I tend to get into a rut with landscape photos and forget or ignore all those little things that just don't register because I see them every day. So, I've lined up a number of posts I'm calling Street Furniture. Many of these things are probably global and I hope people will comment on similar things they have in their cities. Today's post is something that is found on all our streets in the downtown core, parking meters. Two bits (25 cents) buys you ten minutes. A loonie (one dollar coin) rents you a parking space for 50 minutes. There are meter readers who check for expired meters and if your car is parked longer than you have paid for, you will be given a parking ticket. I'm not sure how much the fine is now but it used to be twenty dollars. While I suspect they earn a little income for the city and also serve to regulate parking to some extent, I think these meters contribute to the problem of downtown core decay that many major cities are experiencing. Though our culture is becoming a little less car-oriented, most people still depend on their cars to get them to where they can shop. I suspect a major advantage of suburban malls over downtown stores is that the former offer extensive free parking. These parking meters are a deterrent to shopping downtown. They don't create any additional parking space, they only add expense and risk to the downtown shopping experience. Seems foolish to me. (or maybe not so foolish - click "comments" below to see some other points of view.)
In Chinatown, the posts that hold the meters upright are painted bright red, as in the photo to the left. The rest of Victoria's meters are on metallic gray posts.
9 comments:
Not so certain it's foolish to have paid-for parking downtown. Without it, people parking all day for days at a time would surely occur, effectively making less parking spots available. Pay forces turnover, as do time restrictions on free parking spots, such as the ones along the east side of Harris Green.
You're landscape photos are stunning! Really peaceful and serene. I can see why you've captured so many!
Your new series looks interesting...our meter's look much the same. You can top up the credit by text and it gets charged to your phone! You can pay the regular way with coins too though:)
Parking meter politics, you have reason to moan. Luckily we dont' have any meter at all in Yambol - bet they invade soon though.
I will echo what Davin said. Parking meters help keep cars turning over, which helps downtown businesses. Parking spaces are scarce and should be priced accordingly. There is a good book called The High Price of Free Parking.
As for "downtown decay", it is not an inevitable thing. It is the side-effect of some very deliberate land use decisions, allowing large malls and single family homes to dominate.
Thanks Lisa.
Martin - considering Davin and Corey's comments, it will probably be a good thing when parking meters come to Yambol, the sooner the better.
Davin/Corey: Thanks for your comments. You've made me re-examine my thoughts on this.
Parking time limits have been ignored for years in Willits, but I've read the city has contracted with a private service to do the job now. As progressive as we may seem to be, any help to make walking or transit a better option is probably good.
we don't have parking meters in my side of the world. It would be great to have so that people won't park at one space for a long time. Its a sore sight and I imagine a headache for the people with cars because the streets are narrow here. But I don't think we'll ever have one here.
parking is $20 if paid within 14 days of the offense.
$40 after that.
i've received a few since moving up. i plan to make some sort of art piece with them after my year of school is finished. :)
I like the way you lined up this shot. The card slot is something new to me on these traditionally shaped meters. Seattle has pay stations that issue stickers with the expiration time to place on the passenger window. I notice a nice culture is evolving around these of people having time left on their sticker sticking it back on the pay station for someone else to use.
Personally, I loath parking meters and when the anarchists in Berkeley cut off the poles of nearly every parking mete in town, the taxpayer side of me groaned, but inwardly I loved having nearly a half year of no meters anywhere. . .and there didn't seem to be a problem with turnover and people parking for long periods on these marketing streets.
-Kim
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