Solving Overpriced Downtown Parking?

[fsujax]

i never pay to park Downtown. Most people still dont realize parking is free on the streets after 5pm and all weekend long.

[WmNussbaum]

On March 25 in the forum on our vision for Jacksonville, I posted comments and among them was the thought that unfortunately our city is not one with a decent sized population of folks with a lot of money. Ocklawaha responded with a statistic showing that our median income is a bit above that of the state as a whole.

Ock, if you look at all the posts above, bemoaning the cost of parking, I think my point is made. They are talking about small change aren't they? I haven't gotten on some high horse here; I don't enjoy paying those parking charges either. I don't think $10 for a special event is a rip off, but I do find Jaguar parking costs egregious - and gladly park for free at my office and walk a mile to the stadium on those rare occasions when I go there.

If one is willing to walk a few blocks, I think there is ample parking downtown most of the time. Unfortunately, too many folks aren't willing to walk a little and object when they cannot pull the car almost to the door of their destination.

The comparison to SJTC is funny, IMHO. That place is so traffic congested it's pathetic. Downtown is not. Easy parking in SJTC is never going to be too close to your destination - possibly no better, nor worse than downtown. But I would concede that walking around there is a lot more enjoyable - no boarded up buildings, no homeless, more to catch your eye, and so on.

[mtraininjax]

but I do find Jaguar parking costs egregious - and gladly park for free at my office and walk a mile to the stadium on those rare occasions when I go there.

agreed, but as you state, you can find alternatives within a short walk, for free. Or take the water taxi for a minimal charge, and a great ride, or one of the pedicab riders. If this was a discussion on the NFL, I am sure the ticket prices would be the next topic on the agenda. How there are no kid prices in the NFL, which I agree with.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

If this was a discussion on the NFL, I am sure the ticket prices would be the next topic on the agenda. How there are no kid prices in the NFL, which I agree with.

I'm not trying to start a dialogue about this, just an FYI:

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content/topstories/story/Jaguars-offer-youth-discounts-for-season-tickets/xBVwXB_rO0y81bEKX6mkNw.cspx

[mtraininjax]

What, no walk-up offering? Its a start, but there should be an offering for walk-up seats as well.

[downtownjag]

All of the events you are referring to are after hours, which means street parking is free.  If someone doesn't want to pay to park, then walk a little farther to your destination.

Free market economics, if parking were too expensive, the $10 lots would be out of business.

AND WHY DO PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT PARKING GARAGE COSTS TO BEGIN WITH??? DOWNTOWN WORKERS SPEND $25K AT LEAST ON THEIR CARS AND THEY DON'T WANT PROTECTION FROM THE FL HEAT THAT CAUSES CRACKING AND DISCOLORATION, RAIN, VANDALISM AND BURGLARIES???

[Ocklawaha]

We actually have citizens that are excited about the new smart meters... they haven't a clue on how to repopulate downtown.

I would slightly enlarge parking enforcement and scatter those officers all over Duval. Ticket revenue should equal or exceed their payroll. Thus you would be just as likely to get a ticket for illegal parking at the Town Center, as you would downtown.

There are around 43,000 parking spaces in the downtown and around core mostly in garages including about 4,500 meters, both public and private. Assess a tax on garage parking that would equal the revenue coming in from today's metered parking - balanced by city/county wide citations for illegal parking, thus no revenues would be lost. Further a system would be in place to encourage the use of transit by making it more comfortable or productive and less expensive. The combination of parking-transit balance would give people an alternative to the old long commute and steep price for dedicated parking. Next step, ELIMINATE the meters, give them to Orlando! (Anything I can do to help them out.)

Parking enforcement would not be sacrificed, it would be expanded; downtown becoming an area of well defined temporal parking zones and white, red, yellow, green painted curbs.

I would construct new low cost parking garages tied to FIXED mass transit on the perimeter of our suburbs. Essentially boosting and familiarizing our population with transit, rewarding those who drive the least. Of course we would emphasize the transit part of the plan. Many of the suburban park and ride lots would be 'turn key' contracting for use of places like the parking lot at the K-Mart on Beach, or the one in Mandarin.  We would thus reduce the downtown commute driving distance distance and creating 'neighborhood' transit hubs,' pushing parking farther and farther out. Each new lot, either surface or in garages, would have a built in bus, BRT, LRT, streetcar or commuter rail stations.

Any businesses moving into the core that desired dedicated parking spaces could then be given a 'menu' of package deals, by DIA including: annual, monthly or weekly, low cost, outlaying parking, JTA passes, corporate passes, student passes in all types of combinations.

To compliment this plan we would seek grants for dedicated BRT lanes or guided bus, on the Arlington Expressway/Atlantic, JTB and Beach Boulevard. The bus system could get the headways down to 10-15 minutes and  would schedule all suburban commuter routes to hub out of Jacksonville Terminal. BRT/Bus stations on these roads would include bicycle/pedestrian overpasses at places like Arlingwood/Arlington expy, or townsend/arlington expy, so they would not only be friendly by shortening the drive time to downtown, with a neighborhood park and ride concept , they would be VERY pedestrian and cyclist friendly stations.

Lastly we would replace the longer distance suburban commuter buses, with commuter coaches, these unique motor coaches would feature:
       
State of the art Clean Air powered transportation
Customized first-class interiors
WIFI technology to allow wireless activity on vehicles
Tables and airline tray tables to allow lap tops
Power ports throughout the vehicles to charge phones and laptops
4 flat screen LCD monitors for presentations
CD and DVD high-end stereo media system
Leatherette seating
Coffee dispenser and entertainment centers
Pull down sunshades for working convenience
restrooms

No longer would getting to Fidelity or Wells Fargo in the early AM be wasted time, rather, it would make every coach into an extended office. In short, a very comfortable executive coach, available to all, in place of rolling cattle cars.

[mtraininjax]

There are around 43,000 parking spaces in the downtown and around core mostly in garages including about 4,500 meters, both public and private. Assess a tax on garage parking that would equal the revenue coming in from today's metered parking - balanced by city/county wide citations for illegal parking, thus no revenues would be lost. Further a system would be in place to encourage the use of transit by making it more comfortable or productive and less expensive. The combination of parking-transit balance would give people an alternative to the old long commute and steep price for dedicated parking. Next step, ELIMINATE the meters, give them to Orlando! (Anything I can do to help them out.)

So what happens to the downtown parking spots that have meters? Free parking? I'm all for free parking downtown. Would be nice to see the City ticket around town for parking violations, especially in Avondale. We could use the Code Enforcement clowns to write parking tickets, why not? All they do is drive around all day and try and write tickets anyway. Put them in a Yellow shirt and have them become ticket maids.

[cityimrov]

Have you guys ever been in a van with a couple of parents and screaming kids who live in someplace like Nocatee before?  Don't you want them to come visit downtown more often?  No, they are not going to spend all day driving around downtown looking for a parking spot.  They also are not going to figure out how to parallel park their large SUV's.  If you don't get them visiting downtown more often, you just lost the vast majority of people who live in Duval county and I'm don't think you can revive downtown without their support. 

If you really want to see how devastating expensive downtown parking is to an event, try this as an experiment.  I propose that the ArtWalk give up it's FREE Parking Garage and start charging $10 as a special event parking. 

[BridgeTroll]

Have you guys ever been in a van with a couple of parents and screaming kids who live in someplace like Nocatee before?  Don't you want them to come visit downtown more often?  No, they are not going to spend all day driving around downtown looking for a parking spot.  They also are not going to figure out how to parallel park their large SUV's.  If you don't get them visiting downtown more often, you just lost the vast majority of people who live in Duval county and I'm don't think you can revive downtown without their support. 

If you really want to see how devastating expensive downtown parking is to an event, try this as an experiment.  I propose that the ArtWalk give up it's FREE Parking Garage and start charging $10 as a special event parking. 

If $10 is too much, and parallel parking too difficult, and walking is out of the question, perhaps they are better off in Nocatee or SJTC... after all... city life aint for everyone...

[fsujax]

Art Walk has a free parking garage? i never knew!

[JaxJerry]

As of a couple of months ago, it cost $1.75 to park at a meter almost everywhere in the metro Washington DC area until at least 7:00pm, Monday-Saturday, where the only parking options are metered parking and parking garages.  I love life in Jacksonville!

[thelakelander]

Have you guys ever been in a van with a couple of parents and screaming kids who live in someplace like Nocatee before?  Don't you want them to come visit downtown more often?  No, they are not going to spend all day driving around downtown looking for a parking spot.  They also are not going to figure out how to parallel park their large SUV's.

I'm not in the norm in my thinking here, but I'd say it's a mistake to plan downtown for special events to attract suburbanites periodically at the expense of making it a 24/7 self sustaining urban community.  With that said, if you allow for a self sustaining urban community to develop, it will attract suburbanites because of it becoming a vibrant unique atmosphere by being an actual livable mixed use pedestrian scale neighborhood.  Under this scenario (I'm looking five to ten years out), the five or six times the Nocatee soccer mom decides to visit downtown, they can leave their SUV at the nearest park & ride lot and take the train, BRT, or the skyway in.

If you don't get them visiting downtown more often, you just lost the vast majority of people who live in Duval county and I'm don't think you can revive downtown without their support.

I believe downtown will be just fine if we simply go easy on many of the regulations and get out the way.  I don't believe it needs high support by people living 20 miles out to be revived unless the goal is to get them to pay for necessary improvements (which I don't think they should have too).

If you really want to see how devastating expensive downtown parking is to an event, try this as an experiment.  I propose that the ArtWalk give up it's FREE Parking Garage and start charging $10 as a special event parking.

Where is the free parking garage for ArtWalk located?  Is it city or privately owned?

[cityimrov]

Have you guys ever been in a van with a couple of parents and screaming kids who live in someplace like Nocatee before?  Don't you want them to come visit downtown more often?  No, they are not going to spend all day driving around downtown looking for a parking spot.  They also are not going to figure out how to parallel park their large SUV's.

I'm not in the norm in my thinking here, but I'd say it's a mistake to plan downtown for special events to attract suburbanites periodically at the expense of making it a 24/7 self sustaining urban community.  With that said, if you allow for a self sustaining urban community to develop, it will attract suburbanites because of it becoming a vibrant unique atmosphere by being an actual livable mixed use pedestrian scale neighborhood.  Under this scenario (I'm looking five to ten years out), the five or six times the Nocatee soccer mom decides to visit downtown, they can leave their SUV at the nearest park & ride lot and take the train, BRT, or the skyway in.

I have similar long term ideals.  In the short term, since we have empty space in downtown.  Bringing people into those lots can be a bridge for a more busy downtown.  Once those lots start filling to capacity, then we'll have a very good reason to transition to a park-n-ride system.

I believe downtown will be just fine if we simply go easy on many of the regulations and get out the way.  I don't believe it needs high support by people living 20 miles out to be revived unless the goal is to get them to pay for necessary improvements (which I don't think they should have too).

The people in the suburbs owns several city council seats as well as greater voting number over the At-Large seats.  They also will also have to pay for the vast majority of upgrades such as the proposed rail system.  They control policy as well as the budget. 

Where is the free parking garage for ArtWalk located?  Is it city or privately owned?

http://downtownjacksonville.org/Libraries/PDF_Libraries/DVI_Artwalk_Flyer_April_2.sflb.ashx

While not in downtown, the Riverside Arts Market is another example.  Imagine what attendance would be like if Fidelity started charging $10 for parking instead of generously donating their parking garage.   It could work for a once a year special event but it would be suicidal for a weekly community event.

[thelakelander]

I have similar long term ideals.  In the short term, since we have empty space in downtown.  Bringing people into those lots can be a bridge for a more busy downtown.  Once those lots start filling to capacity, then we'll have a very good reason to transition to a park-n-ride system.

In the short term, you can't worry about attracting suburbanites.  You've got to get the basics right first.  I feel we continue to try to hit grand slams instead of learning how to swing and run to first base initially.

I believe downtown will be just fine if we simply go easy on many of the regulations and get out the way.  I don't believe it needs high support by people living 20 miles out to be revived unless the goal is to get them to pay for necessary improvements (which I don't think they should have too).

The people in the suburbs owns several city council seats as well as greater voting number over the At-Large seats.  They also will also have to pay for the vast majority of upgrades such as the proposed rail system.  They control policy as well as the budget.

DT's success and failures are based more on over regulation and COJ keeping their hands in the cookie jar than general budget.  Also, we can get rail into downtown without suburban dollars and I'd actually encourage us to take those routes initially.  The routes I'm referring to are the mobility fee funded initial transit projects and the FEC intercity rail projects.  Advocate to get these up and running first so locals can experience what rail brings before asking them to raise taxes to pay for a more extensive project.

Where is the free parking garage for ArtWalk located?  Is it city or privately owned?

http://downtownjacksonville.org/Libraries/PDF_Libraries/DVI_Artwalk_Flyer_April_2.sflb.ashx

While not in downtown, the Riverside Arts Market is another example.  Imagine what attendance would be like if Fidelity started charging $10 for parking instead of generously donating their parking garage.   It could work for a once a year special event but it would be suicidal for a weekly community event.

[/quote]

Wow.  You learn something new every day.  I had no idea they were allowing free garage parking for Art Walk.  Makes you wonder.  If the parking situation isn't a negative issue for downtown, then why advertise free parking for Art Walk?