When combined with a second structure with 690 spaces, to be opened "hopefully" by Thanksgiving, the downtown area will have almost enough parking to meet the demand, if you factor in vacancies due to the economy.

The "parking deficit" is longstanding. Long-ago City Manager George Morgan recalled in the early 1970s that his first assignment when he joined the city in 1952 (as assistant to the city manager) was to "solve the downtown parking problem."

That problem "will never be solved," he predicted 20 years later.

Residents near downtown, who have had spillover parking for decades, might agree, and remain as skeptical as a "show me" Missourian.

Count us as a skeptic, as Weekly staff members have been hard hit by the parking shortage throughout the paper's 24-years of being part of the community. Many have helped subsidize the city through parking tickets.

But also count us as enthusiastic supporters of doing whatever can be done, and this is a case where the city and the Downtown Parking District -- funded through sometimes painful assessments on property owners -- are providing a great benefit.

The total cost of both structures will be about $32 million, bringing the cost-per-space to a stunning $35,476.72 -- and the city already owned the land.

Yet it appears that those involved in designing and decorating the structures are doing a fine job. Palo Alto architects Joe Bellomo, who designed the 212-space Lot R between Alma and High Streets south of University, has created an open-feeling structure, enhanced by the "Haiku on High" project that brings poetry to parking, under the direction of graphic designer Sam Smidt of Palo Alto.

Smidt and assistants have made it a community event. The 16 Haiku poets, selected in a competition from many entrants, were featured in last Friday's Weekly.

The first garage will open after the 5:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremonies today.

The 690-space Lot S/L north of University Avenue, scheduled to open later this year, was designed by Palo Alto architect Tony Carrasco and will be decorated with a bird theme by artist Sam Richardson of Oakland.

The initiative for the new garages came years ago from a committee of the Chamber of Commerce, which also embraced a significant alternative-transportation component that augments the impact of the parking structures.

There is a legitimate concern about adding parking, along lines of "if you build it, they will come" -- in single-occupant vehicles. Some feel the way to discourage use of cars is to restrict parking and traffic movements, and penalize those who park.

But there are side effects: inadequate parking in a commercial/office district strangles economic vitality and causes parking overflow into neighboring residential areas, while resulting in a doubtful level of reduction of auto use.

The city has made solid efforts to encourage alternatives, including operating a shuttle service, but more needs to be done.

Those efforts, coupled with the new garages, should bring long-sought relief and complement efforts to strengthen the retail environment in the downtown area.

Matadero Creek bypass a necessary relief

Two types of immediate relief will be felt by hundreds of south Palo Alto homeowners by the Palo Alto City Council's approval of a Matadero Creek bypass channel last week.

The second relief will be from the requirement to buy flood insurance, affecting about 450 homes in the lowland areas of south Palo Alto.

There are legitimate concerns about impact of cutting the channel through baylands, but we are satisfied the work will be closely observed by diligent baylands watchers and the impacts should be short-lived.