When it comes to parking, less is not better no matter what Palo Alto planners say

Palo Alto [Calif.] Daily News ^ | 10/31/2012 | Diana Diamond

[Lonely Bull]

We need more parking in Palo Alto. But residents also want less traffic.

This challenge has been with us for a decade.

And to solve it, urban planners have tilted toward the less-is-better "new urbanism" philosophy, claiming that if cities provide less parking, the public will find other ways to go shopping, i.e., using public transit. And voila -- fewer cars!

Except the problem isn't solved, and there certainly isn't enough public transit to get us from our homes to the stores.

[Lonely Bull]

The one comment so far says "We need to plan cities for people, not vehicles." We really have to do something about those vicious vehicles that somehow manage to drive themselves without a person in them. Of course, since a bicycle legally counts as a vehicle in this state, we can agree on at least that point: we need to plan cities for people, not bicycles.

As for me, I do my part in helping reduce traffic in "new urbanist" areas by avoiding doing business in them.

[RitchieAprile]

Used to work in downtown PA back in the 80’s (ex-DEC).

Nice for walking around but hell getting there from
outside the city.

Is Double Rainbow still open?

[GilesB]

Exactly - less parking means less convenient, less convenient means less desirable, less desirable means fewer shoppers, fewer shoppers means less business, less business means fewer businesses, fewer businesses means fewer cars - problem solved!

[Lonely Bull]

Nice for walking around but hell getting there from outside the city.

Sounds like fun.

I'm not in the area (and almost never visit). Years and years ago, though, I had a cousin who was going to Stanford. My family would visit from time to time. Using University Ave. probably wasn't the worst experience, but I don't know how things are going now.

Is Double Rainbow still open?

I accordingly don't know firsthand, but I did look around. Apparently there was, up to relatively recently, a location at 520 Ramona St.--which is now The Palo Alto Wine Room. I couldn't find online evidence of a transplanted location.

I'd never visited it, but around the same time as you were in Palo Alto, there was also a location in a particular part of Oakland. I recently passed through the area, and the space is now a noodle restaurant.

At the very least, the company still exists and is selling ice cream in retail stores.

[meyer]

"And to solve it, urban planners have tilted toward the less-is-better "new urbanism" philosophy, claiming that if cities provide less parking, the public will find other ways to go shopping,..."

All this does is cause the public to find other PLACES to go shopping! There's a downtown shopping mall in Chattanooga that sits half empty all the time and appears to be on the verge of bankruptcy constantly. The reason - nobody wants to pay $8 to park near there when they can park at Sears, Target, Kohl's, WalMart, or any other suburban store for FREE! And, despite the crowds at these suburban stores, there's always plenty of parking space!

[Disambiguator]

The only Palo Altans that are likely to use public transit are from EAST Palo Alto. The other Palo Altans won’t be sharing a bus with those types.

Palo Alto is a pretty dense city, and a bicycle is actually a good way to get around, especially in the residential areas. They have 4-way stops at practically every intersection, so driving a car is just frustrating.

If residents want less congestion, why do they insist on living in the most built-up city in the whole Bay Area?

[Paladin2]

Free Parking is what made America great.

[BitWielder1]

Social engineering by rationing, it worked so well in the old east bloc we just have to try it here too. /sarc

[fremont_steve]

I worked in Palo Alto at Page Mill & El Camino till today ;-) Literally the last day of work. My commute will now be cut in half starting next Monday!

Anyway - traffic in PA sucks. Last week I came out of the parking lot to turn onto El Camino to head North on Oregon Express Way - you couldn’t get there from here! Accident or some such had it closed off. It took me 45 minutes to find away across the Cal Train tracks! Essentially grid locked.

You are NOT going to get rid of cars here - that is just wishful - stupid, thinking.

The place has some really nice houses -and they cost millions of dollars! So I won’t be living here ever either. Besides - Stanford is over-rated! (Says the Cal State graduate ;-)

[tbw2]

If you can’t go shopping in one trip to the grocer, these city planners expect people to go food shopping or pick up take out nearly every day. What you end up with is people with families moving out of the city or paying for grocery delivery.
And those who don’t live in the city but want something order it online instead.