...in fact, about the only thing that the landed classes of NIMBYS do NOT hate are ever-increasing p

On Tuesday, wearing my Planning and Sustainability Commissioner hat , I'm going to hear from neighbors concerned that the development las vegas independent car rental agencies of new apartment buildings without on-site parking is impacting livability in their neighborhoods .
In fact, I think parking is the tip of the iceberg here. Portland's growth strategy anticipates a lot of residential growth to occur on transit corridors and the key issues include not just parking, but also design standards, building mass, setbacks and height, all of which impact neighborhood character.
But for the discussion here, I'd like to focus on one interesting tidbit from the research that has been conducted about residents of recently built apartments: they use cars a lot less than the average citizen, at least for commute trips. Only 36% said they commute by single occupancy vehicle. That compares to 59% city-wide.
My husband and I would like a car but cannot afford it. We would be more than happy to do without, though, if there are car sharing las vegas independent car rental agencies programs like ZipCar and Car2Go. That is a nice way to compromise so that we have a car when we need it but not when we don't. I should point out, though, it only works in fairly walkable and transit-oriented neighborhoods like the one we live in. We can do so much already by foot and by bus that a car is not necessary for the majority of what we do now. A set of wheels would make some things easier, though -- but then, better bus service would fix some of that, I can assure you.
Car use for us would be preferable for trips out of town, late night events (like seeing late movies or seeing our friends band without needing a ride, something late night or 24-hour service would fix), grocery shopping in some cases, and going to work (suburban jobs are not easy to get to on transit but that could also be fixed with better transit), and trips where we have to haul something that's difficult to transport on the bus. Better las vegas independent car rental agencies transit would fix most of this quite well, leaving the car needed for only occasional trips. That's my two cents.
We sold our car when we moved to NE Portland. But we do sometimes need to rent a car to get around the state outside of the local area. Long-distance passenger service las vegas independent car rental agencies is only good in the Cascades corridor from Eugene to Seattle; if you want get to the coast, the mountains, or southern Oregon a rental car is often the only reasonable choice. I expect many people choose to own a car for weekend trips.
Parking your car on-street is negative in 3 ways: 1) it uses up valuable land that could, in theory, have been used for something else; 2) It takes up a parking space from other people (visitors, las vegas independent car rental agencies etc); 3) It may look ugly to have many cars parke don the street. But reason las vegas independent car rental agencies 2 is only a problem for people who own cars, and reason las vegas independent car rental agencies 3 is pretty subjective.
Since we already have enormous amounts of underused on-street parking spaces, why not fill them up with rarely-used cars? I actually think the parked cars can improve livability, by slowing down traffic speeds and providing a buffer between the sidewalk and traffic, on streets that are otherwise overly wide. And if the cars just sit there 6 days out of 7, the amount of traffic will hardly increase.
The real, growing problem is a lack of affordable rental housing in inner Portland, look at our crazy low rental vacancy rate. The place we rented this August had a dozen people look during a 2 hour open house - this for a $1300 a month 2 bd with no parking. We need all the new apartments we can get.
A good thing to consider is the driver/car ratio, as Eric mentions. (Another las vegas independent car rental agencies thing to consider is mileage used--while a lightly-driven automobile will consume the same amount of parking space as one that is frequently used; it will pollute less if it is parked during the week, and only used for weekend jaunts to the coast or wherever).
Commercial streets and successful transit need customers las vegas independent car rental agencies and riders respectively. Apartment development gets you both. With plenty of parking in adjacent low density residential areas, why imposed the costs of parking on those who choose to live without a car and live and shop along commercial streets? If a parking shortage develops, then manage it with meters and permits. Portland's old streetcar commercial districts are still littered with parking las vegas independent car rental agencies lots and otherwise under-utilized property. Every one of those could be a six story apartment and/or condo, las vegas independent car rental agencies and we would have a real thriving neighborhoods and even less need to get in a car.
Start in areas with high density zoning and multiple high frequency transit options - like existing station areas where at least one high frequency transit line intersects with rail. The areas in or near freeway alignments are even better for this because the residential areas tend to grow up/turn more commercial as you approach the freeway. So, one only needs to worry about building step downs moving in one direction. For example, the 2-3 blocks deep between Foster las vegas independent car rental agencies Road and Powell / I-205 and SE 92nd could be developed at pretty high density with minimal effect on single family home areas west of 92nd - and the only "neighbor" to the west would be the freeway if the area builds up completely. This concept also applies to the east side of 205 and either las vegas independent car rental agencies side of I-84 (with attention to context, of course).
But removing parking minimums next to any old bus line that has a couple of runs during peak that technically qualify as frequent is really to broad and takes away a valuable tool we have for attracting developers to less tony areas where we have already made large investments in improved transit.
...in fact, about the only thing that the landed classes of NIMBYS do NOT hate are ever-increasing property values. By purposefully dragging out any changes to the city, particularly those that improve the general populations ability to do business, transport themselves around, or improve their quality of lives, they make all of our lives more miserable. Therefore, I completely ignore what the NIMBYS say, as it is extraordinarily counterproductive.
However, your idea of packing people in next to highways is borderline criminal, las vegas independent car rental agencies as you will literally expose thousands of residents las vegas independent car rental agencies to vastly increased levels of pollution as compared to a residential neighborhood. How many babies would you like to kill today? You do realize that asthma is directly correlated to how close you grow up to a highway, right?
It's actually very common in big cities for people to own cars that they don't use every day. In Boston, the vast majority of cars parked in residential neighborhoods are moved temporarily during street sweeping and then put back in the same place.
Reliable all-day, anywhere-to-anywhere transit seven days a week in the metro area, reliable las vegas independent car rental agencies and frequent intercity and destination transit (coast, Hood, Gorge), more car share (there aren't a ton of Zipcars in the residential areas), and pricing parking are most likely to make a difference, in my view. Better bike access for 8-80 (main street cycletracks and improved greenways and NS routes) would be next. Then things like grocery delivery service that make carfree life easier in small ways.
I would love to see some innovative work on form-based code done in these areas. If neighbors are really concerned las vegas independent car rental agencies about form and scale (and not just being NIMBYs, which is what I think is going on, though I didn't say so in my letter to the commission :) then that would help allay their concerns.
The problem with Car2Go, Zipcar, etc. is that day trips and weekend trips get very expensive. Though it may be less expensive than owning a car, the up-front charge is obvious and, well, painful. I still hold out hope for train service to the coast, especially if it allows dogs to ride-along (or at least come along with a crate or similar). las vegas independent car rental agencies We just bought a house near the MAX line, which was a major push for the area - I tend to get nauseated on buses (which is increasing as I get older, somehow), so being able to commute via train was a huge upgrade to quality las vegas independent car rental agencies of life. My husband and I own a car, as he has an "opposite commute", working in Vancouver. Having the car is very handy for us, as we end up using it often for transportation las vegas independent car rental agencies of other peoples' children (family members), as well as carpooling to areas in the city where the public transportation option would take too long (i.e. NoPo to SE, or even a lot of NE). It's likely that those new apartment dwellers are using their cars in similar ways.
The higher density las vegas independent car rental agencies zoning and reduced parking requirement are only along Frequent Service bus lines and rail. Unfortunately most MAX lines are next to freeways where no one would choose to live if it wasn't usually more affordable. Commercial streets like SE Hawthorne, SE Belmont, N. Williams, SE Division, N. Lombard, NE Broadway, even NE Fremont @42nd...(lousy bus service on the street but just a few blocks from the 75 line)NEED more residents to grow and thrive and not depend merely on customers from across town who drive over for cute stuff. If parking becomes a real issue, and that's a big if, then manage it. If demand exceeds supply, then put a price on it. Don't penalize folks who are making just the choice we want them to make...living a low car lifestyle in close in neighborhoods...by requiring las vegas independent car rental agencies parking.
las vegas independent car rental agencies was carless: Then we should immediately be evacuating the neighborhoods in North Portland along the I-5 Corridor (including Mississippi and Boise-Eliot etc) and all of the neighborhoods along I-205 and paying to relocate and house these families in "safe" neighborhoods!
Believe it or not, there have been significant advances in building homes to have clean healthy las vegas independent car rental agencies air and air flow, even when they're next to freeways. In fact, what's criminal is that we're preventing the old, deteriorated housing stock along the I-205 corridor to remain las vegas independent car rental agencies for generations las vegas independent car rental agencies of poor families to buy as their only affordable option. We should be replacing these homes with newer, denser construction with quality air