One of these issues is the apparent parking problem in downtown Cedar Rapids. I say there is a parking problem because there are currently two ongoing issues which need to deal with the parking problem.
The first issue is where to build the new library. Not only is no one raising the idea of just reusing the existing location (after adding some flood gates to the existing earth berms,) but it appears the two best locations have been ruled out due, in part, to a lack of parking.
"The losers were the TrueNorth and Banjo Equipment blocks, both between Fourth and Fifth Avenues SE, to the south and east of Greene Square Park. Library board members said both sites were plagued by uncertainties, especially parking and flood insurance."I have to scratch my head over the uncertainty of parking, because if the TrueNorth site was selected, it would be right next to a 9 story parking structure, which is ~half empty during it's peak time (full disclosure, I park in this garage, I never have to drive above the fifth level to find a spot). In addition, it would be diagonal from another parking garage.
The second issue is Doug Neumann, president of the Downtown District stating that downtown needs a new parking ramp. This statement is at odds with the consultant hired to manage the parking system in Cedar Rapids, who said that there is no need for a new parking garage.
As the consultant said, there are 918 unoccupied parking spaces in the parkades during peak occupancy. 918! That is literally a parking lot the size of several football fields. But we need more parking ramps.
Neumann says "If we don’t want to significantly hinder this community’s efforts at job creation and economic development, we do, indeed, need a new parking ramp in the vicinity of the new federal courthouse," this statement doesn't address the fact that the area bounded by 8th Ave E, 2nd St SE, 12 Ave E and the river, is one giant parking lot.
As Chuck Wieneke suggested, maybe these people should walk more and lose weight.
My final word, take a quick look at the parking map, provided by the Cedar Rapids parking system. It doesn't even show all of lot 44 (or any of the private lots around downtown), but it does a pretty good job illustrating how much parking is available in the off-street system around downtown.
Drive less, walk more, lose some weight.
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If Cedar Rapids wants to receive FEMA money to help rebuild the library, they are not allowed to return to the old building. Given that the last dollar amount I've heard FEMA will be giving Cedar Rapids for the library is $20 million dollars; that's a strong argument against going back.
ReplyDeleteAs for the parking, would these parking structures require payment for use or are they free? If people have to pay to park in them, they are less likely to use those structures and feel that the city doesn't have adequate parking facilities downtown.
The FEMA rules are not as easy as that. The library is above the flood plain where they are not allowed to reoccupy the same building, so unless I have been horribly misinformed, they could use the FEMA money to refurbish and reoccupy the same building, much the same as Taylor School.
ReplyDeleteSome of the ramps require payment, but so does the metered street parking. I know lot 44 is free, and I don't know about any of the other lots. If you want to park for free, you can always park a couple of blocks away and walk. You wouldn't be walking any further than when you go to Lindale Mall.
I would also suggest that people who think there's a parking problem in CR spend a day on the west side of the University of Iowa campus... Also, Sam, you should point out the insane expense per parking stall of building a ramp (like 28x more expensive than just pavement, or something like that). If the proposed ramp would be publicly funded, that's just ripping off the tax payers in a city that does, as you point out, have plenty of downtown parking.
ReplyDeleteThank you Laura. Yes the proposed ramp would be publicly funded, just like all of the previously built ramps. In addition to the upfront cost of building a new ramp, the city also subsidizes the parking system with an annual payment (I think one of the articles puts that at 600k/year).
ReplyDeleteI don't know a hard number for the expense for a parking garage vs. a parking lot, but it doesn't take a lot of knowledge of construction to know a concrete structure is going to be much more expensive than a slab of asphalt.
I have no problem with the city building a new parking garage if the tax payers in the city say that is what they want, but I think there needs to be more attention payed to the fact that it will cause their property taxes to go up, or the level of services in other sectors (street repair, and snow clearing) to go down.
If a majority of city residents say they have no problem with this, then by all means build another ramp which will sit half empty at peak times.
Doing a quick Google search, sounds like an average parking garage averages $2000 - $5000 per space for construction cost. For once I'll be in the "not with my tax-dollars" crowd if public funds were to be used to subsidize cars even more than they already do.
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