Georgetown Parking Myths: The Never-Ending Story
By • June 20, 2021 One Comment 922
The Georgetowner’s June 16 article — “Busting Myths About Georgetown Parking” — generated numerous calls and responses from the residents of Georgetown. Concerns about parking in D.C.’s oldest neighborhood are almost as old as the town itself. The goal is to get the facts and break down the issues in a clearer fashion.
Please send The Georgetowner (editorial@georgetowner.com) your comments and suggestions so that we can share them with the community in our July 14 print issue. The primary objective is to find the best answer for the greater good in the Georgetown community. This is for the residents who live here and for the shop owners to be able to employ retail and restaurant help.
The following are some comments that The Georgetowner received from the community.
Response to Myth #1 — We need more facts. Of the 7,000 spaces, what percentage involve a residential parking permit? How many commuting employees and business owners are there in Georgetown? Where are the 3,200 paid parking lot spaces located? Of the available 1,100 metered parking spots, is this before or after the streateries and sidewalk expansion? Of the 4,041 residential parking spaces, how many residents have registered cars to park in Georgetown? Here’s a link to the BID’s parking locations.
Response to Myth #2 — Let’s not confuse the streatery project with the expanded sidewalk project. These are two distinct projects with different results and goals. Georgetown’s residents don’t object to streateries. They do object to sidewalk expansion that removes all possible parking spaces on Wisconsin Avenue, especially without any provisions for emergency vehicles.
Response to Myth #3 — Comparisons of Georgetown to the Wharf are not answering the questions for parking in Georgetown. The two are vastly different geographically — and historically.
Response to Myth #4 — We need more facts on how many individuals commute to Georgetown versus how many residents in Georgetown have vehicles registered in Zone 2. How many students commute to Georgetown?
Response to Myth #5 — While the residents recognize the need for a vibrant business community, they also want a fair solution and to be able to park near their homes.
Of course BID tried to put the best face possible on Georgetown parking, both to tranquilize residents and not to scare off out-of-neighborhood shoppers. However, notwithstanding the thousands of commercial garage parking spaces cited, parking will still be a problem so long as high garage rates (and apparently neither the city nor BID has had much luck securing discounts) encourage out-of-neighborhood shoppers to seek cheaper metered street parking or else totally free parking in residential neighborhoods. There also seems to be some debate (and need for clarification) as to how easily available even the expensive commercial garages are to the casual shopper, as vs. how many of their spaces are reserved for monthly pass holders.