Last week, the Evansville Courier & Press published an article dealing with downtown parking for the new arena...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/apr/17/no-headline---17a0xarenaparking/
As most people in Evansville know, there really isn't that much parking downtown. However, I'm going say something that is in the far minority around here but I truly believe it. Lack of parking is a GOOD thing, and I will tell you why.
I am a firm believer in the idea of Smart Growth. For those of you who do not know what Smart Growth policies are, here is a good website: http://www.smartgrowth.org/
Basically, I believe that...
1. You build up not out.
2. You build walkable communities that minimize if not eliminate the need for the automobile and encourage visitors to patronize your downtown businesses.
3. You promote mass transit in order to minimize city costs and encourage efficiency.
4. You build environmentally friendly city blocks that are pleasing to the eye.
5. You organize your development into categories such as Central Business District, Entertainment District, and Residential Housing District to maximize resources and maintain consistent neighborhood marketing to tourists.
Given all of that, there are many examples of cities that are using sports venues to build their Smart Growth communities around. Here are a few...
San Francisco
When I visited San Francisco in 2007, I toured AT&T Park. If you ever go to AT&T Park you will notice that there are zero parking lots next to it minus one (Seawall Lot 337 which is scheduled to be developed). The reason being is that they are promoting mass transit (BART) with a neighborhood feel like the old Ebbets Field, the old Sportsman's Park, and the current Wrigley Field.
Kansas City
If you ever get the chance to go to KC DO IT! And if you do, make sure you stop by the Sprint Center. The greatest thing that KC did with the Sprint Center (besides pick an awesome design) is that they didn't stop with just the arena. After construction of the Sprint Center, KC partnered with the Cordish Company to build the Power & Light District. http://www.powerandlightdistrict.com This keeps fans downtown even after the games.
New York City
How many parking lots or parking garages can you name within walking distance of Madison Square Garden? I can't name one single one and I doubt many of you can either. Even with little to no parking, Madison Square Garden doesn't skip a beat. It has become so successful that it is nicknamed, " The World's Most Famous Arena." You can thank the New York subways for that. Take the subway to a Knicks game and you'll never want to mess with your car again!
Although most cities have accepted many Smart Growth principles, there have been some cities that haven't always followed Smart Growth principles. The first city that comes to mind is Houston, Texas. This is what downtown Houston looked like in the late 60's/early 70's...
Luckily, Houston has developed just about all of those empty parking lots that you see with an arena, a ballpark, an environmental park, and several high rise buildings. But, is THAT what we want Evansville to be? Do we really want downtown to be nothing but parking lots with out of control weeds? Do we really want to spend millions, if not billions, on parking garages? I don't believe we do.
The plan for the downtown arena is simple. We must make the arena a part of a walkable, environmentally friendly district, where fans are encouraged to walk up and down Main Street after the game. They do it in Kansas City with the Power & Light District, they do it in Louisville with 4th Street Live, they do it in Memphis with Beale Street, and we should do here in Evansville with Main Street. No question about it.
Although that should be the main plan going forward, the truth is, there are still going to be several handicap and elderly citizens who will find the downtown arena to be too big of a hassle to mess with and will decide against the trip completely. We must come up with a plan for these residents that will make them happy while not compromising our Smart Growth goals. How can we do this?
This problem is very simple to solve as well. Most elderly and handicap fans have said they have no problem with the Roberts Stadium parking lot. It is easy for them to get in, and it is easy for them to get out without too many problems. We need to maintain this advantage for these fans.
The great thing about Roberts Stadium is that there is plenty of room for everyone to win. Those who want an indoor natatorium have plenty of space to build one with an outdoor pool, and an indoor water park resort next to Hartke Pool. Those who want a botanical garden have plenty of room to replant the back lot and build their indoor facility next to Roberts Stadium which would form a buffer between the city and Wesselman Park wildlife . There's even room to rewater the Old Wabash & Erie Canal. And then Roberts Stadium would be left to function as a mid-sized arena after its floor would be raised back up.
To accomplish this, we'd have to design a 15-20 year master plan and establish individual committees in charge of completing these projects by identifying proper sources of funding. Even if all of those projects came to fruition, we would still have a fairly large parking lot which would be good for several reasons. It would leave plenty of space for parking for all of these attractions, it would be large enough to house FEMA trailers and mobile command centers, and it would be large enough to handle Roberts Stadium parking while leaving some space for outdoor booths such as those at the Home Show.
If Roberts Stadium is scaled down to a mid-sized arena which I am advocating for and many of you are supporting, there will be nights when Roberts Stadium is closed but the new arena is overflowing with fans or concert goers. This creates yet another advantage for our Roberts Stadium parking lot.
For those who don't want to mess with parking downtown but do not want to go to a regular bus stop and cannot take light rail because our local government is scared to death of the change mass transit would bring, there needs to be a shuttle running between the new arena and the Roberts Stadium parking lot. Although it was a good idea to build the new arena downtown, the city must still respect those who prefer to park at Roberts Stadium on game days which they have been doing for years and years and years.
What would be the advantages to this proposal?....
1. It would raise ticket sales at the new arena by eliminating the parking woes of elderly and handicap citizens as well those who don't want to mess with parking downtown but want to enjoy downtown.
2. It would create a few more jobs such as bus/shuttle drivers, security officers, and parking lot directors.
3. It would keep a little bit of business for Kipplee's Stadium Inn intact by encouraging a few fans to continue passing by it on game day.
4. It would relieve downtown traffic.
5. It could be profitable for both the new arena and Roberts Stadium as well as METS.
6. It would promote mass transit.
7. It would help those on the east side of town who don't have a vehicle get to the new arena.
8. It would be cheaper than buying new downtown lots for parking.
9. The parking rate would/should be cheaper than downtown parking merchant's rates.
10. For tourists, it would give them a nice and affordable ride around town.
11. It would give negligent fans more time to sober up before getting behind the wheel and would also allow for law enforcement and/or bus drivers to detect more DUIs as the fans pass by them in the parking lot on the way to their vehicle.
Using a stadium's (in this case arena) parking lot as a bus stop is nothing new. In fact, while at the University of Kentucky, I took the bus from the parking lot of Commonwealth Stadium to all of my classes on the other side of campus during the first two years of my college years. It's a great program and I believe it will work here as well.
To make this a win-win for everyone, we could charge $3-$6 with...
- $1-$2 going to METS
- $1-$2 going to the new arena
- $1-$2 going to Roberts Stadium
There's also two ways to collect the revenue...
- Collect the money directly as each person gets on the bus/shuttle
- Keep the EXISTING parking fee that is attached to all ticket sales
To make this work for everyone, we must have shuttles that run late into the night. This allows for fans who missed the shuttle to catch another one, fans to stay downtown on Main Street after the games and still get a ride back to Roberts Stadium, and for fans who stay after the games to watch the radio shows and press conferences to still have a reliable form of transportation.
If everyone is willing to work together for mutual benefit of the entire community, we CAN make this work. Building up the new arena, promoting METS, and keeping Roberts Stadium- We ALL can win!
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