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closeA new look at parking
Dave Eatwell / for the Puyallup Main Street Association
According to author Todd Litman (Parking Management Best Practices, published by the American Planning Association, 2006), new scrutiny of parking practices has resulted in some new observations. In short, he writes that the old view of all parking problems as simply an inadequate supply of spaces is giving way to a more effective view of an array of parking problems.
In some cases, a perceived parking problem can be caused by an inadequate supply. But it can also arise from poor management of parking resources, poor signage or user information, or inefficient design or placement of facilities. Most importantly, where the old view sees more parking as always better, the new view allows that too much parking can be as harmful as too little.
The old parking view looks for parking that is free and available on a first-come-first-served basis, whereas the new view accepts that users should pay directly for parking facilities and facilities should be managed to favor higher priority uses and efficiencies. Where the old view portrays driving as the primary transportation mode and sees urban sprawl as acceptable, the new view sees driving as only one of many desirable modes. Furthermore, dispersed automobile dependent land-use patterns are undesirable.
Bottom line, Litman proposes that wise parking planning can create a thriving downtown commercial district with plenty of accessibility for shoppers and business people at a much lower cost, with a much higher quality of living. As witness of the positive effects of parking management as a part of transportation and land-use planning, the city of Portland (Oregon, a bit to the south) is looking at tearing down “one of Portland’s busiest SmartPark garages” (Oregonian, August 15, Business Section) covering a full city block to build a downtown condominium complex.
One of the long-term problems with that facility has been that commercial spaces on the ground floor have been vacant, due to a perception as being unsafe and aesthetically challenged. Many businesses do not wish to be in or near parking garages. So the Portland Development Commission is willing to pay $30 million to demolish and dispose of the parking garage to make space for $160 million in condominiums and a much smaller parking capacity. Close proximity to MAX and streetcar lines makes the loss of parking capacity commercially profitable.
When the Sounder system was in its early design stages, building large parking garages adjacent to the transit stations may have been the only option. But in the intervening years, there have been many changes. Puyallup’s population has grown rapidly, up 53% between 1990 and 2007 (USCensus.com). Traffic congestion downtown and on South Hill has reached such levels that neither community wants to enter the other. It might be a good time to step back, look at possible solutions for Downtown and South Hill, open a dialogue with the community, and plan for the future, rather than carry out an out-dated plan from the past.