Guest opinion: To make paradise, stop putting up parking lots

Hear, Hear!

and

Right on!

Has Metro provided data to support their presumed hypothesis that less people will attend a convention or stay at the hotel if they are required to walk 5 blocks?

Yes, a million times yes. I don’t understand how building more parking garages is going to get us to 70% bike/transit/walk mode share by 2035. Or improve air quality, livability, or any of the other things that actually matter. PDC’s strategy has to be in line with the City’s vision, otherwise what are we doing?

Not to mention ,that as a revenue source, it is an idea with no future. One only has to look at the rapidly increasing cost of driving ( all things considered), and the impoverishment of the up and coming generations via low wages and expensive housing to see that making money renting out parking spaces will be a business model with not future.

Reading the list of all the other possibilities MADE ME CRY. Because wouldn’t it be wonderful to actually have these things?

This is the biggest money scandal in Portland right now. Where is the media? Where is the outrage? I want every single mayoral candidate to be very clear where they stand on this, and what they plan to do to stop it. We are well beyond the territory of “strongly worded letters”.

Is it too late to get Kiel to run for mayor?

Kiel is my new hero.

This makes me sad. What are our chances of us getting off fossil fuels and slowing climate change if we can’t even stop building huge cement parking garages.

Any parking for this hotel must be beneath the hotel! It is INSANE to design or build a brand new hotel without incorporating parking. The project manager for the hotel project should be held accountable for this oversight! This would be a great investigative journalism piece; I would love to know who at the PDC was directing the architects to leave off the parking.

Everybody reading this, take a minute to write a one sentence message to city commisioners about how gambling on a parking garage is not inline with the rest of Portland transportation policies. If this were up to a vote, everyone knows it would fail.

Commissioners contact info here: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/28533

Here is contact info for our commissioners:
dan(at)portlandoregon.gov,
Nick Fish ,
Amanda(at)portlandoregon.gov,
Steve Novick

nick(at)portlandoregon.gov,
novick(at)portlandoregon.gov

“…As a Lloyd District resident, every year I open my property tax bill and find that some of it is set aside for living in an “urban renewal area.” I have always assumed that this money is going towards making my neighborhood a better place. …” kiel johnson

Conventions are big business that cities across the nation compete to be booked for. Going back many years, city hall and business interests have been working on strategies that would have the city get more convention bookings, and the business that results from them. Successful efforts made towards having mixed use commercial neighborhoods such as the Lloyd District with its convention center and sports arena, become more economically vibrant, makes such neighborhoods better places, in many people’s opinion.

People rely primarily on motor vehicles to meet their travel needs, so accordingly, there tends to be lots of parking for motor vehicles provided. If more people were biking instead, the city, and business interests, likely would be far more strongly in support than they are, of expanding parking for bikes, such as the valet bike parking service offered by Go By Bike, over in the South Waterfront area.

People have debated for years, the supposed benefits of building a big convention hotel over in the Lloyd District. Remembering from Oregonian articles on that debate, return on investment in such a hotel, is a very long term prospect. There’s definitely risks in making that investment. Together, all of the major components of the Lloyd District, hold the potential for this neighborhood becoming an area of great economic vitality, and a growing source of employment. It’s happening now, has steadily been doing more so, for a number of years.

What bugs me is the return on investestment analysis is being held secret. If it’s such a sure thing, why hide the analysis? I can only assume that they included enduced demand in their model, and dont want that to get out. It may also predict the garage will divert users from other travel modes like transit. What it probably does not factor in are driverless taxis which will be dirt cheap, not equire parking, and pull more people into multimodal habits.

Secrecy is usually associated with corruption. Are there any sunshine laws that can be used to obtain this anslysis?

Kiel, I hope you circulated your well-penned letter to City Council, the Mayor’s office, the Housing Bureau, and other housing groups within City government?

Perhaps a Change.org, or a similar signature gathering, attention grabbing campaign could be started. I’d sign it!

So many things are wrong about this parking garage being built, whether privately or public financed, but even more because it’s publicly funded.

Any central city land used for parking in the midst of a “housing crisis”, words I’ve heard from the mouths of many elected representative, is pretty serious cognitive dissonance.

I completely agree that the parking garage is not needed. However, the map at the top leaves out at least 1 (pretty big) parking garage at 6th and Pacific and at least 1 surface lot is missing (the one for the weed store).

I sent letters of protest to Mayor Hales, his Policy Director for Development Jillian Detweiler, and Commissioners Saltzman, Fish, Fritz and Novick.

The PDC could be a vital organization for urban reinvestment, particularly if certain reforms could be put in place (for one, increasing the affordable housing allocation from 30% to 50% or higher), but this PDC project fails to show the kind of urban development leadership Portland needs.

Bravo, Kiel! When are you running for office? You’ve got my vote!

The OCC hotel is a Metro project, so the adjacent parking structure is their baby…great example to all jurisdictions on how to move the region away from dependence of private autos! I was OK with the hotel, until this came up; now I agree with those who argue it should be killed. Maybe the OCC can become a homeless shelter; not much seems to be going on there these days. But in the final analysis, this corner of the Eastside will always fail to live up to its potential until the damn freeway is removed!

Parking structures = more cars = more mucho air pollution

sad

I would agree that the government has no business whatsoever building a hotel. If a hotel is needed, the market will provide it.

Most of those parking lots in the photo above are located where they are needed – near large buildings, malls, MAX stations, etc. It makes sense. Each parking space is reserved for a citizen who likely has a job, pays taxes, tries to do the right thing (hopefully), etc.

IF anyone builds a hotel, yes, it will need parking. People are not interested in hauling their luggage a block or 2 in the rain and dark thank you very much. Much less in a city they are not familiar with. To suggest that they should use parking a block or 2 away is ludicrous!

Building tiny homes for po’ folk will not be providing the gubmint with much in the way of tax money. The writer claims to be concerned about future revenues for gubmint – apparently he really isn’t. He just doesn’t like cars. Not a surprising stance on a cycling website.

Do we really need “intersection murals”? No.

The CRC WILL be designed to move cars – if other users get a small slice of the pie they’d best be thankful for whatever they get. I-5 is designed to move motor vehicles and that crossing is a major piece of west coast infrastructure for those motor vehicles.