair amount at my general contracting company in the CBD. Much of it is construction superintendents (visitors in a way), who all have pickup trucks and go between jobsite and office a lot. Other staff generally use transit (about half) or park in the garage across the street. Zipcar is becoming a bigger factor. We get a steady flow of subcontractors, A/Es, delivery people, etc….guessing more for a contractor than for an engineering firm?

  • Seaguy

    Would the higher on-street parking put pressure on owners of open-air surface parking lots?

    Businesses will do fine if those surface lots get pressured to redevelop into garages with residential/retail on top.