[MissoulaGov] Parking Kiosks

[Geoff Badenoch]

No one can dispute the vitality and commitment of Ethel MacDonald!  I admire
her and share more opinions with her than she might guess.

 

Part of the reason the discussion about more parking Downtown is occurring
is because there are several property owners who are contemplating
substantial new building projects that will increase the number of people
living and working and shopping Downtown.  My preference would be that every
developer undertake a transportation/parking demand analysis to determine
what portion of new traffic caused by new development can be ameliorated by
alternatives like biking facilities, public transit, etc.  As Jordan
observed, every person (like Ethel, Jordan and me) who chooses a different
means to get to and from Downtown reduces the demand for parking.    

 

In the phrase Ethel highlights, I was careful to state that parking demand
is not a foregone conclusion in my mind.  I have always been an advocate for
expanded and improved bus service, for example. Driving (and the related
need for parking) is preferred partly because it is still affordable for
most people and because of perceived comfort, convenience, ease of hauling
kids, groceries and other purchases, freedom to work one place and visit
clients, colleagues, etc. or attend meetings in other parts of town.  People
who live in areas where bus service does not exist or biking is not
practical understandably choose individual vehicles.  I think over time,
cars will get smaller and there will be more hybrids and then plug-in
electric cars, but the comfort and convenience of a personal vehicle will
continue to make it a preferred means of getting around for some time.  With
that in mind, I recognize accommodating personal vehicles is something
Downtown must pay attention to.  I know it is important for many Downtown
businesses.  Scott Sproull, for example, has devoted countless hours
studying parking issues and speaking out on them.  As a long-time small
businessperson Downtown, Scott recognizes what happens with parking affects
his business in some way which is why he devotes so much time and energy to
it.

 

The Downtown Association, the Business Improvement District, the Missoula
Redevelopment Agency and others all got together and sponsored a lengthy
process run by the Portland firm Crandall & Arambula that culminated in the
Missoula Downtown Master Plan.  In the Plan, parking and transportation
issues were studied and discussed and the conclusions reached by the process
were adopted by our elected officials on the City Council.  Visit this link
that was posted on the OPG website to read all about it:
http://tinyurl.com/yjkv5v7

 

A review of the planning document related to parking will show that citizens
have been heard and that policies, strategies and goals have been hammered
out that will make the parking programs serve Downtown and Missoula well in
the future.

 

Geoff Badenoch

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ethel MacDonald [mailto:ethelmacd at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 12:01 PM
To: Geoff Badenoch
Cc: Jordan Hess; pnooney at earthlink.net; Sally Brown;
missoulagov at cmslists.com; Brent Campbell
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Parking Kiosks

 

The highlighted section below leaps out at me and begs me to challenge the
foundations of the situation.

On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 1:56 AM, Geoff Badenoch <geoffb at ism.net> wrote:

  I am going to be riding my bike and Mountain Line to get around as much as
I can. I understand that solution does not work for everyone and so long as
personal vehicles remain the preferred and affordable means for people to go
to and from Downtown, it is necessary to accommodate vehicles.  That doesn't
mean we have to use a value system that demands warehousing of vehicles
become the defining and dominating feature of Downtown.  The Missoula
Parking Commission is smarter than that and will not be rushed into building
anything without mindfully investigating its options and considering views
offered by citizens.

If parking is so dire, why are personal vehicles "the preferred and
affordable means..."  (for the majority) and how do we reduce that majority?
The downtown businesses are making a super effort to make the downtown more
attractive for biking and walking, but especially now in winter, when some
of us bikers walk or take the bus and even some confirmed drivers would
welcome a better alternative to driving, it is ever more clear to me that
more frequent bus service is the answer to the parking as well as other
transportation issues.  Yesterday I walked 5 blocks to catch the UM shuttle,
and both coming and going, although I saw the bus go by just before I got to
the stop, I waited, knowing another would come within 10 minutes.  The
return bus at 4:45 was packed.  What a great service --and free, too!
Surely the downtown could learn from this UM success.  And of course,
improved parking just attracts more cars downtown.  So I oppose more parking
structures and hope the downtown will work on attracting more PEOPLE, not
cars, to the downtown, and above all, support all efforts for more frequent
bus service.  Ethel MacDonald

 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jordan Hess [mailto:wjordanhess at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 12:44 AM
To: pnooney at earthlink.net
Cc: Geoff Badenoch; Sally Brown; Brent Campbell; missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: Re: [MissoulaGov] Parking Kiosks

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