January 28, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Empty spaces plague $25 million parking garages

by Bill D'Agostino

Despite a publicity campaign that included elaborate opening ceremonies, contests and full-page ads in newspapers, the city's two new, expensive garages are half empty.

Apparently, downtown shoppers and employees aren't fully utilizing the two new garages that cost the city $25 million to build.

In a retail sector as heavily trafficked as Palo Alto's, it's a bit murky as to why the new garages aren't being fully used. The city blames it on the economy, while some shoppers say poor signage and publicity have left them in the dark about the new garages.

Both anecdotal evidence, and the city's own figures, suggest the lots are not being employed to their full potential. The two lots -- one located at Florence Street, between University and Lytton avenues; the other between High and Alma streets, near University Avenue -- have 900 total spaces, but only 450 of them are being used on average during the peak lunchtime hours (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), according to a recently completed city survey.

The top levels of both new garages were entirely empty last week, and ground-floor spots were common.

During non-lunchtime hours, the new downtown garages were only one-quarter full, the city also discovered. All downtown garages were surveyed three times a day for three days, from Jan. 15 to Jan. 17.

Traffic Engineer Ashok Aggarwal, who organized the survey, blames the sluggish economy for the garages' relative bareness. "It'll be different when the economy picks up," he said.

It's unclear when that might begin to happen. The commercial vacancy rate for downtown was 6.1 percent in October, 2003 -- only slightly down from a year earlier, when it was 6.6 percent.

Some downtown drivers didn't know where to find the garages during lunchtime last week.

Katie Behroozi, a second-year business student at Stanford, only had a "vague idea" of where the new garages were actually located.

"There should be signs" on the sidewalks of University Avenue to notify drivers of the various lots near downtown, like there are in San Francisco, suggested Liz Givens, her friend and fellow student.

"Good idea," Behroozi said brightly.

Business owners are also in the dark about the availability of permits for their employees. Lisa Cone, the manager at Congdon & Crome, was one of many store owners who was surprised to learn there are yearly permits available, with no waiting list, for the parking garage on Florence Street.

"I thought the waiting list was huge," Cone said, as she considered purchasing one.

Plus, it's a hefty cost that many who work downtown can't afford: $325 a year, or $105 for a quarter-year.

Today, there are 450 people on the waitlist for all of the city's permitted spots.

Because of the results of the recent survey, the city is releasing 500 new permits for this quarter, although Aggarwal warned that that didn't mean the 450-person waiting list is going to disappear.

For instance, 180 people are on the list hoping to get a spot under City Hall, but the city only has 80 spots this quarter. Meanwhile, there are more than 270 permitted spots open in the new garage on Florence, but nobody waiting for those slots.

When people put themselves on the waitlist for one lot, the city offers them spots in any open lot, but are usually turned down, Aggarwal said.

"People have a preference about where they want to park," he added. "People don't like to walk," Cone said.

Local store managers reported that while the new garages have been an improvement, some customers are still grumbling about the downtown parking situation.

"The people that complain about parking will always complain about parking because they want parking in front of their store," Cone said.

If the new garages do not become more popular, the city will need to "work a bit harder to get the message out" to both customers and employees, Mayor Bern Beecham said.

"I think that it probably takes time for people to break habits," Beecham said, even as he acknowledged the new garages are being "underutilized."

Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com .

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