Life Without Parking Meters: Savannah

[thelakelander]

That's cool, every one is entitled to their opinions.  I stand by mine that free parking has played a major role in retail returning to Broughton and that Jacksonville would stand to benefit from following suit.

[Lunican]

Congratulations to the City of Jacksonville Parking Enforcement Division for keeping parking readily available on our downtown streets.



There are two cars off in the distance though. Hopefully they are booted.

[JaxNative68]

I find it hard to believe that having to feed a couple of quarters into a parking meter is what is keeping people from venturing to downtown retail.  Paying twenty-five cents a half hour for parking does not break the bank, and if it does then you’re probably not going to be venturing downtown to shop anyway.  Of all the cities I have lived in, Jacksonville has more downtown parking for cheap than anywhere else.  Believe it or not, but Broughton Street used to look like the photo in the post above, and wasn't due to parking meters.

St. John’s Town Center does not need parking meters because it is not a “Town Center”; it is a glorified shopping mall.  People aren’t parking and abandoning their cars in front of retail stores for the entire day while they are at work, but they do that downtown instead of paying to park in the one of many cheap parking garages.  If Jacksonville actually monitored the parking and handed out parking tickets this may help stop this.  Changing the parking limit to three hours will have not affect on this problem, only make it worse.  Unfortunately, the average Jacksonville resident is completely car dependent and completely lazy with the attitude “if I can’t park within ten feet of the front door of where I’m going . . . then I’m not going”, or they just park illegally and get away with it.

The revitalization of Brought Street can be attributed to The Savannah College of Art & Design, the fact that the historic downtown is truly a work/live/play city environment, the city has a huge tourism influx and the crime that plagued that street for decades has been almost completely removed.  When I lived there in the late 80’s early 90’s you possibly were taking your life in your hands by going to some blocks of Broughton Street.

The main problem I see with downtown Jacksonville, and maybe I’m missing the point, is the poor zoning codes and enforcement that have enabled the majority of retail and commercial businesses to move out of downtown and to the vast acreage of office parks, strip malls and pseudo town centers that have sprung up throughout the immense square miles we call Jacksonville over the years since the early 70’s.  This poor zoning is a direct result of the City of Jacksonville annexing itself to the county back in the late 60’s, which spread its tax base, spending and general developmental control entirely to thin.  Jacksonville is drowning in its own colossal footprint.  Not only is this plaguing the downtown revitalization, but what has plagued Springfield for half a century.  The city was never intended to grown south as soon and as fast as it did.  In couple of decades there will be no distinction between Jacksonville, Orange Park, Middleburg, Green Cove Springs, Switzerland, Palatka and St. Augustine other than zip codes.  Almost how there is no real distinction between Duval and St. John’s County. 

Jacksonville is one gigantic sprawling amebic suburb with no end in site.  Stop the madness people!  Invest in downtown and bring a heart with a pulse back to Jacksonville.  And an excuse my meandering train of thought above.  I suffer badly from SADD disease . . . Severe Apathy of Downtown Dispossession.

[hanjin1]

I think what most people mean, is that if you are a couple minutes over then you will be sure to get a ticket. the parking police are like friggin vultures.

[JaxNative68]

Welcome to true urban life!

[urbanlibertarian]

Free on-street parking is great for business...unless you're in the parking garage business.

[lindab]

It seems to me that as long as downtown merchants are counting on customers arriving by car, they will continue to lose out to suburban malls and strip shopping centers with vast parking lots. Transit and lots of people using it is the answer. Get folks out of the cars, walking in our downtown, looking in the windows and shopping.

[jbm32206]

Trust me, I'm like most everyone else, I find meters to be an annoyance...especially if you end up having to go somewhere without having quarters in reserve to use. I'd love to not have to feed money into them...however, they're needed in a sense, in that they bring revenue to the city. Replacing them with signs for a time limited parking, I feel is the more friendly of choices...but then again, is the issue of losing the revenue that those darn meters bring in. Therefore, if the city got rid of them, that meter-free parking comes with a price...so...how would the city make up for the lost revenue?

[BridgeTroll]

According to Stephen... the money collected from the meters pays for the bureaucracy of metermaids and parking enforcement and does not bring revenue to the local government.  Stephens rather convincing argument is somewhere on this site...

[BridgeTroll]

Here is the link...

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,3245.0.html

[jbm32206]

That link does not have a statement, nor quote from the city that states the actual revenue  generated, nor does it state what/where the revenue goes towards. That's what I'd like to know

[Shwaz]

Congratulations to the City of Jacksonville Parking Enforcement Division for keeping parking readily available on our downtown streets.



There are two cars off in the distance though. Hopefully they are booted.

Look at all those retail stores pictured hurting for business... oh wait there are none.

Downtown Jax has nothing comparable to Broughton St. - we do have smaller urban strips with nice stores IMO - 5 Points / St. Johns Ave Avondale / The San Marco strip and all have free parking available.

I just don't see how removing parking meters is going to revitalize downtown retail traffic if it has no retail stores.?

[Doctor_K]

Would that not provide an incentive FOR the retail to come back, though?  That, coupled with the existing residential, limited though it may currently be, would be beneficial, no?

[BridgeTroll]

 Perhaps this is the link... I seem to remember Stephen or someone using numbers...

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,3159.0.html

[jbm32206]

Sorry, but maybe I'm missing it, but I still see no post where the figures for revenue and/or how or where they go....