Coming to the Delray Beach Town Hall Lecture series this Thursday 4/24

Urban Planning Professor from UCLA, Donald Shoup, will be giving a talk on the "High Cost of Free Parking." He argues that there is a sweet spot in the pricing of parking for downtown commercial areas, money generated from which can stay in area to fund and maintain public infrastructure. This is a short video where he talks about a turnaround in Pasadena, California after the installation of parking meters and new parking structures with ground floor retail. People choosing to park in the parking garages get the first 90 minutes free, in this example.

I think that there is more to know about the unique circumstances of Pasadena, and there are likely other forces at work that have brought about the changes there. But, it is an interesting hypothesis.

Pay parking in downtown Lake Worth has been discussed as a revenue-generating budget fix in the past, and discarded before adopting it for many reasons. But, I am sure that we will eventually hear about the prospect again. I plan on attending the talk this coming Thursday. If you want to car pool, get in touch with me.