Cincinnati Neighborhood Group: Bring on the Market-Rate Parking

Across the country, everyone’s looking to San Francisco when it comes to parking policy. Big cities like Los Angeles and New York City are moving toward their own versions of the pioneering SF Park system, which sets meter rates based on the actual demand for parking spaces.

It’s not just big city governments that see San Francisco as a model. The latest group to look to SF Park for inspiration is Cincinnati’s CUF Neighborhood Association, which represents the uptown Cincy neighborhoods of Clifton Heights, University Heights and Fairview. The area is on the upswing, and parking is getting to be a top neighborhood concern.

Reports Urban Cincy’s Tyler Catlin:

An influx in residents means more people, more cars and tougher competition for car storage in a neighborhood proudly built in an age before automobile parking was mandated by law.

It was with all of this in mind that the CUF Neighborhood Association (CUFNA) trustees formed a committee in the summer of 2010 to develop solutions to the parking problem. The committee, made up of longtime residents, landlords, students, new residents, and business owners, has worked for the past year-and-a-half to develop a plan to serve the parking needs of both residents and visitors alike.

The committee’s proposal is similar to San Francisco’s metered parking program, and calls for a market-based approach to allocating on-street spaces. It is envisioned that this will provide residents with greater certainty in parking while allowing better access for shoppers and visitors. The plan, which would ensure the constant availability of parking spaces, is projected to pay for itself and provide a substantial new source of revenue for either the City or a specific neighborhood improvement district.

The parking proposal calls for the introduction of priced monthly permits or smart-metered shorter term parking for the roughly 3,000 on-street spaces in Clifton Heights, University Heights and Fairview. The city’s Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) would then be responsible for setting permit and meter prices each month to target an 85-90% occupancy rate.

The neighborhood association is still lobbying the city to get the parking plan passed, but members have high hopes for progress in 2012.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Google Maps Bike There looks at how Silicon Valley tech headquarters do or don’t accomodate bike commuters. Bike Lane Living puts up a fantastic infographic on the state of walking and biking in the Twin Cities. And you know you want to read My Wheels Are Turning’s account of how one Michigan neighborhood used an inflatable penguin to calm traffic.