blog pulse: parking II

The storm keeps swirling, and not just in the Oakland blogosphere. There's an op-ed over at The OakBook that's well-reasoned, but doesn't offer any alternatives, just recognizes that some creative thinking is needed. For some good alternatives, again check out City Homestead.

Today's print version of the Montclarion was nothing but parking stuff above the fold:

• New parking fees meet stiff opposition
• Charity flourishes after rate increases - Residents donate unexpired meter receipts to strangers
• Council turns into meter monsters
• Oakland merchants mobilize protest - Business owners consider shutdown

According to Oakland North, only 9 out of 50 businesses took part in the Thursday strike, but Michaan of the Grand Lake Theater apparently had plenty of support at another meeting. The council is listening; the same article says they're considering an emergency meeting instead of waiting until September when they were scheduled to reconvene.

And even Boing Boing is talking about parking today, quoting UCLA urban planning teacher Donald Shoup's book, The High Cost of Free Parking. I haven't read the book yet, but I've seen it quoted numerous times. Ideally parking should be priced high enough to encourage turnover, but not too high. That may mean charging different rates in different places, and/or at different times of the day. But given those shiny new parking machines, that should be easy enough to implement.