Organizing

Activists Oppose Federal Reserve Bank Parking Project In Minneapolis

July 1, 2019 By Tony Jordan 2 Comments

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has proposed an 800 stall parking garageon the bank of the Mississippi River. The justification for the project, which requires a variance, is that new redevelopment of nearby surface lots has made parking too frustrating for bank employees and visitors.

Rendering of new garage in the context of the city.

The plan for the garage contains all sorts of good-feeling stuff like the “largest, most useable Open Green Space” which “can be developed to help interpret the past history of the site,” currently a surface parking lot. While this certainly will be a ramp to visit for a garage aficionado like myself, I wonder how pleasant a park with a massive driveway running through it will be?

The Fed doesn’t seem to have published the expected cost of the garage, but the nearby airport is currently constructing an 11 story garage with 5,000 stalls for $240 Million. At a comparable $48,000 per stall, this garage would cost around $38 million dollars.

Fortunately, the good folks of Minneapolis are aware of the problems more auto infrastructure will bring to their city and a group of them have begun organizing to “Halt the Ramp” (link requires facebook) online and in the streets! The group has been gathering signatures and encouraging letters to the City Planner Lindsey Silas, Mayor Jacob Frey, and Third Ward Council Member Steve Fletcher. Today, July 1st, is the last day to send letters so they will be seen by the planning commission.

The local Sierra Club has written a letter opposing the project and is seeking signatures to an online petition.

The proposed garage is certain to bring more traffic and congestion to the area.

Every new parking stall is a 30 year commitment to undermine climate action, housing affordability, and traffic goals. The Federal Reserve Bank should expose more of the cost of parking to employees and visitors, offer additional compensation for employees who don’t drive to work, and aggressively pursue transportation demand management programs.

It is unclear at this time how much, if anything, employees at the bank pay to park in the nearby lots and the existing garage, but the Careers page for the bank says “parking is available in the Bank garage for all officers and select other employees.” According to the 2018 Fed report, there are 63 officers at the Minneapolis Fed and 927 full time employees. The bank provides a “commuter subsidy program that provides tax savings” and free indoor bike parking for workers who don’t drive.

The City of Minneapolis should develop a comprehensive performance-based on-street parking management program. No one should be building 800 stall standalone garages in the middle of a vibrant city.

Sign the Sierra Club North Star Chapter’s petition and Reject the Ramp!

A Conversation About Parking Reform With Paul Barter

March 21, 2019 By Tony Jordan Leave a Comment

I’m very happy to announce that I’m a guest on the most recent episode of Paul Barter’s “Reinventing Parking” podcast (Sticher | Apple Podcasts | Google Play) .

Paul Barter is a transportation policy researcher who is very engaged in parking reform work. Professor Barter lives in Singapore and has worked on parking policy in many Asian cities. He manages the Parking Reform International facebook group and also produces the excellent Reinventing Parking website.

A few months ago, Paul launched a companion podcast for his website and I’ve been patiently waiting for an opportunity to have another conversation with him about the work I am doing in the United States.

You can subscribe to Paul Barter’s podcast on most podcast services and you can find individual episodes to download at his website. His post about our episode can be found here: https://www.reinventingparking.org/2019/03/portlanders-for-parking-reform.html.

Thank you very much to Paul for having me on his show and I hope you enjoy the podcast.

San Diego Passed Some Great Parking Reforms This Month!

March 20, 2019 By Tony Jordan Leave a Comment

On March 19th, San Diego’s City Council re-affirmed a decision to eliminate minimum parking requirements within 1/2 mile of planned or existing transit stops, zones they call Transit Priority Areas (TPAs). The new rules also require developers to provide transportation demand management (TDM) benefits when they build in the TPAs. The amount of TDM benefits varies depending on factors like how dense the new development is and how close it is to transit-accessible jobs.

TDM is required for all new buildings, whether parking is provided or not and the parking reform package requires that any stall built be unbundled from the lease or purchase of housing units in the building. There is an exemption granted for the TDM and unbundling requirements if the building contains a minimum of 20% on-site units affordable for people making 50% or less of the average median income.

In downtown, the new policy bundle flipped it so developers can’t build more parking than they previously were required to build as a minimum amount (with a few mitigating exemptions).

The reforms passed an initial council vote on March 4th and there was some opposition and threat of legal action from a local attorney, Cory Briggs, on behalf of a group called “Citizens for Responsible, Economical and Environmental Development” or CREED-21. Briggs’ threats prompted a thoughtful op-ed prior to the second vote by Maya Rosas and Brendan Dentino from YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County.

Overall this is a very good example of parking reform. The parking exemptions themselves are aggressive for a scheme based on transit proximity. Allowing for exemptions within 1/2 mile is great and allowing them near transit stops that are planned within the next 30 years (!!!) is even better. The TDM requirements apply evenly and the amount is increased for areas that are further away from transit and amenities, which is the proper way to do it.

San Diegans should look into developing good on-street parking management programs for areas which might be impacted by spillover parking due to the new rules. When development without parking starts to come online, neighbors will be angry and the city should be prepared with residential permit programs and performance-based metering. Residents won’t be happy to have to pay for parking, but at least city staff and officials will have a ready answer to their complaints.