Comments on: Parking Rightsizing

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:16:14 +0000

It’s not just SUVs, mind. Lincoln Town Cars are longer. And the Tesla Model S is a very long car as well, speaking of cars which don’t cost much to refuel. (Though if you can afford one of those, you can afford garage parking, assuming it exists.)

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:12:37 +0000

He’s thinking of smaller towns and “secondary” commercial districts.

By: Joseph E

Joseph E — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 05:50:19 +0000

“not all commercial districts have off-street parking available.”
Really? Even mid-town Manhattan has off-street parking. SF, LA, PDX all have off-street parking in every commercial district. Are you thinking of districts outside of the U.S.A?

By: tom

tom — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:27:59 +0000

You must plan for parking for SUV’s because half of all cars sold in the USA are SUVs. Without including them in the process leaves you with no parking plan, just ideological nonsense. Business outlets who want customers will see that this is rejected.

The introduction of Muni-meters in NYC should over time increase the supply of spots and make for a more efficient use of the space. A typical avenue block-front is two hundred sixty feet. After allocation of space for roadway, walkway and fire hydrant(optional), you could readily accommodate 8-9 meters. With a Muni-meter, and no defined spacing space allocation, some 10-11 cars of average length can be accommodated. Longer vehicles would lower this number. Remember, not all SUVs are overly long.

Also not all commercial districts have off-street parking available. That would require eliminating commercial or residential property. Do you advocate for that?

By: Rene

Rene — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:05:26 +0000

I see the opposite effect where I live. Unmarked spaces are really inefficiently used in lower density areas, and people will split space for three spaces into two. Marking spaces is the way to go if you want to maximize efficiency. An 8′x’22′ space is plenty good in the US.

If your customer base has a lot of SUV’s in it, then smaller spaces will simply lead to more private property damage. A few years ago, I couldn’t figure out why I kept noticing SUV’s in the DC area equipped with offroad bushwhacking grill and bumper packages. Then I realized these were to protect their vehicles from full-contact parallel parkers.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:32:42 +0000

Not sure where I read this, but you can stop painting parking spaces. When you let drivers park their own cars, they squeeze in to around 18 foot spaces. Single meters (that generate tickets) make this possible; they’re called muni-meters in New York City.

By: Let’s Agree: Treating Cities as a Wedge Issue is Senseless | Streetsblog.net

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 15:49:25 +0000

[...] Secretary Ray LaHood will get “four more years” like President Obama. And Systemic Failure suggests communities “right-size” their parking infrastructure before considering any [...]