More Discussion on Downtown Parking

[Relax]

I know this may sound like beating a dead horse, but is there any point in trying to enforce the 2 hour limit on parking meters?

Should this ordinance be changed or repealed as outdated?

Should the ordinance be amended to include "No Chain Parking"?

Channel 8 will be airing a piece on this at 10:00PM tonight, as I understand it.

[Teatownclown]

Ok, who was Relax? Dead horse sounds familiar.

Meanwhile, 6 years later:  http://www.newson6.com/story/20331201/parking-issues-mark-growing-pains-in-tulsas-brady-district

TULSA, Oklahoma - Parking problems in the Brady District are leaving some visitors to downtown with a bad memory and an expensive towing bill.
With the revival of the Brady District, public parking is becoming more of an issue. It's not always possible to find a close and free spot, and the people looking for that are often frustrated when they go there.

For John and Tina Feamster, the frustration is fresh.

They paid $178 after their car was towed Monday night.

"It was quite an experience," John said. "We didn't get home until after midnight and we're more than willing to play by the rules and we weren't there to break the law and we weren't there to cause problems."

The Feamsters went to a concert Monday night and parked in the lot at a bail bond agency.

The property has a single "No Parking" sign that they didn't see in the dark, and when they came out their car and several others were being towed away.

"We don't frequent downtown, but we want a positive experience when we do," Tina said.

Parking is a problem in the Brady District that's made worse right now by new construction and street repairs.

11/20/2012 Related Story: New Hotel Brings Even More Business To Brady Arts District

Tom Wallace heads a downtown council working to improve it.

"Eventually we're going to need another parking garage. There's been some talk about that," Wallace said.

Wallace said there are plenty of spots, but some are a few blocks away and cost a few dollars.

There are 1,100 spots in the 1st and Main parking garage, but hardly anyone uses it.

The city has just added 100 new spots on Archer that are free in the evening, but many people choose one of the dozens of private lots - some clearly marked, some not - where parking for events means running the risk of being towed.

"We're trying to convince people that it's a good idea to park in the north garage. It's $2 and that's dirt cheap for a city of this size," Wallace said.

"We would not have parked there, at all, if we hadn't thought we were welcome. We would have parked somewhere else and enjoyed our evening," Tina said.

More parking spots will be opening up in the Brady once the construction wraps up over the next couple of months, but this marks the beginning of more traffic in this already growing area.

What to do? Buy up industrial property and convert/redevelop to mixed use/parking garage.

TPA where are you?

[carltonplace]

There is ample parking at 1st and Main for $2.00...which is actually closer to the Brady then the Bail Bond place.

I drove to the Brady District one night (because I picked someone else up) to go to a concert. The place was packed, there were concerts at Cains, the Brady and the Venue and I easily found a spot at Guthrie Green. I guess these people only recognize a parking lot when it's in a surface lot.

This story is bogus.

[Townsend]

There is ample parking at 1st and Main for $2.00...which is actually closer to the Brady then the Bail Bond place.

I drove to the Brady District one night (because I picked someone else up) to go to a concert. The place was packed, there were concerts at Cains, the Brady and the Venue and I easily found a spot at Guthrie Green. I guess these people only recognize a parking lot when it's in a surface lot.

This story is bogus.

Negative stories get attention from viewers.  Attention from viewers get ad dollars.

"This is Emory Bryan and parking is just fine in the Brady District."  wouldn't sell time. 

So we get an interview with people who get freaked out if there's no "Walmart parking".

[zstyles]

If you don't know if its okay to park somewhere...don't do it, will you need to walk a little further..sure might! I am downtown all the time and visit different locations, I dont think I have ever failed to find an open meter spot, I once parked in an ally since it was a commercial spot(clearly on the wall) and was given a ticket, even though my truck is commercial and I was doing a commercial job, but oh wait..its commercial on the opposite side of that side on the other side of the ally(say what?) ya I think that its screwy but most parking downtown is common sense without needing to see a sign(at least in my opinion!)

Now on the same point are they now enforcing meters after 5:00pm and on weekends?

[TylerBGoode]

When in doubt, don't park in a private lot. End of story.

[TheArtist]

   So, from the article....

there are over a thousand parking spots just a few blocks away

there has been some talk about a new parking garage

 This is what I am talking about when I say that if we don't work on transit and also make the parking we have more obvious (not just to see that it can be used and isn't private, but educate people that it's right there and available) we will parking garage ourselves to death.  As more areas of downtown begin to come alive, the first thing people will complain about is the parking because they aren't used to transit and using parking garages.  But they will begin to create the habit of using those things over time as they more and more "really can't find surface/street parking".  Do not panic and throw in more parking garages every other block.  I have faith that Tulsan's will figure it out.  I know, I know, many of us may not be the brightest bulbs in the pack,,, but they really will figure it out.

I see it happening somewhat like this...

One fateful evening all of downtowns streets will be full of cars circling round and round looking for surface and street parking spaces.  And there won't be any left!  Round and round they will go getting angrier and angrier, honking their horns and yelling at each other! Then... just in the nick of time, right before they storm City Hall to demand more parking, one brave little sole will stand up and point at an empty parking garage and shout "LOOK!, I THINK THERE IS PARKING IN! THERE!!!!"  Then total silence, people will get out of their cars, stand up looking and pointing at the parking garage with their mouths agape. Then the crowd, will cheer out a grand and glorious revelatory shout of... HALLELUJAH! WE ARE SAVED! that will reverberate off the buildings and up into the very heavens themselves!  Quickly, word of this amazing discovery will spread far and wide and we truly will be saved from becoming a parking garage infested, people rarely on the sidewalks or using the trolley, city like Dallas.  

So have faith my friends.  Be patient.  We Tulsan's might be a little slow.  But we will figure it out.  Yes, my friends, there is already pleeeenty of parking downtown.

[carltonplace]

I was amazed at how many people were trying to squeeze into a $20 surface parking lot to go to the BOK last night (just accross the street on Denver) when there were two empty $2 parking garages within two blocks walk and hundreds of free on street spots within 4 blocks.

[DTowner]

If we want all these cool new Brady District bars and restaurants to make it, then they need to pull in folks from suburbia.  Parking may be plentiful, but it is not necessarily located where it is most needed.  Parking in a garage on the south side of the tracks is not something the causual and infrequent visitor is going to know about or be inclined to do.  On nights with a show at the Brady Theater, finding parking reasonably close can be difficult.  Even Friday and Saturday nights when there isn't a show at the Brady can be crowded and parking difficult to find. This is a good problem to have, but ignoring it risks the very success we crave for downtown.

The Brady District is competing with other options that have free parking right by the door in the strip malls and "Towne" Centers.  All this wonderful new development in the Brady is eating up surface parking lots, which is a good thing.  Rather than mocking those people we want and need to come downtown, we need to be proactive in developing parking options to replace the spots that are disappearing.  I believe options should include a parking garage in the Brady and a circulator system that can efficiently move people around downtown so that the many free parking spots are better connected to where people actually want to go.

[carltonplace]

There are signs all over in the Brady that direct people to go to this garage.

[Gaspar]

If we want all these cool new Brady District bars and restaurants to make it, then they need to pull in folks from suburbia.  Parking may be plentiful, but it is not necessarily located where it is most needed.  Parking in a garage on the south side of the tracks is not something the causual and infrequent visitor is going to know about or be inclined to do.  On nights with a show at the Brady Theater, finding parking reasonably close can be difficult.  Even Friday and Saturday nights when there isn't a show at the Brady can be crowded and parking difficult to find. This is a good problem to have, but ignoring it risks the very success we crave for downtown.

The Brady District is competing with other options that have free parking right by the door in the strip malls and "Towne" Centers.  All this wonderful new development in the Brady is eating up surface parking lots, which is a good thing.  Rather than mocking those people we want and need to come downtown, we need to be proactive in developing parking options to replace the spots that are disappearing.  I believe options should include a parking garage in the Brady and a circulator system that can efficiently move people around downtown so that the many free parking spots are better connected to where people actually want to go.

DING! DING! DING! Thread winner!

People can ridicule the "Southies" for avoiding downtown all they want, but we "Southies" would love to spend more time downtown!  Downtown is freeking awesome with all the new cool places.

When I leave the house for a night out with the wife and/or kids, the last thing I want to start thinking about is "the parking strategy" or how far we will have to walk in the cold/rain/snow/heat to get where we want to be.  I never carry cash, so American Parking requires a trip to the ATM, and most of those lots are poorly lit, which I also dislike. Last weekend, we had a banquet at the Mayo to attend and it required half a dozen circles around the block to find a parking spot, because of an event at the BOK.

Anywhere south of 11th, that typically is not a concern.  For some pockets of development downtown it's not much of a concern either, but for others it becomes a big disappointment, and hassle.

The competition for these great downtown developments is not better offerings out South, it's CONVENIENCE.  Centralized parking with a free loop would be awesome!  It would add to the adventure of spending an evening downtown and take away the dreaded "Where will we park, do we need cash, or an umbrella, or extra ammunition, or jackets for the kids, or . . ."  I can envision it as a centralized garage where you swiped your credit card, or took a ticket that was validated at any of the businesses with purchase, and a free trolly that allowed you to really make an evening of it.

Now that would make Downtown a real destination!

[BKDotCom]

There is ample parking at 1st and Main for $2.00...which is actually closer to the Brady then the Bail Bond place.

I drove to the Brady District one night (because I picked someone else up) to go to a concert. The place was packed, there were concerts at Cains, the Brady and the Venue and I easily found a spot at Guthrie Green. I guess these people only recognize a parking lot when it's in a surface lot.

This story is bogus.

From The Article:

Tom Wallace heads a downtown council working to improve it.

Wallace said there are plenty of spots, but some are a few blocks away and cost a few dollars.

There are 1,100 spots in the 1st and Main parking garage, but hardly anyone uses it.

Maybe hardly anyone uses it on a Monday night because it's only open on the weekend!

[carltonplace]

DING! DING! DING! Thread winner!

People can ridicule the "Southies" for avoiding downtown all they want, but we "Southies" would love to spend more time downtown!  Downtown is freeking awesome with all the new cool places.

When I leave the house for a night out with the wife and/or kids, the last thing I want to start thinking about is "the parking strategy" or how far we will have to walk in the cold/rain/snow/heat to get where we want to be.  I never carry cash, so American Parking requires a trip to the ATM, and most of those lots are poorly lit, which I also dislike. Last weekend, we had a banquet at the Mayo to attend and it required half a dozen circles around the block to find a parking spot, because of an event at the BOK.

Anywhere south of 11th, that typically is not a concern.  For some pockets of development downtown it's not much of a concern either, but for others it becomes a big disappointment, and hassle.

The competition for these great downtown developments is not better offerings out South, it's CONVENIENCE.  Centralized parking with a free loop would be awesome!  It would add to the adventure of spending an evening downtown and take away the dreaded "Where will we park, do we need cash, or an umbrella, or extra ammunition, or jackets for the kids, or . . ."  I can envision it as a centralized garage where you swiped your credit card, or took a ticket that was validated at any of the businesses with purchase, and a free trolly that allowed you to really make an evening of it.

Now that would make Downtown a real destination!

Use the downtown rubber tire trolley. Its fun and it runs right past parking. You shouldn't need to expend much ammunition or pay  for parking. Please do not give American Parking any money.

[nathanm]

Last weekend, we had a banquet at the Mayo to attend and it required half a dozen circles around the block to find a parking spot, because of an event at the BOK.

Maybe next time don't circle the same block over and over again? Even on nights where there are events at multiple venues I never have trouble finding street parking less than a 5 minute walk from my destination. It's much easier to park here than it is in, say, Fayetteville.

[Red Arrow]

Maybe next time don't circle the same block over and over again?

He's probably used to using Windows where you do get different results by doing the same thing over and over.