Saw on news 9 this morning city is thinking of going to parking meters in midtown and automobile alley. Friend thought they also said they would enforce parking downtown during events but I didn't see that in the story. Do you think they would ever go to paid street parking during events downtown?

Honestly I'm somewhat amazed that the meter enforcement hours are still only 8a-6p M-F.

Honestly I'm somewhat amazed that the meter enforcement hours are still only 8a-6p M-F.

Any reason why? Do you think they should be longer? I would think the weekend is where they could rack up the money with everyone going to the park.

The addition of meters and extension of hours are more about disincentivizing district employees from sucking up all of the on-street parking and discouraging customers. Everyone usually talks about it as if the main driver is revenue generation, but that’s not at all accurate.

That said, it WILL generate additional revenue. And how that new revenue is directed and utilized is a fair point for discussion.

So where are the employees supposed to park? There’s also ways to discourage that or make parking easier for some by having 2 hour parking limits where you have to move your car once every two hours or get a ticket. I don’t think very many district employees are parking until 10pm. I’m not against the paid parking but until 10PM? That’s a little much or at least a blanket, district wide 10PM hour extension is.

I also think this is going to tighten up the free parking lots as well. Currently most businesses seem to be pretty lax about enforcing the “parking only for customers” thing. If too many people start doing it I bet they tighten down on it.

^^^^^^^^
Optimally from a commercial standpoint employees would park in an area more off-the-beaten-path and less obvious to customers; tucked-away parking lots, structured parking, etc.. This happens in cities all over, typically through some arrangements made by their employer. This isn’t new ground being covered; it’s only new for those districts. It just hasn’t been an issue for them until recently, which in reality is simply a positive sign of their growth.

This is another reason workforce housing and other ways to incentivize service industry folks to live near service-industry heavy areas makes sense from a strategic standpoint. Taking a car off the street lets yet another customer into the area.

Interesting. I know in the past there always seemed to be an abundant amount of spaces all the time with some exceptions but maybe it’s changed over the last couple years. I’m surprised there isn’t a Midtown parking garage for the public.

Yeah, Midtown gets pretty packed nighttimes, especially late week and weekends. Much of the intense focus being around 10th’s intersections with Harvey, Hudson (especially) and Walker. A bit around Robinson (though that intersection benefits from a pretty ample surface parking situation) and even Broadway (which is of course actually Automobile Alley).

BTW a lot of service industry workers have taken to bicycle commuting over the years and that is one more reason why good bicycle infrastructure makes sense, even in congested urban areas…in fact, perhaps ESPECIALLY in those areas. As more housing comes online in the city’s center it also makes more sense for some to commute via regular transit and also the streetcar, which can help those investments earn their keep; not just at the fare box but by enabling more customer sales tax dollars for the general fund.

People can also park at a distance and ride the streetcar, but that doesn't seem to happen much at all.

People can also park at a distance and ride the streetcar, but that doesn't seem to happen much at all.

I don't people think about ways to "shortcut" the one way streetcar route. Its similar to sidewalks, if there isn't a sidewalk directly from the parking lot to the door, they will walk on the grass.

Yeah, Midtown gets pretty packed nighttimes, especially late week and weekends. Much of the intense focus being around 10th’s intersections with Harvey, Hudson (especially) and Walker. A bit around Robinson (though that intersection benefits from a pretty ample surface parking situation) and even Broadway (which is of course actually Automobile Alley).

BTW a lot of service industry workers have taken to bicycle commuting over the years and that is one more reason why good bicycle infrastructure makes sense, even in congested urban areas…in fact, perhaps ESPECIALLY in those areas. As more housing comes online in the city’s center it also makes more sense for some to commute via regular transit and also the streetcar, which can help those investments earn their keep; not just at the fare box but by enabling more customer sales tax dollars for the general fund.
As much as I love six lane roads, I really wish they would have reduced Classen by a lane each way and added a protected cycleway throughout. This would greatly enable more access for the working class to use bikes safely and efficiently. They also should work on a protected cycleway along Reno from Midwest to Yukon. If people would give up street parking we could also have fully protected bike lanes on 23rd as well.

As much as I love six lane roads, I really wish they would have reduced Classen by a lane each way and added a protected cycleway throughout. This would greatly enable more access for the working class to use bikes safely and efficiently. They also should work on a protected cycleway along Reno from Midwest to Yukon. If people would give up street parking we could also have fully protected bike lanes on 23rd as well.

:yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat:

Parking enforcement until 10pm is loony toons

The addition of meters and extension of hours are more about disincentivizing district employees from sucking up all of the on-street parking and discouraging customers. Everyone usually talks about it as if the main driver is revenue generation, but that’s not at all accurate.

This—by the way—is one of the reasons that Carl Magee invented the parking meter in 1935 in OKC in the first place.


https://youtu.be/yLP9e_RkAYM?list=PLsmlQk866371KD3v7-eDMRNuaypeQAzt5&t=1226

The parking meter segment is from 20:26-27:56 in the video.

So where are the employees supposed to park? There’s also ways to discourage that or make parking easier for some by having 2 hour parking limits where you have to move your car once every two hours or get a ticket. I don’t think very many district employees are parking until 10pm. I’m not against the paid parking but until 10PM? That’s a little much or at least a blanket, district wide 10PM hour extension is.

I also think this is going to tighten up the free parking lots as well. Currently most businesses seem to be pretty lax about enforcing the “parking only for customers” thing. If too many people start doing it I bet they tighten down on it.

Employees can park at lots/garages or better yet - take transit.

Employees can park at lots/garages or better yet - take transit.
Telling employees to take transit in OKC right now is comical. They’d be better off to quit and move to another city that has better transit.

Employees can park at lots/garages or better yet - take transit.

Given the fact that finding employees can be challenging at best right now, it would likely mean they would have to be paid higher wages to compensate for paying to park. Otherwise they will just go where they can park for free.

One of the many reasons it’s more expensive to operate a business in a thriving urban area.

Was there a study done to suggest that there should be paid on-street parking in this area?

Was there a study done to suggest that there should be paid on-street parking in this area?

Yes. Done in 2019. Here is a link (https://downtownokc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/OKC_Downtown_Parking_Study.pdf).

Yes.

http://nitnoi.io/dtokcparking

17486
(for auto alley at least)

companies can and do pay employees for parking, obviously not all of them.

When I worked downtown OKC the company I worked for paid for my parking and I had a sticker I put on my front windshield for garage I parked in.

Yes. Done in 2019. Here is a link (https://downtownokc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/OKC_Downtown_Parking_Study.pdf).

In a post pandemic world, is this study obsolete?
It seems there has been a major shift in retail as far as the consumer, merchant, and employees are concerned.

^^if anything, the pandemic made some of the findings of the study even more relevant. The study concluded that at peak times, Downtown okc has about 141 football fields worth of unused parking spaces. If that is accurate, then in a post pandemic world, we should have even more unused parking that can be managed more effectively. Is it still a good idea to charge for parking if we have so much of a surplus? From a high level perspective, yes we should charge private individuals to store their property in public space. From the district, retail, and restaurant perspective, I think its still a good idea to charge for parking so that the spaces in front of businesses are used by visitors and not people parking all day. Lets figure out a way to coordinate all the unused parking (most of which is private) and free up the street parking for people who actually want to visit retail stores and restaurants, or people with ADA concerns.

^ I think a current study as well as a comment period for all who could be impacted needs to be done first.
According to a local report some Midtown merchants including R&J lounge have concerns over this proposal.
https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-businesses-worried-paid-parking-project/40097205

Every business in every downtown has those same issues (where do employees park) and most seem to be managing.

For lack of a better place to put this and not wanting to start new thread, I found this article interesting. Never really looked at how valuable the curb space is.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/28/business/cities-curbs-parking-deliveries-bikers/index.html