Sep 23 2008
Should Baltimore Reconsider Parking Standards?
I recently stumbled across this article in the Maryland Daily Record on cities that are rethinking their parking standards in an effort to build more density and better walkability (Follow this link to the article).
Baltimore has standards, like many other cities, requiring developers of new projects to provide a certain amount of off-street parking. The thought behind this is that the new development would then not add to or create parking problems nearby. On the contrary, the policy adds to traffic congestion, by encouraging more people to drive…more parking garages are created taking away from retail, office, and residential space that adds to the city’s density.
The question is, should we in Baltimore move away from this policy? I would argue that this would be possible in Baltimore if public transportation was better, but wouldn’t the push for better public transportation come if parking were more difficult? What comes first, the chicken or the egg?
3 Comments to “Should Baltimore Reconsider Parking Standards?”
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I read that article about the Specks in the Post the other day. The problem as I see it is that DC’s public transportation is exponentially better than Baltimore’s. I say that as a daily Baltimore to DC commuter who uses only public transportation on the way to work. My commute is relatively simple (bus–>train–>Metro, and reverse on the way home), but I find that the MTA bus is delayed or nonexistent about 40% of the time in the evening. The MARC train is often delayed as well (morning and evening), although for briefer periods and information about delays is more readily provided.
My neighborhood is extremely walkable, and has relatively good access to public transportation. So much so that my car moves only once every couple of weeks. But I can’t imagine most of my neighbors using public transportation — MTA isn’t reliable enough, frequent enough or geographically far-flung enough to be feasible for them.
As an NYC native I believe I’m qualified to say that there’s really no problem with Baltimore’s public transit system.
In fact, Baltimore’s public transit system is quite excellent; The problem is the people of Baltimore are too racist and classist to use it.
Most of the city is well served by light rail and subway, but yet the rich white snobs flock to neighborhoods like Federal Hill, Fells Point, Charles Village where they can complain about horrendous traffic and lack of public transit? Hello? If you cherry pick the few areas not served by transit because you’re too filled with hatred to live near people of a lower class or a different race then that’s the problem you’re going to have. It wouldn’t make any difference if you were in NYC or Tokyo; if you try hard enough you’ll be able to avoid locations well served by transit no matter what city you’re in, but only Baltimoreans are stupid enough to do it in mass.
“But wait”, I anticipate your objection, “when I look at the NYC transit map it *looks* like there’s so much more coverage”. This really isn’t true at all. NYC is massive compared to Baltimore. Overlay Baltimore over any section of NYC except Manhattan and you’ll see that Baltimore’s transit system is denser. Since Baltimoreans don’t actually use transit they seem to have this unrealistic ideal in their heads that a transit system should drop you off at the door of your destination. Not so. In NYC people walk a lot because the subway doesn’t drop you off at the door of your destination. Fortunately Baltimore is small enough that a couple of lines is all that’s really needed. Once again the problem isn’t the transit system, it’s the fact that the restaurants in Mt Vernon choose to be located on Charles St instead of Howard St and that the people in Federal Hill are too gripped with fear to live a block or two closer to the M&T Stadium and that the residents around Patterson Park are too racist to live near Druid Hill Park.
Yes, the buses aren’t the greatest, but they’re better than NYC (which has the most unreliable buses in the nation). If you don’t like it then move closer to the subway.
The MARC isn’t too good either (NYC commuter rail blows it out of the water), but the MARC is just as much of a DC system as a Baltimore system and yet that doesn’t seem to keep people from singing the praises of DC’s public transit.
It was recently posted that Baltimore is 7th in Public Transportation. Wake up. The problem isn’t Baltimore’s transit system; The problem *you*, Baltimore’s closed minded fear stricken residents.
In response to balk.
The question posed in the article is simply if developers should be required to provide ample parking, or limited in the hopes people would be more likely to use public transportation.
I commute with the light rail. It is VERY unreliable, frequently broken, sometimes doesn’t show up etc. I live downtown, a big fan of living urban, inhabiting the not so ‘posh’ neighborhoods, even though my main job is out in the county. I could easily drive, but consider the environment and the need to support public transit for the contact you have with a variety of people.
The light rail and subway only have one line, and don’t come very often.
I have to wait a minimum of 20 minutes for the train. Often they force people to exit the train they are on and wait for the next one, have only one car at rush hour, ‘cancel’ a scheduled train ‘in the field’ not on the webpage. Most people are annoyed and if they have the option, give up. I hardly think there is any reason to discourage someone willing to live in the city from using public transit to commute. You would never have to wait 20 minutes for a train in NYC during rush hour.
In terms of the neighborhood fear/racist theme. Also being from New York, Baltimore does have larger issues with this. HOWEVER, public transit should reach all neighborhoods especially downtown. By only giving access to only certain neighborhoods, they are not only discouraging public transit use to people you suggest would be afraid to use it anyway, they are also denying those who live in the neighborhoods currently accessed by public transit easy access to a greater variety of living situations.
My point is, people shouldn’t have to move to certain neighborhoods just because they want to use transportation. That assertion in itself is discriminatory. Public transportation needs to be available to all, with an extensive network, and easy to use, to be effective.
So yes, we need both. I think changing the parking regulations could come first, at least get people thinking about how they are going to get in an alternate matter. Increased demand potential makes public transit investment more viable. I hope to see something come of this!
PS- I don’t know where balk got the info that NYC has the worst bus system in the nation, anyone who has ever lived/been there and been to another city knows that that is far from the truth. There are many places with less reliable bus systems…I just don’t know where balk got that *fact*.