The controversy over my ongoing conversation with Charles over "free" parking is heating up. There have been a number of members of our profession commenting. I select the following from RA Gardiner and Steve Hammerschlag as representative:
The amount of parking spaces is not the problem. If it were some unlucky people at the end of each day would be driving around all night looking for a parking space. The problem is more a question of convenience to where and when a person lives or works or shops, and the cost of that parking; coupled with the management of those spaces. That is why Donald Shoup's strategy makes sense. He lets the free market place effectively manage space use and cost. This fellow is fixated on getting the government to create more spaces so that they supposedly would be free and convenient. He just hasn't figured out who is really going to pay for them. It would not be the big corporations; it would be small businesses and individual taxes. Sort of sounds like what is being politically debated nationally.RAG
I have only one thing to add. A number of people have commented off line to me that Charles seems very angry, particularly against the rich. Sad, because his writing seems to come from a rational, if mistaken, mind.
JVH
I've always found it interesting how the phrase "paying for parking" is likened to some sort of gross injustice. Why do some people think that parking their vehicles should be a right and not a service? When you park your car, you're consuming resources, and you should pay accordingly. Though unlike most other services in our economy, the more convenient the parking space (say, a parking spot on the street right outside your destination) the less you pay. I've found this confusing. An example from Chicago: two years ago I drove to the beach on Foster a few times over the summer and I could never find a parking spot. I always had to park at a meter four or five blocks away and pay $4 for 2 hours. I was highly confused why I had to pay more to park farther away when I could park right next to the beach for free. This would not be the case in any other service sector I can think of.
On a side note, this past summer they installed some parking meters at the beach, though the rate was the same as the meters several blocks away. Care to guess where I eventually found a spot? Where else in our economy does this enigma occur? This is an interesting discussion…keep the posts coming. SH