The solution is pretty easy, even in the most dense cities, it consists of a combination of
1) dynamic pricing at the convenient parking lots/structures, e.g. lower Manhattan during business hours. This will be cheap at the times when the parking lot is underutilized, and pretty expensive when it is 95% full
2) abundant park and ride lots at the end of subway and bus lines
This delivers both convenience (for a price) and free parking (plus the time and money for a bus fare), depending no personal preferences. Today's GoogleMaps can drop a pin on where you parked, remind you what bus you need to get back there, even tell you the exact minute when the bus will come. This is also added convenience, and it doesn't even cost anything (other than a smart phone, which 90% of the population and 100% of the drivers already have).
Go to Europe: there are lots of underground parking garages in every major city. The spaces are tight, parking in one of them is a skill you have to work on, but it's there. We have a lot of trouble building infrastructure in the US. If we tried to build similar garages here, we'd have: Greenies opposing it because it encourages driving; NIMBYS opposing it because it's in their neighborhood; and Righties opposing it because it requires taxpayer money.
I live in Saint Paul MN and never experience parking anxiety in town, because I'm comfortable parking a few blocks away. I do hate residential local parking permit areas, though. Sometimes the spots a few blocks away are illegal to park in, and that strikes me as unfair. Those folks don't own the streets, just because they live on them.
I do occasionally experience anxiety in the suburbs. When a suburban lot is full, there is sometimes literally nowhere else to park, because parking on the area streets is just straight up illegal.
I recently got stuck circling for parking in the Fuencarral neighborhood of Madrid, Spain. That's a whole other level of crowded parking than we have here in Minnesota. We finally asked a local what direction to go to find parking, and that solved the problem.
When I can’t park within a 5-minute walk to where I’m going, I just tend to see the poor city planning in that. Unless it’s really city-center, in which case it’s my poor planning.
The solution is pretty easy, even in the most dense cities, it consists of a combination of
1) dynamic pricing at the convenient parking lots/structures, e.g. lower Manhattan during business hours. This will be cheap at the times when the parking lot is underutilized, and pretty expensive when it is 95% full
2) abundant park and ride lots at the end of subway and bus lines
This delivers both convenience (for a price) and free parking (plus the time and money for a bus fare), depending no personal preferences. Today's GoogleMaps can drop a pin on where you parked, remind you what bus you need to get back there, even tell you the exact minute when the bus will come. This is also added convenience, and it doesn't even cost anything (other than a smart phone, which 90% of the population and 100% of the drivers already have).
Go to Europe: there are lots of underground parking garages in every major city. The spaces are tight, parking in one of them is a skill you have to work on, but it's there. We have a lot of trouble building infrastructure in the US. If we tried to build similar garages here, we'd have: Greenies opposing it because it encourages driving; NIMBYS opposing it because it's in their neighborhood; and Righties opposing it because it requires taxpayer money.
I live in Saint Paul MN and never experience parking anxiety in town, because I'm comfortable parking a few blocks away. I do hate residential local parking permit areas, though. Sometimes the spots a few blocks away are illegal to park in, and that strikes me as unfair. Those folks don't own the streets, just because they live on them.
I do occasionally experience anxiety in the suburbs. When a suburban lot is full, there is sometimes literally nowhere else to park, because parking on the area streets is just straight up illegal.
I recently got stuck circling for parking in the Fuencarral neighborhood of Madrid, Spain. That's a whole other level of crowded parking than we have here in Minnesota. We finally asked a local what direction to go to find parking, and that solved the problem.
You're halfway to a Transition Towns epiphany, Addison.
When I can’t park within a 5-minute walk to where I’m going, I just tend to see the poor city planning in that. Unless it’s really city-center, in which case it’s my poor planning.