downtown parking

Do you remember when it was announced that there would be transformers installed in three place along the streetcar route to provide consistent power? And there was that business owner on Court St who cried foul because he would lose 4 parking spots for his customers? Never mind there would be a streetcar full of people stopping at either end of his block every 15 minutes.
Vice Mayor Mann and the mayor took and ran holding it up as a lack of transparency from the former administration.
I thought about this as I rode my bike past and I had to stop and document the lack of parking in this area.
Now I realize why this business owners concerns were dropped so fast.
Here is the spot in question
Court & Walnut

looking north

Court & Walnut

looking south

Court & Walnut

Yep, parking as far as the eye can see. Maybe two of the biggest surface parking lots downtown outside of The Banks.
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7 comments

12 comments:

  1. David Mann will be a guest at the College Hill Forum meeting tonight to discuss future plans for that neighborhood as well as the city.
    You should go. It's not downtown, but it IS the vice mayor.

    From the College Hill newsletter (note that is says he's ready for questions):
    CH Forum Tuesday Meeting


    Don't miss the next College Hill Forum community council meeting, Tuesday, June 24 at 7 PM at the Rec Center.

    Cincinnati Vice Mayor David Mann will be our special guest with his views on College Hill, Council, the City and more. Got a question for him? He's ready!

    Also, up to the minute news on the Kroger demolition, our RFQ that's out to developers for North Bend and Hamilton and more development news!

    And a new MSD sewer project that affects College Hill!

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  2. "Yep, parking as far the eye can see can see."

    Well, if you drove a car, you would know that those lots are often at capacity with county workers and others. I often have to park a few blocks away when I have business down there. If you owned a business down there and you were dependent on people being able to find parking you would be very concerned too. There is a parking shortage around there and you often have to circle several times to even find a place on the street. Since almost all the people working down there don't live in OTR and commute in, the parking situation will not be improved by the streetcar. Wait a few more more years when more buildings come down to build more parking garages...wait... we are already there!

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    Replies
    1. Circling looking for a parking spot.
      That could have been solved with a modern parking system, a system that got crancelled.

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    2. This also tells me that parking is too cheap downtown. People always over consume cheap services.

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    3. Funny since I work in one of those buildings pictured an commute. Literally TWO BLOCKS away is an entire parking structure at the casino that is *gasp* free!!! And every morning on my walk 2 and from work I walk alongside those county workers and courthouse types, and see plenty of open parking just to the left of that top pic, not to mention Garfield garage which I park in on occasion too, and is cheaper than the open meters along central.... Keep trying.

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    4. If you parked in that lot you'd realize that it's $8/day, vs. the $5/day early bird at the County garage on Sycamore, vs. the free unregulated Casino garage not much further.

      There is plenty of parking in the area, it's just hidden in residential streets in OTR or you just don't like paying for it. Take transit.

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  3. There are two contiguous blocks of pay lots on the east side of Walnut south of Central that will surely be developed with the streetcar. Rookwood Properties is interested in the parcel fronting Central for residential.

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  4. In my opinion parking downtown is not too cheap. As someone who frequents downtown for meetings during the work day, I on average have to pay at least $10 to park in a lot so that I can be at the meeting. Not an all day meeting, but one that lasts just over an hour. I do wish there were more affordable options as it's had me trying harder to get those meetings moved to locations with better parking rates/options like Newport, Covington, etc.

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  5. there's also this really crazy thing you can use to avoid parking issues - the bus.

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  6. When people say "there's not enough parking downtown," what they really mean is, "there's no an open parking space directly in front of the place I want to go."

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  7. Travis is right; people have a very entitled attitude when it comes to their parking expectations. We're talking about the CBD -- having to pay a few dollars or walk a few blocks seems like the norm for this kind of area.

    Eric, your comment about the parking "hidden in residential streets in OTR" is precisely why that neighborhood ought to have areas of resident permit parking. Many of the buildings in OTR don't have garages, and those residents should have on-street parking priority. There are plenty of paid lots and garages in OTR.

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  8. I don't know how much of it has to do with being "right out front". They just need to be able to see their destination from their car. People would probably prefer walking a couple miles across a mall parking lot than walk around a corner downtown.

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