On Wednesday I posted some details about my bus-riding adventures that day. And while I was quick to say that some of my timing that day was lucky, I’d like to also compare it to some car driving I did yesterday evening where I was very unlucky.
Let me preface by saying that I consider myself to be a bit of a seasoned veteran when it comes to parking Downtown either for free or for cheap. I tease my friends who complain about parking in the Short North during Gallery Hop, or around Park Street on a weekend. I never pay, and I’m always close. You really just need to know where to look and be willing to walk a few hundred extra feet.
That being said… this evening was the exact opposite.
I had a meeting downtown in the Chase Building at 5:30, and my presentation at Pecha Kucha at the South Campus Gateway at 7pm. I really didn’t have any time to spare between the two, so I drove instead of taking the bus.
I foolishly only gave myself 5 minutes to get downtown in the car, get parked, and get to my meeting, which is normally doable in maybe 8-10 minutes. But for some reason tonight, downtown was packed. I drove up and down the usual streets and every meter was full.
I wanted to park on Third or Fourth, but the meters/spots there are restricted from 4pm to 6pm during the evening rush hour. I understand that it’s important to get everyone out of downtown as quickly as humanly possible, but what about helping out those of us who are TRYING to do things downtown in the evening? Doesn’t the city want any kind of that vibrancy? Why should I be spending 15 minutes trying to park just because half the on street parking downtown is off limits until 6pm? Other people I know would have just given up.
So yeah, I finally found an open meter two blocks away. I only needed to give up 50 cents for 30 minutes, but still had to walk through the 20-degree winds to get to where I was headed.
I wished I had just taken the bus. It would have taken me 10 minutes to get there (instead of nearly 20), and I wouldn’t have had to hunt for quarters before I left the house.
Guh. Sorry for the whiney nature of this post, but I just wanted to get that off my chest. I’m usually stunned when people complain about parking trouble downtown, because it’s typically a breeze. Last night was not the case however, and I can imagine that if I were the type of person to rarely come downtown it would have been even more frustrating.
Let’s get rid of those parking restrictions from 4pm-6pm, shall we?
Sounds like the real problem is either under-priced on-street parking or overpriced off-street parking. If a garage were cheaper after work lets out at 5 PM, you might have chosen to parked there instead of racking up the mileage circling around, no?
Well, as I said, this isn’t an everyday occurrence, so I don’t know if this one evening warrants considering price adjustments for meters or parking garages. Does the City of Columbus even have any sort of authority over private parking garages or lots? They can price adjust the ones they own, but they do have a lot of market-rate competition from all of the private lots.
Still… I think encouraging more cheap/free on-street parking is going to help increase the vibrancy of street level activity downtown after work hours and on weekends. I’ve spoken to several downtown retailers who always have issues with their customers being inconvenienced by parking.
If it’s enough to make me occasionally frustrated, I can’t imagine too many other people care to put up with it at all.
New traffic flow study coming out this spring, partnership with City and SID, will open door to change rush hour parking restrictions in many areas, adding parking for retail and eliminating the rush to move at 4:00. More soon.
Great news to hear! Thanks Mike!
I completely agree with you about the meters on side streets like State, Main, etc. There should be a lot more of them. I do sympathize with what the City is trying to do keeping 3rd, 4th, Broad and High clear of obstructions during the rush. If you go down 4th in the morning, when a truck idles in the no-standing zone in front of Mitchells, it blocks traffic all the way to Spring.
I’m a fan of statehouse underground parking at off-hours (in the morning & midday it’s pretty full so you have to quickly get 3 levels below ground to find a space). At 5pm, though, it’s ideal – $2 for the first hour and $1/hr thereafter. Exit at High & Broad, High & State or walk up through the Statehouse, Rhodes or Riffe directly to almost anywhere on Cap square when the weather’s bad.
I also like the surface lot at 3rd and Gay across from Tip Top. I think it’s a flat $5 fee for the whole night (and the ticket isn’t assigned to a space, so you can leave and come back for free).
My big gripe is the turn restrictions on&off High Street. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can easily get stuck with no legal way to exit without practically leaving downtown entirely. Very visitor (and newbie) unfriendly.