For those used to circling Fells Point for 20 minutes trying to find a parking space on any given evening, Baltimore City?s parking situation is a failure shared by towns throughout the region. But not for the same reason national parking expert Jeffrey Tumlin labeled Baltimore a “total failure” in the parking department, akin to Detroit.
He told a group of business owners, government planners and community members Wednesday in Towson that the city has too many parking spaces and recommends razing parking lots and replacing them with new developments. This will revive failing retail districts and force more people to the street, making the city safer, he said.
We would all like to walk streets without fear of being mugged. But we can?t even agree on where to put the Red Line. And we can?t even connect the public transportation now in operation. So how does Tumlin propose to transport the new residents who live in his parking-free utopia to and from work and to the grocery store? Where will the employees of local businesses who park in city-owned lots go? How will anyone reach the far-flung retail meccas in the city and suburbs? Roller skates?
Tumlin?s solution makes sense for an area with a solid public transportation infrastructure or one in the last throes of creating one. Baltimore is not one of those cities nor is the region one of those places ? yet. With proper planning, we can be in 10 to 20 years.
In the interim, there are less draconian ways to make the city more walkable, ease congestion and drive interest in public transportation. First, the city can end parking subsidies to city employees and discounts to companies whose employees use public lots. Making parking cheaper than it should be encourages people to drive and discourages people from carpooling and taking public transportation.
It could also replace dedicated vehicles with a flexible vehicle program like the one used by Johns Hopkins University and offer financial incentives to local employers who offer a similar program to their employees. Zipcar?s model is one that could work for Baltimore. It is a flexible vehicle company that offers members the ability to use a car for as little as an hour. Gas and insurance are included in the rate, which is lower than rental prices and a lot less than owning. By adopting a similar program, city agencies could reduce their fleets and take cars off the street.
What?s clear is that building more without simultaneously offering alternatives to driving will only create chaos.
