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Comment by jrells | Hacker News Reader

> Other research suggests that cyclists may actually spend more than drivers at some kinds of businesses because it's easier for them to pop in often and unplanned.

This is probably due to a shortage of parking spots.

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It's impossible to have 'enough' parking spots. Induced demand shows that cars, like goldfish, always grow to fill the space they're given. It's politically difficult process, but just refusing to try to solve this problem (which leads to more New Urbanism-friendly locations) is often the right solution.

It is possible to have enough parking spots. It is impossible to have enough free parking spots.

A counterexample: Las Vegas. All the casinos on the Strip have big parking garages that are free and don't fill up.

Perhaps it's possible only when the margins of a business are as spectacularly high as those of Vegas casinos, so that the parking facility as a loss leader is still net profitable overall. There's also the invisible hand of capitalism, as casinos compete in the market of convenience: a casino without such a facility will lose market share to those that do.

> Perhaps it's possible only when the margins of a business are as spectacularly high as those of Vegas casinos, so that the parking facility as a loss leader is still net profitable overall. There's also the invisible hand of capitalism, as casinos compete in the market of convenience: a casino without such a facility will lose market share to those that do.

Or land is so cheap because you're in the middle of nowhere.

That holds when parking is free.

I've heard this theory applied to traffic, but not parking.

Because no, it isn't impossible. I've never had a problem finding parking when there's a parking garage nearby. E.g. 5th and mission. Just go to the top open floor, and there's always several spaces waiting for you.

It's just street parking that is difficult. Which makes sense because if you think about it, streets don't provide much parking. Maybe 1 car per shop.

Street parking is difficult to find because it cost less to park on the street, so people cruise around for spots instead of heading to a parking deck.

I just heard a Marketplace segment on this [1] where they talk about on-demand adjustable pricing. Very interesting.

[1] http://www.marketplace.org/topics/economy/tricky-practice-pr...

The Parking Is Hell Freakonomics episode is pretty good. In it they estimate that there are something like 800 million parking spaces in the country and recounted a study by Donald Shoup that estimates that up to 30% of traffic in cities are people cruising looking for street parking.

Basically, we don't have a real market for parking in most cities, so people will keep their car parked on the street forever instead of using market forces to induce turnover which is better for the city(revenue) and the nearby businesses(more customers).

[1] - http://freakonomics.com/2013/03/13/parking-is-hell-a-new-fre... [2] - http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/CruisingForParkingAccess.pdf

>> "This is probably due to a shortage of parking spots."

Yes, that's the point. This is called modal shift and it is how you incentivize people to stop driving.

Wouldn't providing superior alternatives be a better way to incentivize people to stop driving? This seems like encouraging people to eat healthy by hitting them with a baseball bat every time they look at McDonalds.

Actually it's more like encouraging people to eat healthy by making it take 5x as long to buy anything at McDonald's.

Roads don't support an infinite density of traffic. You can build all the parking you want in SOMA, but driving there will remain soul crushing.

and much more weather dependent.

As long as the businesses if the affected area do not mind the change I see little reason to not do it.

Vancouver in the winter is rainy and cold, but a refusal to cater to motorists (most of whom are from the suburbs anyway) hasn't negatively impacted businesses, and if anything has positively impacted them

Similarly Edinburgh - which is pretty damp, chilly and dark over the winter has had quite a few bars and restaurants invest in outside seating areas in tents on the street - particularly on George Street (where I work).

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