South Howard Parking Plan Wins Vote
At a neighborhood meeting Monday night at the Kate Jackson Community Center residents and business owners voted to support a proposed parking plan for the South Howard area. The plan still has to go before the City Council, some of whose members attended the community meeting. Tampabay.com describes it:
“The plan would create 454 parking spaces for an estimated 600 residents in the SoHo area. Some areas will either allow no parking at all on the street or resident-only parking. Residents will get one guest parking pass and can buy additional guest passes at $3 per day.”
There’s a definite problem with parking as the area becomes one of the most popular attractions in the city, but I don’t know if this is the answer. Council member John Dingfelder wants to try the plan for two years to see how it goes. It all depends on the details of the implementation.
To me, it seems like another case of residents wanting the benefits but not the costs. When you live in a higher density area one of the costs is limited parking. There’s no easy fix for that. You can trade it for the sprawl of suburbs or the high cost of parking garages, but you can’t solve it by passing out parking permits.
This is a continuation started with the 15 minute parking signs that residents have started putting up in front of their houses. I can attest to the fact that when you have a small (or no) driveway with two cars, it’s frustrating to come home from work and have nowhere within a couple blocks to park. But I’ve seen people with a giant driveway that could fit eight cars easily with a sign in front of their house. And I’ve seen two cars positioned just right to take up the space where three or four would fit. A little courtesy goes a long way.
But would residents rather all of the traffic and visitors, along with their money, go somewhere else? isn’t it better to have a neighborhood where people want to visit? I would rather live in a vibrant, alive neighborhood and deal with a little more trash, traffic and noise than to have the alternative.
