I Can't Freakin' Park in the CVS Plaza Anymore!
Decatur Metro | April 19, 2008For the past few weeks its been damn near impossible to find a open parking spot in the CVS plaza, as nearly every space is taken on any given night. Going to pick up a pizza from Mellow Mushroom has become an adventure it never was in the past. Taking those sharp corners and looking for a spot, I now often park behind Mellow Mushroom if I’m lucky or (if I’m not) out by Decatur First Bank.
“What the heck is going on?!” I thought, dodging an oncoming minivan.
And then it hit me.
It’s a result of JBL putting up those solar-powered parking meters in the 315 W. Ponce lot and threating people more publicly with fines and booting if they parked there. So now, instead of paying to park at 315, all of the people that used to illegally park there have moved across Ponce Pl into the CVS plaza where its a lot more difficult to spot someone that is not frequenting the establishments in that plaza.
Well, I think it just plain stinks. All of these empty parking lots and for one reason or another (be it location or price) everyone still parks on the street or at CVS.
We need viable alternatives! My pizza is getting cold!
Latest from Decaturish
Good deduction. I parked in the CVS lot for the first time in quite a while this week, and experienced the same thing, finding only a spot of two open. Now I understand why.
Here’s a (partial) solution: Walk.
We do often walk to pick up pizza, but its cold by the time we get home. And in a pinch, walking really doesn’t save me much time. But ask my dog, we walk everywhere.
Besides, my “whining” is only supposed to serve as a tableau to point out a new parking issue in the city. It’s how I keep posts interesting…with varying success.
It really has very little to do with my pizza.
Cold pizza is the pits. Thanks for the blog – its a wonderful resource!
boo hoo.
it should be a challenge to park in downtown decatur and the other dense metro neighborhoods. it discourages the addition to cars. it actually shows enlightened land planning.
sorry. no sympathy here. next time eat a salad at home.
g. blanston
Gurn, see “It really has very little to do with my pizza” comment above.
And yeah, I’m sure Decatur businesses praise a lack of parking which deters potential customers.
you’re not a customer if you are un a car. unless of course, decatur puts in more drive thrus. that would be brilliant. there’s plenty of parking at walmart. maybe we should get one of those?
g.blanston
Gurn’s got a point there, Decaturite, however prickly. Making car use and its requisite road and parking infrastructure the core driver of land planning decisions is exactly why the ‘burbs have become what they are. If you want walkability, you gotta be willing to give a little on car dominance. It’s all about priorities and allocation of resources.
Where some folks see the problem as insufficient parking, I see it as people expecting suburban “amenity” in an urban environment. There are other sources of satisfaction in this world besides a parking space next to the front door. Close readers of your blog know you agree! (even if you’re pizza tells you otherwise…)
Hmm…perhaps I let the suburbanite from my childhood get a little out of hand when I called for viable parking alternatives.
And perhaps the problem isn’t that there isn’t enough free parking, but actually that the CVS plaza provides some of the only FREE parking in the center of town.
Interesting…I’ll think about it.
Right on. When folks are conditioned that parking is a “free” commodity, the thought of paying for it seems downright offensive. But walkability demands it because, in urban places, those acres of surface parking you find in the ‘burbs get replaced by — wait for it(!) — stuff to walk to!
The more I think about it, though, your dilemma isn’t even a parking issue. It’s a management issue. I’d say about three “Reserved for Pick-Up / Take Out” spaces around your pizza place, properly enforced, would hook you up just fine.
I completely follow the logic of the “parking lots = cars” argument, however, I need some help with the reality of development in the good ole U S of A … isn’t the opposite really the dynamic (“cars = parking lots”)? Perhaps I have a biased or cynical perspective here but like it or not our modern cities are 100% designed on and economically dependent upon auto traffic because that is how the vast majority of consumers get around.
If you want the Decatur skyline to look like Manhattan, the city could support merchants via foot traffic only. So, does Decatur “growth = people = cars = parking lots?” I have this concept stuck in my head that “live-walk” communities have to be enormously dense and big to be viable for merchants. Disabuse me, please!
The Economist recently published a piece where it addressed the relationship between free parking and sprawl in Los Angeles. From the article:
“A big reason Angelenos drive everywhere is that they can park everywhere, generally free. Businesses must provide parking spaces according to a strict schedule. This raises the cost of doing business and hugely lowers the cost of driving. Free parking is, as Donald Shoup of UCLA put it in a recent book, “a fertility drug for cars”.”
You can find the entire article at http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10924156&CFID=3698177&CFTOKEN=65468904
Doug, great article. Right on point!
Kim, there is more going on behind the scenes to support a “car-based” infrastructure than meets the eye. It’s really never as basic as people voting with their wallets/wheels. Perhaps Scott could provide some concrete examples, but I know that industries like car, oil, and construction have been getting major subsidies from the fed for years, making driving and building new homes more affordable than it really is.
If these same tax breaks were shifted over to things like public transportation, sidewalk improvement, and rehabbing homes, and away from sprawl-generating policies, more people would probably choose to live in the city because it would be cheaper. Then density would return to all cities…maybe even to zoning-deficient Houston. Even without big breaks, many communities, like Decatur, promote “smart growth” and walkable communities because many people see the current policies as unsustainable and not very environmentally friendly to say the least.
Current policy isn’t likely to change anytime soon…so for now we’ll just have to settle for higher gas prices doing the dirty work for convincing folks to move back ITP.
Decaturite – Let’s hope (for this reason) that gas prices stay high. Let’s not let them give the gas tax a holiday!
indeed! on the gas tax holiday. see this concise and insightful article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/opinion/30friedman.html?bl&ex=1209787200&en=d28d3e2b48717a14&ei=5087
The lot where Dancing Goats, Whit’s End, Fleet Feet, Hot Yoga, and Twist and Scoot is, is now being periodically patrolled by a booting company during their business hours. Beware, or be maybe be booted.