COMMENT OF THE DAY: RICE VILLAGE PARKING METER PUSHBACK PUSHBACK 
“Don’t understand the hostility about parking meters. Visited the Briar Shoppe recently, easily found a spot to park, and it cost me a buck. One (1) dollar ($). Took a credit card, no change needed. There’s something else going on here.” [Gisgo, commenting on The Rice Village Plans To Remake Amherst St., Lure Shoppers Into an Alley] Photo of Rice Village parking meters: Matthew Landry
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Happy you have money to burn, Bro. I alas, do not.
Jonathan- there’s a free parking garage if you can’t burn a dollar.
They’re great when the lot is full. But last night I went to dinner at a fine Village restaurant and had to pay $3 to park in a lot that was empty save one other car. No need to pay for parking there; beyond that I’m spending $200 on dinner and you’re going to nick me for $3 for parking? No thanks, bro.
Folks who can’t deal with paying for parking are going to be unhappy with Houston’s future (at least until everyone’s using autonomous vehicles). This is a natural economic consequence of densification and prosperity, and there’s nothing wrong with it.
Can they tow you from private property if you don’t pay the meter?
To me it’s not the money, to me it’s the deep personal insult to myself and my ancestors to make me pay for parking in addition to buying your useless crap.
Talk about entitlement! Free parking is the bane of an urban experience. Get out and walk, you lazy gits!
I find myself avoiding the Rice Village these days …. if they want my business they will just have to make parking freely available. As of the last few years it has become an ever increasing nightmare and there are plenty of other areas to shop
It’s amazing how few people seem to realize that free parking isn’t free.
Since our fair city requires every development (outside the CBD) to provide its own parking, the cost of dedicating that portion of the land to car storage is born by the business(es) paying the lease(s). This is a de facto subsidy to drivers at the expense of people who walk, bike, rideshare or take public transport. It’s worse, actually, since the necessity of dedicating 1/2 to 3/4 of the land area to parking means people who don’t drive have to travel much further than they would in a denser environment, meaning more walking time or higher Uber charges.
@Bernard no
As Bill Clinton used to say: “I feel your pain…about paying for parking.” As a long-time Inner Loop Houstonian, free parking while patronizing a business (or set of businesses) is just de rigeur for our town. But, pockets are slowly morphing to charging for parking as these pockets get denser. Is this a mindshift for many? Yes. Will it turn off some? Yes.
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Would I personally pay for parking to shop? No, since Amazon can largely ship anything and other retailers are still within easy driving reach (Meyerland, Galleria, etc).
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I avoid Rice Village simply because of two things: (1) few of those shops appeal to me and (2) the clusterflock of traffic makes me want to yell “Serenity Now!”
What they really need to do is set up State Legislation for Garage Districts: similar to MUDs and LIDs but to fund public parking garages instead of utilities or levees. Then rather than eliminating parking requirements from local codes, they can allow businesses to buy in to GDs, and claim that parking to meet their code requirements. Basically it could work just like it does for atormwater detention requirements.
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As far as paying for parking, part of me agrees with Angostura. Businesses in the City should pay for customers parking if suburban businesses have to. Fair is fair. (The Garage Districts would make that work easily). Another part of me says, I’d rather pay for parking than have businesses getting all feudal about it. If you won’t just let me park my car for free, leave it, and enjoy multiple shops, then let me pay to do that. Don’t be a parkig nazi and claim a bunch of spaces that people can only use while shopping at your store!
i only ever went to rice village to eat. i dont see a point in paying for parking to eat.
they are shooting themselves in the foot with this. there are too many good places to go that are free parking and just as close.
It’s not about the money, it’s about them putting parking meters on private property
@ZAW – Making the downtown places pay because suburban does only works if you pro-rate it based on cost per square footage. One parking space worth of land in Downtown is worth a heck of a lot more than it is in suburbia. And, as Angostura pointed out (bitterly? :p) the cost is borne by the retailer that can’t use that space for their store/restaurant.
I don’t go to the Village, so I don’t know, but are the rooftop and garage spaces free? (In terms of parking economics, that’s the way you should do it, as far as price signaling to the customer is concerned.) If they are free and not restricted to customers of certain stores, then no one has anything to complain about.
@angostura. Sure, that’s like less than 2% of transit trips. And those are mostly taken on public transit that’s heavily subsidized. I don’t mind paying but not when the lot is completely empty. That parking isn’t free; it’s included in the cost of goods sold by the business.
What’s wrong with meters on private property? I’m pretty sure those meters were placed by the folks who own that private property, and not by the City or any other government entity. The property owners can also have you towed if you violate the parking terms.
It was a great idea and it’s working. They changed the pay structure at the garage to be free for shorter times while making the outside pay. That way those circling for free parking are in the garage instead of on the streets and store fronts.
This change in the parking structure tells me that Rice Village is expecting to emphasize dining/entertainment over retail in the future. Retail customers hate paid and/or inconvenient parking. They’ll usually just shop elsewhere or order online.
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By contrast, those paying for an “experience” are more likely to tolerate paid parking.
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I’m not wild about paid parking in Rice Village. It’s not just about the nominal cost – it’s having to rush back to feed the meter, while you were in the middle of shopping or a nice meal, or risk getting towed. The message to consumers is that the retailer doesn’t consider their customer’s stress-free, unhurried shopping experience worth a measly $1-2 (actually, even less, assuming that a portion of these gross profits over the cost of parking enforcement). Not a welcoming feeling at all.
Well I just got a 70$ parking ticket for parking on the street where it used to be legal