PT BLOG


their building will be with or without a certain number of parking space.


Rumors of My Death Have Been…. (Posted Dec. 14) Mark Twain wrote that “Rumors of


his death had been greatly exaggerat- ed.”Well it appears that rumors of the demise of the parking deal in Pitts- burgh may have been premature. Alan Lazowski has made a presen-


tation to the city that sweetens the deal and gives more flexibility to the process. Read about it here. I think Laz’s Pittsburgh Parking Partners may be smart in pressing this deal. The city council has gotten itself


into a problem with the debt it has on hand, and with the city’s pension plan. As one councilperson said in the article “Councilman Patrick Dowd said the idea is “far from perfect ... but is the only starting point we have.” They also have a time constraint.


PPP can move quickly and bail out the city. Let’s keep an eye on this one.


Ka-Ching (Posted Dec. 14) Finally, a mixed use facility that


really rings a bell. A casino in Mary- land is going to have a “pre” opening, by putting 2,000 slot machines in the complexes’ garage a year before the casino itself opens. Read about it here. Let me parse all this for you. The


casino naturally wants to get cash rolling in as soon as possible, so they can offset their huge investment in con- struction and the like.The state ofMary- land wants the taxmoney to start rolling as soon as possible. It’s a win win. Of course there will be a ‘structure’


within the parking structure so people won’t be sitting in empty parking spaces chucking quarters into the machine (do you still put cash in the machines, or do you use a credit card?) Parking structures can be erected


much faster than a traditional casino building with all the gee gaws that are included. Fromthe casino’s point of view this also begins a branding and training program. The casino’s brand will be set in people’sminds, plus folks will already begin their routine of coming to the casino even before the formal opening. Are there other temporary uses for


the bottom floors of garages? Banking (Drive thru), Outlet Stores, why not a restaurant or two. How about small replicas of the new stores to come when the mall is completed. I can imagine the Gap, Barnes and Noble,Apple, and oth- er stores having small shops that per- haps sell their products at a discount, to get people interested in the complex. When the mall opens, they move their merchandise to the permanent store and off they go.


I Still Don’t Understand (Posted Dec. 1) Cities in the snow belt are activat-


ing their parking bans for winter. In Chicago they towed 215 cars on the first day of the ban. You can read all about it here. Here’s my annual question:Where


do people put the cars for the winter? Particularly in areas where there is a scarcity of parking. People complain, gripe, and blog about parking and the lack thereof, but when the snow flies, so, it seems, do the cars. I know that some people have


“winter cars” that they drive after Thanksgiving and put their fine wheels away but they still need to park those beaters somewhere. Do other spaces in garages and driveways magically appear when the temperature drops below freezing? The article about Chicago says that the law affects 107 miles of street. By my computation, that is about 25,000 spaces. Where do all those cars go? Any answers out there?


British Media Are Bad News for Parking (Posted Nov. 30) The story is this.A woman in South


Wales, UK, spent an hour talking a potential suicide off a bridge. She returned to her car and found a ticket on it. She told the parking company what had happened and included a let- ter from the local police commending her on her bravery. The company first refused to rescind the $100 fine, but later acquiesced and forgave the ticket. Oh, please – don’t you idiots know


that the press is lying in wait for you to do something bonehead like this. Doesn’t anyone there even look at requests to void parking tickets before you deny them?


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This is a non-story.After someone with


an IQ above room temperature at the park- ing company got the message, the ticket was rescinded. Just think – the parking company could


have been a hero. The headline on The Sun newspaper story read “Parking Ticket for Suicide Hero Mum.” It could have read: “Parking Company Gives Hero a Year’s Free Parking.” Those of us in the parking business


have no clue. Continued on Page 48 JANUARY 2011 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com 47


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