Vision for Parking in Elmwood Village

I believe the "hospital" parking ramp is a municipal ramp available to anyone. The hospital will be leaving in a few years, so those 700 parking spaces will become entirely available to visitors of the Elmwood businesses. That alone should go a long way to solve this perceived problem.

More generally, I think we need to discuss this more in terms of the larger issue of "transportation management". Providing parking for private cars is only one way of managing transportation. Other ways include encouraging the use of taxis, buses, bicycles, and walking. Building more densely and with residential use included in commercial buildings puts more residents in walking distance of these businesses, reducing the need for each business to provide parking for visitors.

I think we will find that this problem is largely illusory. As more developments occur on Elmwood that bring both attractions and residential units (such as the Benchmark project near Auburn), people will find that there are more and more reasons to visit the neighborhood, even if parking meter rates go up a bit or if it becomes more convenient to take a bus there instead of driving.

To suggest that too much development density will drive people away reminds me of Yogi Berra's "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

Here's another way of thinking for the short term - more side street parking.

http://www.buffalorising.com/2012/03/a-simple-solution-to-relieve-the-elmwood-village-parking-woes.html

the way to balance parking demand and supply is to charge market rates for it.

http://www.lamag.com/features/2011/12/01/between-the-lines

Another way is, if the NFTA would provide better service: More bus's (even running 24/7), expanding the Metro Rail to other areas of the city and suburbs. This perception that WNY has on public transportation only being for the 'poor' is an illusion. In 'Vibrant' cities all over the world, taking the train, bus or taxi is the usually the first option and then driving. Ever try to find a parking spot in NYC? Chicago? Toronto?...you may be driving around for hours before you find a spot and even then, it may not be any where near your destination. Which is why the local's don't often drive in those places.

I just looked at a house off of Elmwood, in between Richmond this weekend and the listing agent said if the house had a driveway and garage they'd probably ask 30k more. Because, the demand for off street parking is so high in the neighborhood and people hate having to come home and fight for a parking spot.

Great article Charlie!

Sitting at the Elmwood/GreenCode public meeting this weekend was frustrating. There are too many people in this community who have so much fear of change - and to allow something like parking dictate the way their neighborhood develops.

Instead of living in fear of a great place like Elmwood continuing to thrive and densify, we need outside-of-the-box solutions that deal with challenges like parking. The solution isn't to stop all new development (which some prominent EV residents would lead you to believe they want) - it should be to creatively accommodate it.

What about a 'mini bus' with a short route from Allen to Buff State? It would serve two primary commercial areas (Allentown and the EV) as well as the Galleries and Buff State.

This is exactly the point at which our fearless leaders need to go long, aggressive and out-of-the-box to promote mass transit. More density--like a real city--is great.

Boston has the Silver Line--a clean, safe bus line which everyone uses--from businesspeople to families to college students. Let's create a premium bus service--which maybe has a separate (priority) lane--as a start. If more above ground rail develops ultimately, great.

Lighter-quicker-cheaper.

WTF is the problem with second-storey / rooftop parking?

Drive up a ramp, park on the roof, take a nice escalator down into your Trader Joe's. Worked just fine someplace down south, I forget where.

Just densify. Cripes, to think _parking_ is the most critical interest...

Just going to fantasy land for a minute. Wouldn't it be cool if the NFTA would build another underground transit line on Elmwood. I always felt that Elmwood would be a very successful street to have a subway under. The stops could be City Hall, Johnson Park, Allen, Bryant, W. Ferry, Bidwell Parkway, Bflo State/Psych Center, Amherst St, Hertel, Kenmore and beyond. That would be really cool in some future reality that is in no way connected to this current one. I like to think of it as post apocalyptic Buffalo.

This is the type of out-moded insanity that has resulted in downtown Buffalo. We should not be designing for CARS, rather people! Yeah i get it, people with cars come in, spend money don't want to walk, blah, blah, blah.

Well imagine a neighborhood where it is HARD to park, but once you were there it ooozed with such character that you wanted to come back, again, and again, cause you had to walk?

I would be an advocate for parking downtown and walking up Elmwood. Or maybe the corner of Elmwood and Hertel? Plenty of FREE parking on the weekends... And if you don't want to walk? how about a street car? Better use of the $25 Million dollars in parking ramps as proposed above...

It's largely economics that has kept multilevel parking a rarity outside of downtown Buffalo. Land in Buffalo's neighborhoods, including Elmwood Village, is so cheap, the cost per space for a ramp is much higher than acquiring much larger areas of land and buildings to be cleared for surface lots. Structured parking costs about $25K to $40K per space, compared to about $2K to $5K for surface parking. Land would have to be worth about $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 per acre to make the cost of ramp parking about the same as surface parking.

As long as the price of real estate in Buffalo remains low, ramps in the city's neighborhoods need to be subsidized to be economically viable, compared to the alternative of surface lots. Ramps could be paid for from fees over many years, but cheap or free surface parking would undermine revenues.

What parking problem? I've never had any problem finding a parking spot. I thought that the success of the Elmwood Village was directly related to the lack of parking - increased density and lack of parking spots immediately in front of destinations means more activity and more people on the street, creating a pedestrain friendly, attractive, walkable environment. Isn't that what we want?

Outmoded insanity is right. This article sounds to me like its right out of the sixties - next someone will be advocating for urban renewal!

I don't think anyone needs to worry about parking in the Elmwood Village. We should be looking for ways to increase density and improve public transportation. The people who are unwilling to walk all go to the suburban malls anyway.

I am not sure if the two ramp (at the northern and southern ends of the retail strip) and shuttle system being suggested is all that feasible. Let’s reasonably assume that the restaurants and retail shops on Elmwood need the non-walking distance patrons to survive. Say I don't live within walking distance of Elmwood (which indeed many people don't). Would I drive to the Children's ramp, wait 20 minutes in 15 degree weather for the shuttle to arrive (assume I just missed the previous shuttle), go to Penzey’s and pick up what I wanted, wait another 15 minutes to catch the shuttle to take me back to the Children's ramp, then drive home? As much as I love the Elmwood experience, I would not spend that amount of time (and money for the ramp/shuttle) to make a simple purchase. Am I expecting to park in front of the business I wish to patronize? Or course not. But parking should to be relatively convenient by urban standards (within 3-4 blocks?) to continue to attract out-of-neighborhood patrons. What’s the practical solution? I don’t have the answer. A good question for those trained in urban planning.

> next someone will be advocating for urban renewal!'

Towers in park-like settings are the solution to all of society's ills. Hey, they're everywhere in Toronto, so it must be great! ;)

Here is my vision for parking in the ELmwood Village:

1. build a mixed use two-story building to the curb on every available surface parking lot - the one on the northeast corner of Elmwood and Bryant for example - with no offstreet parking unless it can be incorporated inside or beneath.

2. Take all the gas stations and former gas stations (Mr. Pizza and Just Pizza) and reverse their layouts so that the building is on the corner at the sidewalk with the parking and/or gas pumps behind. There is a famous old saying - Ample parking in Rear! - and that's where it should be.

Really? I never in 11 years have had a problem parking on or around Elmwood or Allentown. Not once. Who the heck is complaining about lack parking?

Build an above ground rail system and eliminate all traffic.

I think that zoning on Elmwood needs to be tightened. As Elmwood and Hertel are the pre-emininent retail districts, this should not be approached without serious thought and investment.

A trolley line from downtown to Hertel should be a consideration and on Hertel from Main to Military.

A trolley could provide the best answer to available parking where it is best located underground or above ground. The one thing Elmwood parking cannot accommodate is continuous demolition of buildings for more parking.

Adding a stronger component of residential to Elmwood should be a stronger priority than more retail.

Any expansion of retail should be encouraged to Delaware, or Grant or Niagara or Main depending on the location.

These are highly livable and walkable neighborhoods and they dont need to turned into a continuous strip mall from Alan to Forest...which is its current path. Multi-story residential should be a far higher priority.

coming from Toronto; never ever, ever have trouble finding parking near Elmwood or for that matter anywhere in Buffalo. I hardly see many cars on the street and seems to be dearth of motor vehicles on the city streets.I think city planners and the like should concentrate more on infill amd continued expansion of retail and residential density and be happy if you have traffic and parking issues .I should think that synergy and vitality on the streets of Buffalo would be the wish lists for the future and parking problems an enviable result that would then push further transit use out of nessecity....such makes for a real city

this is the wortst article, quit complaining about parking, walk your fat ass. i can walk from bryant to spot in less than 10 minuts. Now nyc has parking issues not buffalo. buffalo rising is the biggest joke site, thumbs down !!!!

Elmwood needs streetscape renewal, corners and cross walks need to be cleaned up...Commercial storefronts needs to be renovated......Top addresses need to be leased out...Elmwood needs alot

This is a pointless discussion. The parking problem is in peoples' heads. It is a proven fact that the less parking there is in a neighborhood, the more vibrant a place is and the more people go there. Besides, there already is a perfectly good shuttle bus through the neighborhood - it's called the NFTA #20 bus route. It runs every 10-15 minutes during most of the day, which is comparable to any big city bus system and better than a private entity could ever afford to run a shuttle bus. If you're too big a snob to use it, that's your problem.

I agree that parking needs to be thought about in combination with the new Green Code. However, I think that the attitude of the citizens towards parking is as much of an issue as parking itself. One similarity of all successful/vibrant cities is that parking is an issue. It is simply a symptom of success. 1 car per person is simply not sustainable in an urban environment. We have to realize that parking 3-4 blocks away is okay.

That being said, the parking rules should definitely be looked at. For the summer months there should be no alternate side parking, except for streets that can't fit cars on both sides. Street cleaning should be done periodically and signs should indicate when that would happen. For instance, in my old neighborhood in Boston, my side of the street was off limits from midnight to 8 am on Tuesday morning. It could be during the day or once a month or whatever works for the city.

Another option that would help residents would be to create a resident parking permit that would allow only residents to park at a certain time on some side streets.

Once again its time for architects to design parking ramps that have appealing facades. Including enclosures between the levels.

Build a 2 to 3 or 4 story ramp with first floor retail. Brick facades with glass and detailing between the levels. Even cornices and other exterior embellishments. Problem solved.

It may be too early to talk about what's next for Buffalo planning after Green Code, but I'd like to see a comprehensive, citywide study of transit and transportation, including parking and transit-oriented development. The whole gamut, from safe routes to school to aging in place. Biking, walking, and handicapped mobility. One product would be a detailed, highly granular, comprehensive model of how people and goods get around Buffalo. Such a model, coupled with community preferences, could help us reach rational solutions to parking "problems" -- or even tell us whether there really is a problem in certain areas. It would be an invaluable resource for the development discussions and decisions that we'll face over the next decade.

One of my biggest questions about Elmwood: it was developed in the streetcar era. So does it help to continue to try to retrofit the neighborhood for the automotive era (when so many concessions have already been made), or better to invest in re-establishing a streetcar or something like it (and from firsthand experience, I can tell you the 20 bus is not "something like it")--?

And another: Delaware Ave, south of North, has a fair amount of underground parking, yet Elmwood has none that I know of. Perhaps a student of Buffalo land use history could weigh in on why that is.

There are many homes on Elmwood that are in need of restoration.

I would make the argument that there are some homes where the storefronts should be removed and returned to a period residential.

There are other areas where a 3-4-5 story mixed use residential project done in a manner that would fit with the architectural periods of Elmwood is needed.

All things have a cycle of value and one day Elmwood will no longer be the safe harbor of urban retail and all this demolition for parking, for suburban style stores and conversion of residential to retail will be looked on with dismay and sadness.

Elmwood and Forever Elmwood should avoid the myopia of their success. Elmwood will eventuall plateau in "appreciation" and "Quality of Life" dragged down by its borders (Linwood, Main, Grant, Niagara).

For parking, do what so many other cities do, Create parking zones for high impact areas. Residents of the zone get a sticker to put on their bumper. They get to park all day long where there are no meters. Everyone else gets a 2 - 3 hour time frame during business hours. Cost to city zero dollars. Cost to residents $10 - $15 per year which pays for enforcement.

IMO - Forget about more parking garages on Elmwood. They won't help. If people aren't happy walking 1 block to get to their car, they're not going to be happy going up and down 3 flights in a musty garage either. And there isn't much space for them unless multiple buildings get demolished first.

Better solution is to allow more street parking and create reliable and frequent shuttle buses/trolleys.

The Buffalo Civic Auto Ramps website lists the capacity of the Gallagher Ramp as 600 spaces, not 700 as quoted in the article. 100 spaces is a big discrepancy. Who is correct?

i think that they need to make it safer for people walking, then people wouldnt mind parking farther away. crossing elmwood during a busy time of day is scary and driving down it is scarier as people run across the road right in front of you. better labeled crosswalks and ways to reduce the congestion would go a long way for elmwood in my opinion rather than building an ugly parking ramp.

Small scale rootop parking can be VERY successfully blended in to the architecture... The Lexington Coop would have been a perfect candidate.

Portland has it all over the place...

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/09/27/new-seasons-set-to-open-in-southeast-portland/

Just need to be creative - the Ottawa example that was posted does indeed looking like a parking garage with shops thrown in - but it needn't be that type.

There are also several buildings in Sydney, Portland, and other parts of the world where the parking his hidden by a facade with windows...

LET'S BE PRORGRESSIVE BUFFALO!!!!

Just because we were magnificent at the turn of the last century doesn't mean that we have to BE EXACTLY LIKE WE WERE. Also, just because something is currently successful, it doesn't mean that it can't change into something MORE successful.

Shuttle buses,better crosswalks,some qulity[storefront,residential] infill,high architectural standards.

EV homeowner here (I love the Yahoo ID I get when I sign in to BRO)--formerly an Allentown resident.

On the subject of parking, it's all relative: When I lived above the Sample restaurant, I thought nothing about having to park as far away as Mariner and North (and a few times a year, I had to schlep from Irving). Moving to my current Anderson Place home, it's one or two days a year that I cannot park on my own block, and that's good enough for me.

My suburban friends, not so much. To them, everything is a surgical strike: Pop in to Penzey's, leave. Hit Talking Leaves, leave. Zillycakes and go. The idea of strolling the avenue and carrying your purchases from one place to another (like you do in a mall) strikes them as outdated. How can you devote more than a half hour to a place?

When your supermarket isn't a short walk from your dry cleaner and your bank and your pharmacy and your pet store, you become accustomed (I think) to regarding these as separate chores, to be accomplished at separate times. This is why it is "news" when "combine trips" becomes a strategy to save money on gas: Apparently (and this is, admittedly, madness to me) some people don't do this already, and did even when gas was a dollar a gallon! When your candy store and coffee shop are across the street from each other, killing two birds with one stone (and maybe giving the dog a walk at the same time) becomes natural.

I don't think visitors to the EV, unless they are urban-inclined (the type to visit Manhattan voluntarily) CAN think "out of the car." Some folks just don't like it.

When the Children's Hospital ramp is abandoned by the Hospital trade, perhaps one deck or portion could be long-term permitted to folks with auto registrations in the 14209/14222/14213 ZIP codes: Yeah, it might be out of the way, but at least it would be a guaranteed spot. The remainder of the ramp should be available to the public, with a sweetener: A pass for a shuttle service running between Nottingham Terrace (the History Museum) and Virginia. Unlimited use on the day the car was parked: Stops at NFTA bus stops.

Why would you want to alter one of the few economic and social bright spots in this city by changing the very feel and vibe that makes it what it is? I live in the village and from what I can tell there is no correlation between the success of a business in the district and it's proximity to available parking. Kuni's is and has been packed every night since it opened, Blue Monk the same, Coles has done very well for itself, none of those places have a lot or easy close parking. The co-op has 8 or 10 spaces which would seem ridiculous by suburban supermarket standards and doesn't seem to be affected by it one bit. I agree that on street parking regulations could probably be looked at as a source of additional spaces but spending (wasting) millions of public dollars to add parking to a vibrant district that is successful without it seems wrongheaded and unnecessary. Both the Farmers market and the Bidwell concert series mentioned in a previous post are as successful as they could be in the given space, I don't see how or why you would or should want to fit any more people at those events.