[Vision2020] Parking Downtown Moscow

Thu Jun 29 21:33:02 PDT 2006

Mr. Storm,

Hmmm . . . does NSA have a crystal ball the City disagrees with?  Or, is
there updated City info you are privy to that the rest of us don't have?
Or, perhaps this is just another example of the Christ Church/NSA
spinmeisters trying to pull the wool over our eyes?

The last information I have was presented by City staff on March 28, 2006
Board of Adjustment hearing.  City staff made the point that NSA *alone*
accounts for about 7% of all auto trips on Main Street:  the average daily
trip count is 4806 with NSA accounting for 332.2 of those trips.  One
educational institution *alone* accounts for 7%, which is clearly out of
proportion and a higher use than other Main St. establishments.  Also, based
on NSA's current enrollment and staffing, it requires 43 parking stalls with
an additional 11 required for the retail space.  At NSA's maximum allowable
enrollment and staffing, they will require 65 parking stalls (plus 11 for
the retail space).  ***City staff stated that NSA requires 12-34 more
parking stalls that other commercial uses of similar size.***

The above information comes from my notes of the meeting, but for those who
doubt the accuracy, here's the info from the Daily News' coverage of the
same meeting:
"A Community Development Department staff report shared at the meeting
stated NSA creates a need for 43-65 parking stalls, which is 12-34 more
stalls than other commercial uses of the same size in downtown."
(source:  "A green light for NSA; Limits placed on downtown colleges
enrollment; School must keep 160 feet of commercial frontage;" By Omie
Drawhorn, Daily News staff writer 
Published: 03-29-2006)

Yuppers . . . I do like that fact checking, and I'll add that it's vital to
consider the source of the facts  :-)

HTH,
Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
- Edmund Burke

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2006, Saundra Lund.
Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum
without the express written permission of the author.*****

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Austin Storm
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 3:25 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Parking Downtown Moscow

Indeedy:

According to the city, a more typical commercial use of the College's
building would create a parking demand of 42 parking stalls. At the city's
one-parking-space- per-five-students formula, the College would only be
required to provide 40 spaces for students at its projected full-enrollment
of 200 FTE student customers if it was located outside the Central Business
District.* 

-Austin

*This is from an NSA press release. Deep breaths now. It's easier to
fact-check when you're not hyperventilating.

On 6/29/06, Michael <metzler at moscow.com> wrote:

	Austin,

	Good points.  But hasn't there already been some conclusions on the
statistics of parking needs and NSA parking usage?  

	Michael

	When NSA is in session the UI is also back, which has a near
doubling effect on our local population as I understand.

	When I (rarely) park in the Jackson lot while NSA is in session, I
never have a problem finding a spot. Also, when I was an NSA student I
didn't have a car... 

	Just some thoughts.

	-Austin

	On 6/29/06, Art Deco < deco at moscow.com <mailto:deco at moscow.com> >
wrote: 

	Paul,

	If you want to see the effect that NSA has on the Jackson Street
parking
	lot, just visit it now when NSA is not in session and compare it to
when NSA
	is in session.

	W.
	----- Original Message ----- 
	From: "Paul Rumelhart" <godshatter at yahoo.com>
	To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
	Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 8:30 PM 
	Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Re: Parking Downtown Moscow

	> I'm one of those people who is put off going to downtown because
I'm not
	> assured of convenient parking.  If I happen to be near downtown,
then I 
	> will walk in and do business there ocassionally.  If there is
something
	> specific there that I want (such as a good sandwich from
Wheatberries),
	> then I'll go there when I'm close to downtown.  If I'm at home and
need 
	> something, I hop in the car and go anywhere but downtown.  It just
doesn't
	> even come up on my list of areas to head for.
	>
	> If the odds of finding parking at any given time were higher, I'd
go there 
	> more - even  if I had to walk farther.  Once you're downtown, it's
no big
	> deal because there are enough shops that you can easily get to
that are
	> quite nice.  Another put off is that even when you find parking,
it's 
	> either behind a big building you have to walk around or it's
paralell
	> parking on a busy street.  Sometimes you get lucky and find some
diagonal
	> parking spots.
	>
	> I can't imagine that I'm unique when it comes to this. 
	>
	> Anyway, I also welcome more data on this subject.
	>
	> Paul
	>
	> Dan Carscallen wrote:
	>
	>>Phil says:
	>>"If we determine there is a shortage of parking downtown at
certain 
	>>times, then one question is what are the consequences of that
shortage?
	>>For example, do customers go elsewhere to do business as a result?
The
	>>conventional wisdom probably says "Yes," but I'd like to see
evidence to 
	>>support the conventional wisdom. (Anecdotally, I've never gone
elsewhere
	>>to do business because I couldn't find a parking spot. The
businesses
	>>that have what I want determine where I shop, not parking. Perhaps
I'm 
	>>an exception.)"
	>>
	>>If this is the case, I'm just as much as exception as Phil. (Does
this
	>>make us exceptional?  I'd like to think so)  And if we're getting
	>>anecdotal, I've never had a problem finding a place to park
downtown, or 
	>>near enough for a short walk.  Maybe I'm still an exception . . .
	>>
	>>BUT, as Phil so eloquently states, a comprehensive study of the
	>>"problem" (real or perceived) needs to occur.  Maybe something can
be 
	>>gleaned and expanded from the study the NSA is doing.  It would be
nice
	>>to get the whole parking thing defined so people don't have that
"moving
	>>target" to keep shooting at.
	>>
	>>DC
	>>
	>>
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	-- 
	Austin Storm
	Sky Cow Books
	P.O. Box 9128 Moscow, Idaho 83843
	208.596.5752 work | 678.550.5503 fax

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--
Austin Storm
Sky Cow Books
P.O. Box 9128 Moscow, Idaho 83843
208.596.5752 work | 678.550.5503 fax 