Bloomington’s mayor wants his city to run like most other Big Ten college communities, where garages are centerpieces of the parking system.
Like Bloomington, State College, Pa., the home of Penn State University, has three public garages, the last one built in 2003. As with Bloomington, the garages have suffered through debt issues, but have been profitable in recent years, according to Charles DeBow, the city’s parking manager. The State College parking fund finished with an ending balance of $1.8 million in 2011.
What makes DeBow’s system work, he says, is pricing. Meters shoo business district employees from the street, creating space for customers who need to stop briefly to pick up an order, shop or eat lunch. If those spaces weren’t metered, Penn State students or downtown workers would fill them. In fact, DeBow is considering ending the city’s Thursday and Sunday free parking tradition because too many downtown spaces are taken up those days, hurting businesses that need the turnover.
“It’s great to have economic development in the downtown. You can have all the shops you want, that’s great. But if customers don’t have anywhere to park, they won’t survive,” DeBow said. “You have to ask yourself: Who are these spaces being filled up by? Are the people parking there employees of a law office or are they customers?”