[Summit] Parking Meters on Hope

[Emlyn Addison]

We're short on reliable data about the effect of parking meters on local
business; a google search reveals a mixed bag: businesses complain about it
as a "tax on small business", yet it's also a $130 million cash cow for the
city of San Francisco.

To me it does seem a bit like double-dipping: the city needs to promote
local buying, yet they want buyers to not only pay sales tax but pay an
additional cost to make that purchase locally. Unfortunately, we can't walk
or take the bus to just anywhere; this is a car culture (a whole separate
discussion) and "punishing" consumers for buying locally when it's easy to
just drive somewhere else appears at odds with the need for vibrant local
economies.

I've been watching the "Buy Local RI" initiative since its inception about
7 years ago. It has evolved, in fits and starts, though never quite gained
the traction it deserved. And, to be clear, "supporting local business"
isn't just some vacuous slogan dreamed up by selfish business owners--there
are real social and economic reasons to do so. Not the least of which is
not giving people a reason to ditch the local stores and head to a big box
stores (where parking is free)--or worse, going across state lines to spend
their money in North Attleboro or Seekonk. What is gained by making local
shopping LESS attractive?

Awhile back I had investigated the "micro local" shopping model in RI. If
the data conclusively shows that parking meters do indeed depress local
business, some of these conclusions will hold more weight:

“Big box” stores are a threat to local economies: For every $100 spent at a
national chain only $43 is returned to the community; spent locally, that
return rises to $68—a nearly 60% gain.

The explosion of highly successful farmers’ markets is a clear sign that
buyers relish community-centered commerce and that localized “active
retail” succeeds where nationalized “passive retail” cannot.

But preaching “buy local” is not enough and embattled Mom-and-Pop stores
struggle to be heard over the marketing din of national chains.


   - Redirecting just 10% of typical spending can boost local economies.
   - Spending just $50 at 3 local stores per month keeps local economies
   strong.
   - The importance of promoting community self-reliance.
   - Economic impact of "big-box" stores vs locally-owned stores.
   <https://www.dropbox.com/s/jyocr45i68x29md/bigboxstudies.pdf?dl=0> [PDF]
   (This document from newrules.org aggregates the results of detailed
   studies of the impact of WalMart on jobs, wages, benefits and municipal
   finances.)


Active, self-empowered Main Street economies:


   1. keep dollars invested here
      2. revitalize neighborhoods and promote community
      3. create more jobs with better pay and benefits
      4. encourage new business and entrepreneurship
      5. value local goods and services
      6. foster better organizational support
      7. reduce the impact on the environment
      8. are scalable statewide and nationwide.


The task, therefore, is to get the data and determine if parking meters
help or hurt local business.

Emlyn




On Wed, Mar 9, 2016 at 9:00 AM, Jeffrey Cavanaugh <jeff at cavanaugh.org>
wrote:

>  This isn't a shot in the dark, parking meters are quite common, even in
> small quaint towns and certainly in tourist areas.  I work in the western
> suburbs of Boston, frequently having lunch in Wellesley, and all their
> central business districts have meters. They have little impact on
> quaintness.  Buildings like the one that contains Apsara with parking in
> front do far more to destroy the quaintness than any meter will.
>
> Merchants always complain about meters, but I'm not sure the data backs
> them up. The worst thing for an urban merchant is when their customers
> cannot find a spot.  The inconvenience of change or using a credit card is
> less than no spot at all, and for an increasing number of people, it's not
> an inconvenience at all.  We pay at the pump, at the supermarket, its
> becoming a normal part of life.
>
> Providence place also charges for parking. They could go to Emerald
> Square, but have you been there? That mall is depressing and having to add
> dental clinics and schools to rent out space.  Warwick mall is OK, but
> honestly, this belief that everyone  will go to the burbs because of a
> parking meter feels like leftover 70's and 80-'s thinking.  Current trends
> run the other way.
>
> There is also the issue of basic fairness. I NEVER, EVER park illegally,
> so not being able to find a spot is VERY inconvenient for me. I also see
> merchants or their staff take up spots on Hope St.all day. Meters enforce a
> certain fairness in sharing a scarce resource.
>
> I think the trick with meters is they need to be managed properly. The
> cost and needs to be set properly to ensure spaces, cover cost of
> enforcement but not to deter customers. In RI,  and Providence, people are
> understandably skeptical that the meters will be administered correctly.
>
> Also, they may not be a fit for the Hope St. district because you could
> argue that spaces are not all that scarce. I also think I had heard they
> were not going to put them on Hope because of that. Although, in my
> experience, people are very reluctant to park very far down the streets to
> avoid a meter.
>
> I think in the last 20 years or so, Rhode Islanders have gotten used to
> paying for parking in places like Newport and Providence, and are only
> willing to spend so much of their lives at places like the Warwick mall.
>
>
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