Become a Shoupista in six minutes

Two things:
1)Watched this on Tuesday or Thurday while sitting in a Starbucks on Westwood Blvd.(a few miles south of UCLA which is in Westwood). The parking lot under the Starbucks was full. It has only been full since Starbucks now offers free wi-fi. The Starbucks is always full with people and laptops. Waited for someone to leave a ground floor spot. Free wi-fi changed the parking dynamics. One of the two banks now has parking security… people to make sure you don’t park on the bank side of the lot and go to Starbucks. Free parking and free wi-fi has swallowed up parking.
2) When I had a meeting with a city traffic engineer last week he made a comment about the book I was reading. He said people who are followers of Shoup are called Shoupista. There was was plenty of Baristas there since it was Starbuck were we meet. First time I heard the work “Shoupista”. Now the second time with this article. The book I was reading was “The High Cost of Free Parking” as we all know by Donald Shoup.
3) I know I only said two things but… while circling the block after driving out of the FULL underground parking under Starbucks I resisted the temptation to park in a residential permit parking area. I was going to be there for less then 2 hour max of the sign. I knew even if I stayed 4 hours the signs would not have been enforced but my ethics would not allow me to do that. In my opinion the critical piece that is missing in the Shoupista movement is enforcement. Shoup’s 734 page book has Enforcement, of price-managed parking, page 486-489. Three page on enforcement? Without enforcement the people will just park in adjoining neighborhoods. If cities are going to charge for parking the first priority should be ENFORCEMENT of the adjoining neighborhoods. The first priority is street sweeping tickets, then meter tickets because the are the easiest to enforce. The people who met the criteria for Permit Parking, got the signatures, paid for signage are the ones who were seduced and dropped. They were told don’t worry we will protect your neighborhoods from intrusion parking. They don’t. It is too hard to chalk tires. The meters are the low hanging fruit that easier to pick.

5 Responses

Cary Anderson says:

February 4, 2011 at 13:35

Two things:
1)Watched this on Tuesday or Thurday while sitting in a Starbucks on Westwood Blvd.(a few miles south of UCLA which is in Westwood). The parking lot under the Starbucks was full. It has only been full since Starbucks now offers free wi-fi. The Starbucks is always full with people and laptops. Waited for someone to leave a ground floor spot. Free wi-fi changed the parking dynamics. One of the two banks now has parking security… people to make sure you don’t park on the bank side of the lot and go to Starbucks. Free parking and free wi-fi has swallowed up parking.
2) When I had a meeting with a city traffic engineer last week he made a comment about the book I was reading. He said people who are followers of Shoup are called Shoupista. There was was plenty of Baristas there since it was Starbuck were we meet. First time I heard the work “Shoupista”. Now the second time with this article. The book I was reading was “The High Cost of Free Parking” as we all know by Donald Shoup.
3) I know I only said two things but… while circling the block after driving out of the FULL underground parking under Starbucks I resisted the temptation to park in a residential permit parking area. I was going to be there for less then 2 hour max of the sign. I knew even if I stayed 4 hours the signs would not have been enforced but my ethics would not allow me to do that. In my opinion the critical piece that is missing in the Shoupista movement is enforcement. Shoup’s 734 page book has Enforcement, of price-managed parking, page 486-489. Three page on enforcement? Without enforcement the people will just park in adjoining neighborhoods. If cities are going to charge for parking the first priority should be ENFORCEMENT of the adjoining neighborhoods. The first priority is street sweeping tickets, then meter tickets because the are the easiest to enforce. The people who met the criteria for Permit Parking, got the signatures, paid for signage are the ones who were seduced and dropped. They were told don’t worry we will protect your neighborhoods from intrusion parking. They don’t. It is too hard to chalk tires. The meters are the low hanging fruit that easier to pick.

Cary Anderson says:

February 4, 2011 at 14:15

work=word
Thurday=Thursday
was was=was (I hate when I stutter type)
that easier to pick.=that is easier to pick. (I hate when I leave words out)
I know… I should have used more commas. I type how I talk. Just run on sentences.

Kevin Holliday says:

February 4, 2011 at 16:10

You and your readers may wish to join the Shoupistas group on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=70015940360
Cheers,
-kevin

BW says:

February 7, 2011 at 06:23

Very good point about enforcement, Cary. And the parking meters (or whatever payment method being used) should be easy to enforce. All that extra enforcement should increase parking turnover (and revenue), and the increased police presence should discourage crime.

security system says:

February 10, 2011 at 04:16

There are a number of basic steps that any bike owner should take.

Become a Shoupista in six minutes

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