San Francisco: The rip-off city 2
The Chronicle's columnists have been on a roll. Lee Garchik in last Thursday's SF Chronicle:
Here's how a recent Saturday went for Jerry Barrish, filmmaker, artist, man around town and therefore, man in search of a parking place: He met a friend in Hayes Valley for brunch, $4 at a meter. Then he went to North Beach to do an errand, $2 at a meter. Seeing a movie at the Kabuki, his validated garage parking was $10. After that, he stopped into ArtPad at the Phoenix Hotel in the Tenderloin, and spent $20 to park at the Civic Center Garage. And then he ended the driving day at a gathering for S.F. Art Institute alums at the Old Mint, where parking at the Fifth and Mission garage set him back $10 more. "I guess I could have gone out to dinner and paid a few more dollars for valet parking," he e-mails, "but by then I was broke." The total of the day's parking fees: $46.
And Willie Brown in yesterday's Chronicle:
"Strip away the rhetoric about globalization and innovation, and it turns out they're [Silicon Valley]pretty much like the bosses of every other type of business: They want their tax loopholes. They want to bring in more foreign workers. They want the government to keep its hands off their offshore operations."
Labels: Media, Parking, Willie Brown
posted by Rob Anderson @ 12:44 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Every spot this "man about town" went to is easily and readily accessible by public transit and/or bike.
Silicon Valley doesn't "want" - per se - to bring in more foreign workers. That's a lot more painful than hiring a US citizen. What Silicon Valley wants is for more US Citizens to get off their asses and get a useful degree.
Most companies in the tech side from SF to SJ are hiring and can't fill the vacancies, at any price (or if they fill them by offering higher salaries, all that would do is poach workers from other local firms who then would have empty reqs).
The tired argument that these companies are just trying to hire "cheap labor" sort of goes away when people with Master's Degrees and zero experience are starting at 120,000 per year and up, and if you underpay them someone else will steal them away.
Willie Brown has no fucking clue.
Let's get this straight. The guy paid $20 to park at Civic Center - which would basically cover all day parking. He then got back in his car and drove 10 blocks and re-parked at 5th/Mission. Why didn't this tool just take MUNI two stops?
Excellent reason to walk, take MUNI or take on-call car services--combo of all 3 or arrange to meet friend, brunch, watch movie in a convenient place to all 3. (Notice, I didn't say
bike.) My friends and I do this, and we're in our 60's.
Re: Silicon Valley. With all their cash they need to: 1) train US workers specifically for their needs. 2)Since they are companies offering AM to PM services such as laundry, food, napping quarters, recreation, etc., they should establish company towns and observe a sustainability maxim: live near where you work, which means they need to build company housing because of the strain they are putting on Bay Area housing stock. (same thing for local universities, like Academy of Art College University)
He probably was pressed for time. Waiting for a bus, riding it to Fifth and Market, and walking over to the parking garage could take 30minutes, depending on how long he had to wait for a bus. And he had to factor in the return trip to get his car at Civic Center.
This guy spent all that money just parking legally in the city---without even getting a ticket! What downtown merchants should worry about is competition from places like Stonestown Galleria, where parking is plentiful and free.
Stonestown has been around for a while now, there is still shopping downtown. The world hasn't ended. In fact, downtown's sidewalks are packed.
Again Rob, you are grasping at straws.
No one's talking about the end of the world. It's about making it easier for people to shop and dine. The more predatory City Hall is about the cost of parking---meters, parking lots, parking tickets---the more it encourages people to go elsewhere.
Of course there's still a lot of shoppers downtown. For one thing, there's a city-owned parking garage underneath Union Square, an even bigger one at Fifth and Mission, and another at Mason and O'Farrell. But for anyone taking the kids out to eat or just wanting to shop, Stonestown is an attractive alternative because it has all that free parking, both in the huge outside lot and the one under the mall with the elevator.
"Stonestown is an attractive alternative." Yes, if you want to dine at Olive Garden. Parking is not free. Providing parking--the maintenance of the asphalt, the striping, the land, etc.--all come at a price that's paid for by taxpayers. Drivers should pay to subsidize these amenities of pollution and convenience through meters/FastTak, etc.. Try walking around the lot or to the bus-stops at Stonestown. It's a zoo and it's dangerous with the afterthought given to pedestrians' needs. And the M car (serving Stonestown and big enrollment SF State) is often a crowded single car; the 28 19th Avenue Line is highly overcrowded and the 17 Stonestown to West Portal Sta. has to limp along through the congested Stonestown lot, serving many who are too old to or can't drive.
Downtown AND Stonestown merchants need to contribute (not fully subsidize)to MUNI coffers--even if it's earmarked for the lines that serve them--calculated according to their net receipts. (and yes, MUNI and SFMTA need to also operate more efficiently and answer to the riding public--so let's not get on that track again)
Yes, Union Square and downtown shopping is busy because of those garages. Wow, talk about sticking to the party line.
But for anyone taking the kids out to eat or just wanting to shop, Stonestown is an attractive alternative because it has all that free parking, both in the huge outside lot and the one under the mall with the elevator.
Taking your kids to eat at Stonestown is child abuse. Almost anywhere you live in San Francisco you can walk a couple of blocks to much better eating establishments, and get your kids some exercise instead of strapping them into a car seat, where they will promptly fall asleep and you won't be able to go eat anyway. And they will be walking on sidewalks which are nominally safe compared to walking through the Stonestown Parking lot which is patently dangerous.
He probably was pressed for time. Waiting for a bus, riding it to Fifth and Market, and walking over to the parking garage could take 30minutes, depending on how long he had to wait for a bus.
You are a retard. Well, that insults retards.
Why would he take a bus to 5th and Market and then walk to the parking garage? Was he meeting SF Art Institute alums at the parking garage? No - he was meeting them at the Old Mint which is just off Market.
He was going from Civic Center to the Mint - which means taking MUNI underground one stop from Civic Center to Powell. Worst case that would take 5 minutes.
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