[MassHistPres] parking spaces

[Tucker, Jonathan]

The problem with Mr. Schrieber's argument is that many shoppers/visitors
make their decisions about whether or not they are going to shop in a
downtown area vs. an outlying shopping mall on the basis of convenience.
There are indeed many ways to better use existing parking, including
pricing public parking commensurate with the desirability of its
location, public arrangements to 'manage' (police, ticket/tow, clean,
snowplow, etc.) private parking lots so as to allow more controlled
shared use, or private efforts to provide 'valet' parking for central
areas (with parking in more remote locations).  These are perfectly
responsible things to do, but they tend to increase parking availability
only on the margins, and do not always provide an assurance of parking
for uses during peak times.  In the end, there is no substitute for
there being adequate parking where it is needed, when it is needed.

 

Too many efforts to 'demonstrate' that there is excessive parking are
based on unrepresentative examples, and are really part of a larger
world-view that includes the presumption that making life as difficult
and inconvenient as possible for drivers is a tactic blessed and
personally endorsed by Gaia, as part of the global struggle to impose a
specific moral and environmental perspective on souls so benighted as to
own and operate a vehicle that has an internal combustion engine.  The
lure of theocracy and other forms of ideological Puritanism is very
strong.

 

Could a compromise solution be sought in Greenfield?  Maybe a rear
portion of the 'significant building' adjacent to the town parking lot
could be gutted and converted to one or more levels of covered parking
(always an attractive amenity), but the street frontage and upper floors
of the building maintained as usable commercial and/or mixed-use space.

 

If what you're really asking is how to pick a successful fight with your
redevelopment authority, good luck.  Usually, municipal officials have
signed off on the creation of an RA and its redevelopment plans, or have
otherwise ceded their RA considerable authority.  And the RA usually
owns the property whose development character is in contention.  You'd
be better off trying to negotiate a reasonable compromise.

 

Jonathan Tucker

Planning Director

Town Hall, 4 Boltwood Ave.

Amherst, MA  01002

(413) 259-3040

(413) 259-2410 [fax]

tuckerj at amherstma.gov   

 

-----Original Message-----
From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Dennis De Witt
Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 1:44 PM
To: MassHistPres
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] parking spaces

 

Marcia

 

Last summer there was a mini-Parking Symposium in Brookline called
"better parking / Better brookline".  One of the presentations was:

 

"Getting Parking Right" by

Jason Schrieber: Principal, Nelson/Nygaard a
leading consulting firm specializing in Transit Oriented
Development, Travel Demand Management
and parking management.

 

His argument was that most parking is over-designed so that no one is
ever inconvenienced, even though 80% of the time you might need, say,
only 50% of the spaces.  Think of any shopping center parking lot.  His
core argument was that there are huge private as well as public
subsidies to the automobile in the form of excessive parking capacity.

 

It is definitely a minority position among traffic engineers but some
Googling might produce useful information.

 

Dennis De Witt

Brookline

 

On Feb 1, 2009, at 1:22 PM, Marcia Starkey wrote:





Hello,

 

The center of downtown Greenfield is working toward redevelopment of
seven historic buildings surrounding the town common. The Redevelopment
Authority has said that investors require dedicated adjacent parking
which in turn requires removal of a significant building for
"convenient" expansion of the town parking lot next door. As an area in
flux, parking space is now adequate.   

 

Online information from a state and federal agencies on the question of
parking supply seems to say that a number of strategies can be used to
make the best use of existing spaces, and control of parking, especially
downtown is in municipal hands. 

 

Has anyone experienced redevelopment project failures due to somewhat
less than optimum and dedicated parking space?   

Marcia Starkey, Greenfield HC 

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