Parking Requirements are a Joke

[dsjeffries]

GREAT IDEA!

Seems odd that Buffalo is the only city to do away with the minimum parking requirement (though, Buffalo is oddly in a renaissance per recent articles I read).

Do developments in the Plaza area of KC have minimum requirements? Manhattan? Chicago? Austin? Surely not.

Maybe just the only city to have adopted and realize the errors of their way was Buffalo?

Nonetheless, GREAT IDEA!

Though Pittsburgh hasn't eliminated parking minimums, it has levied huge taxes on parking, which was one of the redevelopment tools our own city leaders learned about on their visit to Pittsburgh a couple years ago. If you make it more expensive to park or build parking lots, it will sway people to erect buildings instead. And it's helped the city's coffers, too. They collect somewhere around $45 million each year from parking taxes, which can then be used to improve streetscapes, bus service, etc.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is in favor of a more progressive parking scheme: reducing parking minimums city-wide and relaxing it even more if there is transit nearby was a big part of his campaign to get elected. See his plan here. I'd love to see our leaders make this a priority.

And while we're at it, a local Pittsburgh foundation has developed grants to help business owners make improvements to their buildings' facades and improve street life. Description below. Emphasis mine.

Paris to Pittsburgh
Funded by the Colcom Foundation, Paris to Pittsburgh offers two grants to help property and business owners make building façade improvements and establish outdoor cafés. The 50 percent matching grants are available to fund eligible projects that enliven the Golden Triangle streetscape using high-quality, pedestrian-oriented design elements.

Sidewalk Activation Grant
Inspired by the vibrant streets of Paris, the Paris to Pittsburgh Sidewalk Activation Grant encourages outdoor dining elements such as retractable awnings, tables and chairs, new lighting and landscaping. The project requires a 50 percent match and offers grants of up to $30,000.

Façade Grant
A 50 percent matching grant, the Façade Grant offers up to $30,000 to properties that are interested in façade improvements but are not adding an outdoor café or installing an operable storefront. Retail and service businesses are the ideal target candidates for this program.

...

Since the launch of Paris to Pittsburgh in early 2008, well over two million dollars has been invested to make buildings in the Golden Triangle more vibrant.

[carltonplace]

it's going to be very important to pair changes to downtown parking with a transit plan.

[sgrizzle]

it's going to be very important to pair changes to downtown parking with a transit plan.

There are no downtown parking requirements in Tulsa.

[dsjeffries]

There are no downtown parking requirements minimums in Tulsa.

That's why a special tax on parking or parking maximums should be considered.

[carltonplace]

There are no downtown parking requirements in Tulsa.

I should have been less terse and more detailed.

One of the goals for downtown is to increase density and to encourage contruction in the blank spaces. Many of the blank spaces are paved surface parking lots that are either rarely used or are set aside for a single entity to use once or twice a week (like the downtown churches).

In order to make parking lots less attractive as a revenue source and make an actual building more attractive would be to regulate the parking lots by taxing them, creating zoning codes for appearance and safety or by providing alternate parking solutions that make them less attractive as a business.

Right now we have nothing.

[rdj]

Off topic, but I can't help but think that that move won't be good for Collins since it pretty much hides them back in the corner where they can't be seen from the street. I could be wrong.

I think they'll be fine.  In visiting with them the store will be much nicer and bigger.  That center will also have much better traffic with the remodel.

[TheArtist]

it's going to be very important to pair changes to downtown parking with a transit plan.

Absolutely.  There are so many unused parking spaces in downtown even on the busiest nights, but they often aren't "right next to" where people wan't to go.  Transit would help with that.  Also zoning to make certain streets that connect districts in downtown to each other to be more pedestrian friendly would help open up more of downtowns parking spaces.  (for example people might be more likely to use the parking garage over my shop to get to events or to say the Blue Dome or Brady Arts district if the pedestrian experience between the two were more amiable and transit was more frequent and regular).  

Also, by getting rid of minimum parking requirements in other parts of the city, transit cold become more practical as more areas become pedestrian friendly.

Think of it this way.  Couple square miles of a downtown (do what you want zoning) surrounded by hundreds of square miles of (illegal to do good pedestrian friendly development) auto oriented zoning.... tell me what will be the "default" position in that tiny downtown island in that ocean of auto centric zoning.  If a person can't figure it out I am sure they could ask the average 8 year old to explain it to them. The default position for downtown will pretty much be what everything around it is. Cars first, pedestrians and transit last.

[Red Arrow]

It seems like a no-brainer. Parking lots don't generate revenue or sales tax but active buildings do.

Not directly but they do enable the nearby businesses to generate sales tax.  Imagine the sales tax numbers if Woodland Hills had NO PARKING as an extreme example.  A good transit system would help negate that though.

I went to High Gravity on Friday and took a real good look at that giant empty parking lot that people are using a street to bypass the traffic light at 71st and Memorial. I can't think of any reason that that shopping center needs so much parking, 85% of it is completely unused.

That parking lot was probably always too big but it was better utilized originally when the furniture store was a Target store.

[Breadburner]

Yep...the real you...  But which one are you??  Beavis or...??

Well...We know who you are......

[rdj]

For giggles this morning I was looking at the area around the Coliseum Apartment building.  I noticed PSO owns quite a bit of the surface parking around their HQ.  By my count PSO owns 172m sq ft or 3.8 acres of surface parking in the blocks surrounding their building.  The largest chunk being 90m sq ft (the whole block) just across from the entrance.

As a comparison I looked at the shopping center where Sundance Furniture & High Gravity are located.  Assuming the building square footage is correct on the assessor site and it is all single story there is about 685m sq ft or 15.2 acress of surface parking on that site.  By comparison the Wal*Mart at 81st & Lewis has about 360m sq ft.

[Townsend]

For giggles this morning I was looking at the area around the Coliseum Apartment building.  I noticed PSO owns quite a bit of the surface parking around their HQ.  By my count PSO owns 172m sq ft or 3.8 acres of surface parking in the blocks surrounding their building.  The largest chunk being 90m sq ft (the whole block) just across from the entrance.

As a comparison I looked at the shopping center where Sundance Furniture & High Gravity are located.  Assuming the building square footage is correct on the assessor site and it is all single story there is about 685m sq ft or 15.2 acress of surface parking on that site.  By comparison the Wal*Mart at 81st & Lewis has about 360m sq ft.

Any idea how much parking ORU and the medical center have?  You could set land speed records across those properties.

[Hoss]

Any idea how much parking ORU and the medical center have?  You could set land speed records across those properties.

Except during Union's graduation ceremony...

[heironymouspasparagus]

Well...We know who you are......

I knew it!!  Full 7th grade education and emotional maturity level...

"I know you are, but what am I...?"

[Townsend]

First Meeting set for Residents to Review Tulsa Zoning Code

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/first-meeting-set-residents-review-tulsa-zoning-code

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The first meeting for the public to review and offer comment on Tulsa's updated zoning code is tonight.

The event is at the Greenwood Cultural Center.

The main elements of the zoning update will include strategies for mixed-use development, parking and transitions from commercial to residential corridors, with a focus on preserving unique or desirable neighborhood characteristics.

Over the next few months, the public will have several opportunities to review the draft, submit questions and ideas — both online and in group meetings.

[TheArtist]

First Meeting set for Residents to Review Tulsa Zoning Code

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/first-meeting-set-residents-review-tulsa-zoning-code

Really wanted to go, but am in Norman working on a project. Would like to take a look at the list of other times and places for the meetings so I can schedule some time to go.