HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-18-18 Public Comment - D. Kack - Parking and TransportationFrom:dwkack@aol.com
To:Agenda
Cc:Ed Meece; Brit Fontenot; Andrea Surratt
Subject:[SENDER UNVERIFIED]Parking & Transportation
Date:Tuesday, December 18, 2018 8:08:17 AM
Mayor Andrus & Commissioners:
I thank you for allowing me the time last night at the end of a long meeting to discuss
my perspective on parking. As I said last night, my biggest concern is that we often
uncouple the discussion of parking from the discussion of transportation. To put it
another way, I don't know of anyone who says "I want to park downtown." What people
are likely to say is "I want to go downtown" (or to the mall, to MSU, etc.). The reality is
that we are in a car/vehicle/auto based country and culture. So, the way we typically
"go" somewhere is by getting in our vehicle and driving there (often by ourselves).
Then, when we get where we want to go, we need to park our car.
Further, for most of us, our car is parked/stored about 23 hours out of the day. Yes, for
most of us, if we had an hour meter in our car, it would show about one hour of use
(when the car is on/moving) per day. While there was discussion last night about data
on occupancy rates, etc., Commissioner Krauss asked one of the better questions,
which was, "What kind of a City do we want to be when we grow up?" Do we want to
be an auto-centric city, such as Los Angeles, or do we want to be a multi-modal city?
The input to the Community Plan seems to indicate that people want to have Bozeman
be a multi-modal city.
You, the Commissioners, and the City Staff are to commended for your discussions
regarding the topic of parking. I just want to make sure that when parking is discussed,
it is discussed in terms of it being "hand in glove" with transportation. Decisions made
regarding parking will impact transportation, and vice versa. In discussion parking, I
shared the following article https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/10/22/a-free-
market-for-parking?
utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklywrap&utm_content=102218a-
free-market-for-parking which discusses how parking may be paid for/built, previously
with a few staff. I believe it parallels the discussion last night regarding public-private
partnerships, or other options to pay for parking, if the decision is made to build/create
more parking.
I hope that the article and my small contribution to the discussion helps you in your
decision process. Thank you all for your time, and for your service to your community.
--David Kack
1107 Pinnacle Star Street, Bozeman