Parking Out of Control

The article in this morning's Buffalo News reminded me of one of my biggest pet peeves. Parking. The amount of money being charged to park in downtown Buffalo is outrageous. During this week's World Junior tournament, parking has been seen as high as $60. While that might be acceptable in a big city with world-class public transportation, it just doesn't wash in Buffalo. It's not like you can get to Elmwood on the rapid transit, or fly out to the burbs on a train. This is still by and large a walking city. Meanwhile a handful of land barons control most of the parking lots in and around the city and at least one prominent Western New Yorker built his empire by buying up lots in the Entertainment District. 

It's time the City of Buffalo made parking on the street completely free. It would put these greedy Kaiser's out of business quickly and might actually give people a reason to spend an afternoon downtown. It might actually encourage businesses to open downtown, because their employees would no longer have to pay thousands per year on parking fees. And what kind of impression does this leave on visitors? We talk about making Buffalo a tourist destination, but we pile hundreds of dollars in Parking fees with little return on investment. So I say, drop the parking fees and take the demand out of supply and demand.

Of course that would also wreck the city's main business too. Parking violations. Anyone whose ever parked downtown knows that Meter Maids are lurking around waiting to flag your vehicle the second your time expires. And don't you dare park on the wrong side of the street at 4 pm on a Sunday, the Meter Maids will be there skulking for violators.

There's something wrong with the parking system, and it's not going away with the end of the World Juniors. Attend a concert, Sabres game, play, or head to Chippewa or Elmwood on a Friday night and you'll see it again and again. It's legalized price-gouging and the leaching needs to end. Tell me what you think in the comments section below. The Buffalo News has more here.