My buddy John Hammerschlag from Chicago is wintering in Spain, and says he just might stay there based on what’s happening to parking in the Windy City.
He sent along an article from the Sun Times bemoaning the fact that the city is now beginning to charge “fees” for cars parked in the city (except, I guess, in city owned or leased out garages) as a “congestion charge.”
This tax, whoops, fee, is to be used for better rapid transit, signal timing, left turn lanes, and the like. Of course on street parking charges are being doubled. The list is endless.
The city says that the increased fees are to open up parking spaces (ala Don Shoup) and cut down on cruising, which of course, will also cut down on congestion.
First – I’m all for market based on street pricing. But to arbitrarily say that in two years the price should be a certain amount is ludicrous. What if the price charged was too low. It would not make any difference to the congestion, just raise money. If it was too high, spaces would be empty and the amount of money raised would go down. The market should set the price based on area, time of day, etc etc etc
Second – Do you believe for one New York ( or is that Chicago) minute that this money is going to be used for its intended purpose. Or will it disappear right into the general fund. We all know the answer to that.
My list could go on,. But you get the idea.
John will find, however, that Spain has other problems, like no place to park at all
JVH
One Response
Not wintering in Spain, JOHN, just spending the holidays…if we can get my snowbound son home from the East Coast to join us.
For the sake of accuracy the City just passed an increase in the parking “privilege” tax effective February 1, 2009 which along with the County parking tax means that someone who pays $16 for parking is paying parking taxes of $4, or a 33% tax.
Parking operators have not even begun to collect the tax increase and the City has now proposed a draconian ordinance to impose a congestion tax for vehicles entering private off-street parking facilities from 6:30am to 10:00am or departing from 3:30pm to 6:00pm. No thought has been given to the destructive impact on downtown real estate or business, particularly during these difficult economic times.
I can only hope that the real estate, business, and labor leaders of Chicago can bind together to convince the politicians of the dire consequences of passing such an ordinance.