{"id":70,"date":"2010-08-28T22:20:43","date_gmt":"2010-08-28T22:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/\/?p=70"},"modified":"2018-04-27T15:15:22","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T19:15:22","slug":"the-no-longer-hidden-cost-of-parking-in-downtown-raleigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/transportation-parking\/the-no-longer-hidden-cost-of-parking-in-downtown-raleigh","title":{"rendered":"The No-Longer Hidden Cost of Parking in Downtown Raleigh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>If you&rsquo;re a visitor to the areas within Downtown Raleigh where parking meters have sprung up, you may be tempted to complain.&nbsp; But let me give you a few things to consider that might change your viewpoint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>You are most likely accustomed to being able to park close to your destination and not pay a fee.&nbsp; This is of course what most drivers experience in the suburbs, where big-box stores, retail strip centers and indoor malls come surrounded with loads of free parking spaces. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Yet we need to appreciate that parking associated with suburban pattern living has a hidden cost, and one that is ultimately paid by everyone in the form of traffic congestion, negative consequences on the environment, and the poor use of available land.&nbsp; A NYT article makes some good points about how <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/08\/15\/business\/economy\/15view.html?_r=1\"><span>Free Parking Comes at a Price<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Urban centers by their very nature encourage a more efficient use of space, and these costs are gradually becoming more visible, as with the recent expanded use of metered on-street parking on many of our Downtown streets.&nbsp; If the existing city owned parking decks become better utilized as a result, then that&rsquo;s a good thing, and we save taxpayer money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One unfortunate reality today in Downtown Raleigh is the abundance of privately owned surface parking lots that in most cases are used as &ldquo;space holders&rdquo; by land owners waiting all too patiently to cash in at a future time when there are better development opportunities for their parcels of land.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Consequently, open land used in its simplest form as parking lots, dot the Downtown landscape and discourage pedestrian activity as the adjacent sidewalks are often unkept and overgrown with vegetation . . and there&rsquo;s nothing interesting about walking by a parking lot!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>My friend Leo recently posted a very informative article on his <a href=\"http:\/\/dtraleigh.com\/\"><span>Raleigh Connoisseur<\/span><\/a> blog that led me to write this post.&nbsp; He makes an excellent case for just how inefficient our Downtown land use has become when he points out, &ldquo;you may be surprised to know that your Downtown parking lot is worth more than the cars that sit on them!&rdquo; &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"http:\/\/dtraleigh.com\/2010\/08\/the-most-expensive-parking-lots-in-downtown-raleigh\/\">Read on . . .&nbsp;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span>If you&rsquo;re a visitor to the areas within Downtown Raleigh where parking meters have sprung up, you may be tempted to complain.&nbsp; But let me give you a few things to consider that might change your viewpoint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2867,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/2867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighdla\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}