Downtown Parking Tax

[DC48080]

Is it possible to outright ban them? I propose a ban on all surface parking anywhere in downtown and along all major arterial roads.

Yeah, that will help the existing businesses and help to attract new ones. Everybody knows that businesses don't really need convenient inexpensive parking to survive.

[ghettopalmetto]

Yeah, that will help the existing businesses and help to attract new ones. Everybody knows that businesses don't really need convenient inexpensive parking to survive.

Last I checked, CARS don't purchase goods and services.

PEOPLE, on the other hand, do.

Detroit has more convenient and inexpensive parking than any other city of comparable size--or half the size, for that matter. Clearly, that approach hasn't done dick to help businesses.

[esp1986]

Let's just give people more reasons not to do business downtown. Taxes are a major deterrent to doing business downtown. From city both employer and employee taxes to property taxes that don't exist in most suburbs. In some cases of an empty lot, the money collected often does not even cover property taxes. So yeah, lets just throw another one on there.

[DC48080]

Last I checked, CARS don't purchase goods and services.

PEOPLE, on the other hand, do.

Detroit has more convenient and inexpensive parking than any other city of comparable size--or half the size, for that matter. Clearly, that approach hasn't done dick to help businesses.

Are you really serious with that statement??

People who drive those cars want a convenient place to park while visiting an office, store, restaurant or bar. Most people would rather park in a surface parking lot than pay more and have the hassle of long slow lines in a parking structure.

[ghettopalmetto]

Are you really serious with that statement??

People who drive those cars want a convenient place to park while visiting an office, store, restaurant or bar. Most people would rather park in a surface parking lot than pay more and have the hassle of long slow lines in a parking structure.

Yes, I'm dead serious with that statement. You're thinking strictly in terms of "cars", vis-a-vis "people". Go to any successful, thriving city on earth, and I bet your ass you won't see nearly as many surface parking lots as you do in Detroit. IT. DOESN'T. WORK. It hasn't worked for the past 65 years, and it's not going to work anytime soon. Please take your ideas to the 1950s, where they will receive much greater reception.

Downtown Detroit isn't suffering for want of parking. It's suffering for lack of reasons to park there.

[DC48080]

Downtown Detroit isn't suffering for want of parking. It's suffering for lack of reasons to park there.

So take away the places for people to park downtown and then if a reason comes along to park there, there will be nowhere to park.

Brilliant!

So, what do you propose to do with the land occupied by the surface parking lots once you have banned them?

[ghettopalmetto]

So take away the places for people to park downtown and then if a reason comes along to park there, there will be nowhere to park.

Brilliant!

So, what do you propose to do with the land occupied by the surface parking lots once you have banned them?

Please don't put words in my mouth. I have said nothing of the sort of banning surface parking lots. On the other hand, people seem to be able to function just fine in Philadelphia and Chicago without having a surface parking lot occupying every-other block. Maybe its because those people get off their lazy asses once in a while and don't expect a free parking spot to magically show up at the front door of every building they might patronize.

But why not take your idea to its logical termination, and demolish EVERYTHING in Downtown Detroit to create a vast lagoon of parking. Explain your idea how this endless sea of surface parking lots is going to help the City of Detroit.

If you want parking everywhere, you already have the suburbs. Why you insist on foisting your dream of endless acreages of asphalt upon an urban fabric is beyond me. I guess Troy is your idea of a world-class city, huh?

[DC48080]

Please don't put words in my mouth. I have said nothing of the sort of banning surface parking lots. On the other hand, people seem to be able to function just fine in Philadelphia and Chicago without having a surface parking lot occupying every-other block. Maybe its because those people get off their lazy asses once in a while and don't expect a free parking spot to magically show up at the front door of every building they might patronize.

But why not take your idea to its logical termination, and demolish EVERYTHING in Downtown Detroit to create a vast lagoon of parking. Explain your idea how this endless sea of surface parking lots is going to help the City of Detroit.

If you want parking everywhere, you already have the suburbs. Why you insist on foisting your dream of endless acreages of asphalt upon an urban fabric is beyond me. I guess Troy is your idea of a world-class city, huh?

1: Nobody said anything about free parking. I pay to park in the surface lots I use downtown.

2: Nowhere have I advocated for increasing the amount of surface parking. This forum was started with the idiotic idea of taxing surface lots. The thread took a turn when someone suggest banning them all together. This is what I am commenting against.