Parking on Sixth Avenue - Again and Again (31. October 2007, 13:25 by Whitney) ~ What Would You Do?
The parking problem of 6th Ave has been ongoing (Do you remember this thread?). The City hired a consultant to do a study on the issue in late 2006 and the results were presented in earlier this year. Since this time City staff has worked to create options of what to do to solve the problems. (You still with us?) The information presented to the Economic Development Committee yesterday summarized the needs and desires of the restaurants and bars along 6th Ave.
Most businesses want more on-street parking. The recommendations of how to get more parking on the same number of streets varied, but all eleven businesses liked the idea of creating more parking on the side streets. Support for more valet service with the costs shared between multiple businesses or off-site employee parking was mixed. Nearly all were against a shuttle bus for customers.
We want to know: what are your creative solutions? As restaurant visitors and bar patrons, what would you use? Better sidewalks for walking? Free buses? Parking garage? Space elevator?
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NO parking garage! That is a very bad idea that would wreck the character of the place. Shared valet in lots that aren’t used heavily during the night is good. I think more innovative solutions like ride and dine type programs that encourage people to take the bus to 6th and get discount on drinks. 6th has good bus access so give small incentives and PR programs to get nightlife folks and hipsters to 6th on Pierce Transits Route one. Along with that run the bus until 2:00 on Friday and Saturday (which will keep people out of their cars after drinking as well!)
1 | Posted by Andrew | Oct 31, 01:45 PM
I’ve never once had a tough time parking on Sixth Avenue. I don’t understand what all the businesses are complaining about. There is TONS of parking there…why don’t people use it? The consultant should just tell people the obvious. If they want an urban shopping or dining experience, they should expect to have to park a block away from their destination. Sixth Avenue is not a strip mall (despite the business owners’ desire for it to become that).
Is it really a problem to have to walk a few blocks before and after dinner/drinks? I’ve never had to park further than three blocks away in Tacoma, anywhere, any time. Now if we were talking about handicapped parking, that’s another thing.
And for the love of god, why isn’t there a bike lane on 6th? Tacoma drivers are terrible when it comes to bikes (right turns without signaling, not looking before opening doors, etc.), and 6th is both a perfered bike route and a dangerous spot for cyclists.
Oh wait, maybe it should go to a review panel, a private consultant, and a business committee first. Wouldn’t want to make any rash decisions.
Parking on Sixth Ave. isn’t that bad. Every Friday or Saturday night I’ve been around there I’ve had to park at most a couple blocks away. Not afraid of a little walking.
Here’s an idea — if you’re going out with someone or a group have them meet up at someone’s place then carpool over there together. Why not have HOV parking or something to encourage such a thing?
4 | Posted by KevinFreitas | Oct 31, 02:14 PM
P.S. – Derek, the image at the top of the post is a no-go.
5 | Posted by KevinFreitas | Oct 31, 02:15 PM
This issue has been going around and around for years.
Everyone has been urging the city to take the initial step on simply having parking enforcement past 6:00 p.m. when demand is high. This was the position of their consultant AHBL (who recommended enforcement until 10:00 p.m.) and the North End Neighborhood Council and many others.
Its impossible to see if there is any shortage of parking when someone can camp three of their cars on 6th Avenue continuously from 4:00 p.m. Friday until Monday at 10:00 a.m. through all of the peak demand periods.
Yes, the curb parking needs to be maximized and then simply monitored with 2 hours limits during peak periods. That would free up tons of spaces.
Until this is done, I don’t see the reason for more complex and expensive efforts.
However, if the businesses want to have a valet service and work out shared parking agreements, more power to them.
Parking garages, surface level parking lots, and other programs are certainly not needed and would be destructive to the area.
It only takes a few unhappy people to make the issue grow bigger and not ever go away… I am with Elliot and Kevin, there is NO parking problem. Walking two blocks? It is called living in a city. I bet McKinley Ave and South Tacoma Way and other districts would love to have this ‘problem’. Once gas hits 5 bucks, the Hummers and Giganto-Trucks will disappear and that’ll free up some spaces.
I’m with the no problem crowd. Walk a couple blocks, get some exercise, and burn off a few calories. Moreover, extended parking enforcement would be a bad thing. When I go out in that area, it’s usually for longer than two hours. I don’t want to have to leave a killer show at jazzbones to move my car.
Who exactly is asking for more parking?
Just because parking is tight on a Friday or Saturday night we need a parking garage? Just give me a streetcar so I can leave the car at home!
10 | Posted by morgan | Oct 31, 04:42 PM
I haven’t had problems either. Plus, I think if you run a streetcar line down 6th and put a stop around Oakes the non-problem will become even more non. If the streetcar won’t reach that far, how about getting it to the end of Division at Spgrague and then (here’s the “creative” part) put in a moving sidewalk like at airports to get people as far as Pine. Whee!
I’m not in favor of parking garages but I do think one would be more attractive than that hideous steel-sided box building near Oakes between the pet clinic and the building that houses Gateway to India (if memory serves correctly). I believe it’s an Eagles or Owls or Elks club? It would be a good location for parking, pretty close to the middle of the primary restaurant area.
I’m with Erik B. I think maybe the 2 hour limit is worth looking into if it becomes a bigger ‘non-problem.’
also +1 on the bike lane on 6th. It’s long overdue. 6th is the most direct, least hilly route up to TCC (for me.) and on the way back home it happens to be the one with the least potholes and lights.
Also, i’m not opposed to a lightrail or trolley car going up 6th. It would free up a lot of traffic and people like me could potentially take it to school.
LINK consideration: One option for the future expansion of the LINK light rail system is to go up 6th Ave to TCC. Sixth Ave is fairly narrow in the busier parts. How would the city accommodate both the extension of the LINK AND additional parking? I know the LINK extension wouldn’t be built unless passed and then not for some time; however, if the LINK extension is a likely possibility, why bother with the immediate expenditure of expanding parking availability until we know what kind of impact this extension might have on the area? The LINK expansion might encourage and increase accessibility to 6th Ave businesses because people could park farther away and yet be mobile. Additionally, it might cost Tacoma residents and business owners even more in the long-term to build parking and then later invest as taxpayers in the LINK expansion. For more info, see following link: http://www.soundtransit.org/documents/pdf/st2/ST_4_Medium_Rail_Extension_7-13-06.pdf
As for a parking garage, Tacoma already has enough eyesores. Let’s not add another. The owners of the building on 6th and Union, where Farelli’s is, did a great job with their underground parking lot. What about requiring companies constructing new business buildings and renovating old buildings to add underground parking lots? Probably too cost prohibitive and may end up detering growth, but we won’t know until the numbers are crunched.
14 | Posted by Paige | Oct 31, 05:34 PM
I’ve never had parking problems on 6th Ave either, and I wouldn’t even need to park on 6th if the #1 bus ran more regularly on weekends and at night.
15 | Posted by Daniel | Oct 31, 05:39 PM
Isn’t it the neighbors of 6th ave who are having the problem. I sure wouldn’t want to come home after a long Friday at work and not even be able to park in front of my own home. This is where permit and enforcement would come in handy.
16 | Posted by Eric | Oct 31, 05:43 PM
okay, what I think would help is adequate, improved lighting so people feel safer walking farther. it’s more of a safety issue to me. I don’t mind walking blocks if I know I’m safe doing it.
17 | Posted by kc | Oct 31, 09:37 PM
hmm. what if somebody created a restaurant that you dont need cars to get to… like some kind of moving vehicle that serves dinner and has built in entertainment… why we could put the thing on a train! yes! and then charge folks money to ride the train and eat dinner! oh wait, that doesn’t work… what the hell was I thinking!?
anyhow parking. yeah. how about: screw parking!
Lets liberate that trolley from the spaghetti factory and create our own street car line! I vote for a streetcar stop across from my house Julie Anderson style.
18 | Posted by RR Anderson | Oct 31, 10:57 PM
Here’s where I think the problem stems… People who live within maybe a block of Sixth Ave have trouble parking in front of their house and complain to the city/businesses and/or set up permitted parking. This puts the businesses on the defensive and suddenly they’re lobbying for a parking solution whether or not there’s a problem. Any time I’ve talked to one of the business owners about it, they totally agree with the fact that people will walk to their restaurant if it’s really worth visiting. So I wonder if maybe the whole thing is blown out of proportion by the fact that residents are fiercely protective of parking near their homes. (I will add that I live less than 3 blocks from 6th and Pine and essentially never have problems with people parking in front of my house going to the Ave…)
21 | Posted by jamie from thriceallamerican | Nov 1, 11:04 AM
Increasing the number of curb parking spaces would certainly help some. There are still some areas with unlimited parking duration allowed in the commercial zone and other areas where parking is not allowed at all where it could be.
However, as many have mentioned, the perceived “problem” in relations to parking only seems to be twice a week from perhaps 7 to 10 p.m.
Then the question is how far and how often are local residents forced to walk from their car to their house when they return home to park during these few hours a week?
I am pretty cautious about the city taking strong action as Tacoma’s solution to perceived lack of parking over the last 40 years has almost always resulted in an effect far worse than the initial problem (just look and North and South Parking Plazas which required razing of historical buildings to construct).
1. Time Limit Evening Parking:
a. Is this only for Fri & Sat when a “problem” starts to show up?
b. Just what we need drunk people trying to chain park. Most people have enough trouble parallel parking when sober.
c. Won’t this force more people onto the side streets. If the side streets are closed to business parking for four blocks (about as far as most people will walk), will it discourage people from coming at all?
2. Link/Streetcar Extension:
a. When/If ST2/Prop. 1 passes, we won’t see any official Link Extension for 20 years. It’s not in the proposed 20 year budget.
b. A streetcar is expected to share the road with cars, not have an exclusive lane. If this is done with the right type of car and traffic control system, this could allow 6th Ave to be reduced to 2 lanes of traffic. If this were the case it could allow for angle-in parking on one side – effectively doubling the number of parking stalls on that side.
c. An extension of the streetcar from the end of the Link line will hopefully continue to be included as the City talks about parking & transit goals, passes a broad resolution, forms a study group, and presents recommendations 12 months from now (per Eric Anderson’s presentation). Then we can start thinking about getting some funding and beginning construction in another few years. I think 6th Ave needs a solution – even temporary – before then.
3. Potential short-term solution?
a. Get rid of those stinking turn lanes that are only used for the last 50ft. of each block. (Why? It’s a waste of valuable real estate.)
b. Create angle-out parking (or angle-in if we must) along one side of 6th. (Why? Adds the requested parking – figure out market controls later)
c. Set the lights running East & West so they are single direction w/ left turns for the appropriate times of day. (Why? Avoids left turn back-ups at rush hour and dinner/party hours. Allows for U-turns to more efficiently find parking, thereby reducing the amount of cruising and use of side streets.)
d. Consider prohibiting left turns at non-signalized intersections at appropriate times of day. (Why? Avoid rush hour & party/dinner hour back-ups and reduces side-street use late at night.)
Sorry for the multi-topic post, but there’s just too much here.
23 | Posted by DavidS | Nov 1, 07:22 PM
As someone who’s spent a lot of time at a private home just off 6th Ave near Chopstix, I can tell you that parking is a problem. People park on both sides of the street despite the existence of “NO Parking” signs (the street is narrow so parking is only allowed on one side). Often times people try to squeeze into a space and end up partially blocking driveways. Its impossible to find a parking spot on the street nearby on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night. Sometimes residents want growth and the businesses to succeed but would like a little respect to their needs and space.
24 | Posted by gritcitygirl | Nov 2, 09:07 AM
With all the demand for parking, how come some bright spark hasn’t opened a pay-for-parking lot or garage?
25 | Posted by Mofo from the Hood | Nov 2, 10:17 AM
Okay. I was planning to reveal my project after it was a little more developed, but I can see now that the public needs time to prepare for my revolutionary concept.
I’m starting to formulate plans for an underground train system, aka a subway, or as they say across the pond, the tube. What I have in mind is a network of tunnels that would connect Tacoma’s business districts via the control hub located beneath the phone booth at 9th & Commerce St.—-The grand scheme would link this central departure point with similar public communication hubs and all that (convenience stores figure into the scheme also).
From my experience riding subways, the SeaTac Airport system to name one, I’m quite confident that such a transport system is the best solution to make obsolete such issues as parking, gridlock, air pollution (or the euphemism global warming), road potholes, fossil fuels, and lowrider Honda Civics with glass pack mufflers.
Anyway, at this point I’m just tryin’ to get some peeps together, throw a website into shape, and eventually contact the mayor’s office—-you know, see if he wants to grab a beer and maybe sponsor the package.
26 | Posted by Mofo from the Hood | Nov 2, 03:04 PM
Signs of life:
Here’s the 6th Avenue Merchant new web site.
Pretty nice.
http://www.on6thave.com/
Sixth Avenue Business District launches new Web site
The merchants from the bustling 6th Avenue Business District have banded together to create a new Web site. This site features everything you need to know about the district, night or day.
mofo from the what Hood?
Let’s come up with something creative!
28 | Posted by Eric | Nov 2, 09:00 PM
Brotha Eric @28:
It was back in the day
when my daddy had a play
with a girl from the city that the people knows as gritty
Listen!
The time they had was short but mighty. People say they was feelin’ good
Nine months later in the back of a Caddy, my mama gave birth to Mofo from the Hood
Listen!
Up on the Top, between K Way and South L, above a vacant shanty known as Brown’s Star Grill
Lives a man with a plan,
Call it bad. Call it good.
But every gansta knows, There lives Mofo from the Hood!
30 | Posted by Mofo from the Hood | Nov 3, 09:20 AM
I live 2 blocks off 6th and the weekends are a little louder, but thats what makes living in a district like this great. If this district wants to really grow we should look to places like Burlingame and Mountain View CA. These are old cities like ours and they have been able to maintain their historical identity and create vibrant business districts. Burlingame Ave is a perfect example. There is combination of street, lot and garage parking there. It can be organized in a thoughtful way.
31 | Posted by Donovan | Nov 3, 03:06 PM
LOL I grew up in Burlingame and once lived in Mountain View. He’s got a point. Youtube has a great video that promotes Burlingame. go check it out.
33 | Posted by kc | Nov 3, 06:03 PM
Mofo
I think it’s
Check It!
You got most important part right though!
Fo those of you who do know,
thanks to Mofo.
My name to be will have to be.
34 | Posted by Brotha E | Nov 3, 08:16 PM
I’ve got a plan to pay for your subway system, as well as healthcare for every man woman and child in Tacoma!
We need to put a toll on I-5. This might lead to a minor conflict with the federal government, but imagine say a few bucks a car, and a few bucks more for big trucks to pass through Tacoma on I-5. That could raise a lot of money.
35 | Posted by Jeff | Nov 4, 03:49 AM
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