Seattle continues to lurch forward with it’s ongoing campaign to make the city utterly inhospitable to anyone who has the audacity visit by automobile, (or be too old to wear spandex.) The latest inane move is chronicled here.
It’s okay to come via jet and cab to the W though for your shopping spree. Just don’t try to bring the kids in the minivan to the science center — soon you won’t be able to park there either. No worries, they’ll be fine on the bus.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Jason Preston // Jan 29, 2009 at 2:14 pm
I remember the whole critical mass thing when that happened.
It’s scary stuff from either side of the fence…on the one hand, cyclists should be able to have their public protests/statements without fear of being run over, and on the other, a mob of angry, self-righteous, eco-friendly, bearded 20-year olds can be a very scary (and aggravating) thing when you’re in your car.
The real solution is to make CARS “greener” than public transportation, and all of a sudden you’ll have parking everywhere in Seattle…
2 Steve Broback // Jan 29, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Right on. Compromise is small electric cars — the realists get mobility and can actually go places with their kids, and the eco-judmentalists are appeased…
3 Steve Roth // Jan 30, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Huh? I’ve been going to the Science Center and environs regularly for nigh on thirty years. There’s *always* parking available. There has never been a single exception, in what…a hundred visits or more. Oh, wait, maybe once or twice–conflicts with the goddam (good riddance) Sonics.
???
There have been numerous times when I have had to walk in excess of *one block*…but…
4 Steve Roth // Jan 31, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I really think government needs to subsidize parking and if necessary exercise eminent domain to make room for it. (There’s a church right across the street from the Science Center, which means the parking garage is a block away! I’m thinkin’…) There’s clearly a market failure here. Did you know that you have to *pay* for parking in downtown Seattle? What’s with that?
5 Steve Broback // Feb 1, 2009 at 8:18 pm
If you were parking there 30 years ago, then you might remember how much easier it was to park then.
Yes, I also orbit the block a few times and then (sigh) and head for the garage and throw money at the problem. 1 block it ‘aint. Then I trudge my way to the Science Center.
It just gets a little worse year after year.
Tell, me — how does removing street parking make this better?
6 Steve Broback // Feb 1, 2009 at 8:20 pm
No, let’s use eminent domain to insure every square inch of downtown is a steel and glass high-rise. Or hideous condo development. Very livable.
7 Steve Roth // Feb 2, 2009 at 9:23 pm
>No, let’s use eminent domain to insure every square inch of downtown is a steel and glass high-rise. Or hideous condo development. Very livable.
Dodging the issue…
Paid parking results from a market economy. It sets the prices. If you don’t like the prices (remember “TLP events are too goddam expensive!”?), don’t blame the market. The market’s your friend.
And what’s with driving around the block to find free parking? What’s your time worth? What’s your whole family’s time worth?
8 Steve Broback // Feb 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm
I’m not alone. This from the WSJ:
<http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/ParkingFix.html>
“During the busy lunch hour, downtown was gridlocked, with cars orbiting the block in search of one of the few prime parking spots, while just a half block away, a four-level garage was never full.”
Yes, I understand — for former Manhattan residents, parking in Seattle is nirvana.
So is a root canal.
Garages suck. Especially for women who want to go somewhere alone.
I guess parking should just be for rich yuppie (males.) So should cities — and driving (tolls…)
Prices are not the issue for me. This isn’t about being cheap. It’s about death by a thousand cuts, lousy city planning and what was lost (transferred, really.)
Ample and easy parking is slowly taken away to provide a “maximized” city. Ah, but we DO have a Niketown now. Glorious.
The tragedy of the commons in action.
Some towns instead work to create an “optimal” city. Boulder, Carmel, etc.
It’s less profitable, but far better for the residents.
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