[Regarding “The Scourge of Cars: The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Parking,” March 26, Xpress:]
Having lived in Gainesville, Fla., in a neighborhood that is within a quarter-mile of campus, I can report that there are fewer and fewer homeowners left. Residents who can’t afford to move or are too elderly to do so and families with children attending nearby schools would all vote to require 1.5 parking spaces per rental bedroom.
We had parking on our property, but more often than not, our guests would have to park blocks away, and sometimes they couldn’t even find a space to park.
The results are that the neighborhoods are becoming more and more rentals. I wish I could have good things to say about landlords; many are good neighbors. Unfortunately, most aren’t. You can drive down a street and easily identify the rental properties, and for many reasons, most are in the unkempt category.
Parking stickers at first worked, but then that became a game for the renters’ friends who park and ride their bikes into campus. Not to mention, every year the cost of the neighborhood parking permits increased, and soon nasty roam towing entered the picture.
Yes, land for parking costs the same as land for buildings. Yes, it does make housing more expensive. The solution lies in a dedicated transit system to allow building farther from downtown and saving money by riding the bus. The buses deliver riders closer to the center of things, and parking in those areas is expensive anyway.
Unless the City of Asheville doesn’t care about its indigenous residents, who have lived here many years, parking requirements must be a part of any rental property’s zoning laws.
— Ed Clark
Brevard
