that I am most curious about, first.
There seems to be an obvious indicator about the appreciation
of downtowns, the conditions that they are in
or even the whole city.
It is the price for parking on a guarded lot in downtown.
Chicago: $10-12, if I'm right.
Buffalo, NY it's $4.
Came through Youngstown, Ohio recently.
One of the well known shrinking cities of the U.S.
Price for parking there was 75 cent.
A day.
That's not fair.
I assume that 3 market forces come into play regarding parking
in downtown: weak demand for space that was freed by
torn down buildings. weak demand for parking by
people driving into downtown, keeps the price for parking
low. And: weak ideas about how to use free space that is
generated by demolition. the most common idea obviously:
parking lots. cheap, low in maintenance, generate some bucks.
I read an estimate about the Buffalo, NY downtown recently,
whereas about 50% of the total space of downtown is used for
parking lots.
I would prefer pocket parks, bicycle parking, space for arts,
places to rest and conservation of unused buildings,
that are assets to downtown.
