Lake Grove parking forum

Parking:

How much is enough?

We don't want more planning disasters like Oakridge Park Apartments, Lake Grove Shopping Center, and the new Wells Fargo Bank on the corner of Oakridge Rd. and Boones Ferry Rd.  In all three cases, property owners or neighbors let the city know the parking would be inadequate.  Instead, parking was restricted by the city with disastrous results.

Cities used to require businesses handle all their parking needs on site and used minimum car-to-use code standards to make sure there was enough.  These days the problem is for businesses to fight to get enough parking just to do business.  Metro would like cities to have maximum parking standards to discourage people from driving.   Historically we have had minimum parking codes.  Which way works?

Every neighborhood near a commercial district is paying the price for the Smart Growth, social engineering policy.  This is wrong, and the problem is, and was, preventable.

News Flash: Real people drive real cars.  They do not take imaginary transit, or ride bicycles and walk in numbers big enough to matter.  If a business doesn't have parking on their property or extremely close, customers will go elsewhere.

Read:  The Lake Grove Town Center Parking Management Plan - Neighborhood Survey. Completed in 2/15 the survey is a compilation of citizen comments in the Waluga and Lake Grove Neighborhood Associations - the problems they are experiencing and suggestions about what should be done to prevent and solve them.

The Lake Grove Town Center Plan has a couple of parking lots worked into the Boones Ferry Rd. business strip.

• Where will the lots be?  
  
• Will the lots be used by shoppers, or by residents pushed out onto the streets by inadequate parking at their apartments?  (You know more will come.)
• How much parking will there be, and will it be enough?  
• How much will the lots cost, and who is going to pay for it?  (You already know the answer to that last part.)
• Whose property is being targeted for the city's plans?  Do they want to sell?
• Where will the parking be, and will it 
• work for the purpose it is intended?

LAKE GROVE PARKING PLAN - FORUM

THURSDAY, MAY 7, 6:30 to 8:30 P.M, 

WEST END BUILDING

Join the City at this community forum to learn about and provide your thoughts on parking issues and potential parking strategies in the Lake Grove Village Center.  The City is currently working with Lake Groce residents, businesses, and property owners in developing a parking management plan for
Lake Grove that will include implementation strategies for addressing parking issues, and locations
for potential future public parking facilities in the Village Center. 


Research on Parking:  (Or - research on human behavior)

Parking Network.
www.parking-net.com/about-parking
10. Parking User Groups

Shopping Centre parking

People who visit a shopping centre want to be sure they can park their car safely and conveniently. The parking facility is the first and last impression people get from your shopping centre, since most people use their car for transportation when they go out shopping. The most important thing for people is probably the knowledge that they will find a parking space within a few minutes. Parking availability is the key factor in choosing a shopping centre. Not only availability is important, the parking experience should be as convenient as possible. People live busy lives and visiting a shopping centre should be something fun. The first experience in your shopping centre should set the standard for the whole shopping experience. Stress in the parking lot, not being able to find a parking space and traffic congestion means less time for shopping a and a bad mood, which leads to less spending.

Congress for New Urbanism

8.1 Parking

Parking is one of the most critical issues facing any retailer or shopping district today (Fig- ure 8-1). Unlike work, school, or obligatory tasks, most shopping trips are elective activities. People do not have to shop and will often avoid downtown commercial districts or suburban shopping centers if parking is difficult to find or challenging. If parking is not readily avail- able, potential customers will
simply continue on their way, often to alternative shopping areas.