Hard to Creep the Brooklyn Streets
So we all know that when you sell a finite good at a price that’s too low (or give it away) you can end up with shortages, often with the visible result of people’s waiting in line. But I never would have imagined this:
No Vacancy (PDF download), a new study by Transportation Alternatives, finds that nearly half of all of the vehicles clogging the vital shopping avenues of Park Slope are occupied by drivers who are simply looking for a parking space….
White says “When one in two cars is simply circling the block in search of parking, the curb is being mismanaged. This study shows that Brooklynites are suffereing from needless traffic and dangerous illegal parking that could be easily eliminated through inexpensive improvements like market-priced Muni-Meters and residential parking permits.”
Free street parking seems to be the third rail of urban American politics. In my hometown, an entire trolley project had to be delayed because the city council defended one block’s right to park illegally. But you can’t combine all the car-independent benefits of city life with the car-friendliness of the suburbs. Pick one.