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The Chicago Park District has announced it will begin charging $1 for parking along the lake in the fall, ending free lakefront parking. Along with the charges being applied to the 4,400 once free parking spots, 537 metered spots will see fees double or quadruple according to the Tribune.
Outdoor lovers who drive to Foster, Montrose, 31st Street, 63rd Street, Rainbow and South Shore beaches, just to name a few, will have to pay the new price in the future. The new fees would bring in an estimated $700,000 to the city in its first year, according to the Chicago Park District, and would save jobs and services from being cut.
Drivers would use new "pay and display" devices with a credit card or cash and put the receipt in their windshields. If time expires, police can still give out a $50 parking fine according to park and city revenue officials.
As part of a deal approved on Wednesday, the Park District will keep money generated from the new meters for three years. Officials said the fees could generate $1.5 million a year after covering start-up expenses. Standard Parking, a parking management company which will oversee close to 5,700 spots, will see upwards of $86,000 per year.
Photo by isawthisthing
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More park, less parking, please! These 4,400 parking spaces take up enough space to fill more than 25 football fields. The park district is doing the right thing in worrying more about using its land to provide great parks rather than free parking. Maybe after people start taking transit more to the park the Park District will realize they don't need so much parking and they'll convert some of that land back into park space. I know at Belmont Harbor I have to walk across a parking lot to get to the lake, and most of the spaces are always empty -- this is not how we should be utilizing this public park land. Prime lakefront park space should not be used to store people's cars for free. And if people don't want to pay for the parking, they don't have to -- just don't drive to the park.
The thrust of the article is that prime lakefront park space isn't going to be used to store people's cars for free anymore, so I don't know what that complaint is about. As for the rest of the comment, I think there should be enough space in this city of 3 million different opinions for many different lifestyle choices, including those that involve cars. If people don't want to walk across a parking lot at Belmont Harbor, they don't have to -- just go to a different park.
I totally agree there should be room for all different people and cars should be accommodated. And cars still will be accommodated for a reasonable and below-market rate of $1/hr., so I don't know what you're complaining about.
To the other negative commenters, you can still haul your kids and all your stuff to the lake in your car! Nobody is telling you you can't drive. But charging a small fee will help control demand so we won't need so much parking and to help cover the costs of providing the parking facilities you enjoy. You also forget that not everybody who drives there is hauling stuff like you or lives far away. Many people are within walking distance or could take the bus as a reasonable option, but they choose to drive. Charging a fee will encourage people who have other travel options to use them. There is limited space in this city, and we have to use it wisely. Expecting free parking for everyone who wants it is an undue burden on the Park District. Free parking is not a god-given right, just like free ice cream is also not a god-given right, even though many of us might want it to be.
I'm simply defending a wise decision by the Park District, considering so far most of the press has pointed out the negative impact but not the positive.
I'm simply defending a wise decision by the Park District
That's not what you did in the first post, since it consisted of a childish rant against park land being used for parking.
Nobody here is complaining that it's going to cost to park on park district property now.
You've convinced me -- next time I want to go to the beach for the day with my 2 kids we'll haul our cooler, chairs, towels, and sand toys on the bus, sounds like fun.
Same here...only I'll have to take all the beach accoutrements in my car to the parking lot, then walk two blocks from the parking lot to the green line, then get off and take a bus or taxi to the beach. Woo hoo!
It's a $1...that is a pitance compared to all metered city parking and all Loop/Boul Mich parking garages. I'm actually surprised to learn it was free before this.
Call me crazy/socialist/whatever. But Marshall Field helped bring about the idea for free and unfettered access to the lakefront for all of Chicago's citizens. And over the decades, what a great idea it was.
I don't like the idea of metered parking at every beach or lakefront property. Some places I can see it. But not every beach or lakefront park. It just doesn't smell right, nor do I think we should limit access to simply those than who can afford it.
Also, sure, that say it's $1/hr now, but does anyone really think it'll be that rate before very long? Or that Daley won't sell it at a below market rate to some outsourced private firm that won't charge much more?
I'd really like to know: Will these spots have any regulations like other meters in the city, such as:
1) Two hour maximums: Will people be forced to return to the car after two hours to add money again?
2) Will the same rules apply as other meters, where you technically can't keep feeding a meter for more than the time permitted - where you actually have to move your car?
3) When will this city start taxing the very air we breathe?