If developer Ben Carter is able to attract tenants to a couple of dozen properties in the Broughton Street corridor, we’ll be pretty close to full occupancy in downtown’s most intense commercial area.
And that’s what we want, right?
It’s been interesting to hear renewed concerns about parking in the public response to Carter’s plans, but those issues can be addressed in a variety of ways.
I typically ride my bike when I’m headed to the Broughton Street area, but I recently had to drive down on several days while setting up the Flannery O’Connor-inspired art show at ThincSavannah on Ellis Square.
On four weekday afternoons, I had no trouble finding on-street parking.
Yes, there are times, especially on busy weekends, when it can be really hard to find a space on the street, but most of the time it’s a lot easier than some folks seem to think.
Of course, there are also parking garages. I have in the past shared concerns about their hours and their hourly rates, but those can be adjusted to meet the need.
For example, the Liberty Street Parking Garage is closed on Saturday and Sunday. If we see increasing commercial occupancy rates and greater demand, we could expand those hours.
Also, there are myriad ways to increase the number of available on-street spaces.
As I have discussed pretty regularly here, there are some streets, like Whitaker Street north of Broughton Street, that would benefit from fewer or narrower travel lanes and additional on-street parking.
We also have numerous streets that are wide enough to accommodate angled parking rather than parallel parking.
And then there are the dozens of spaces that have been declared off limits by the federal government around the office buildings on Telfair Square.
Do we really think that those buildings are terrorist targets? And even if we thought we needed the security during the day, why can’t those spaces be used at night?
And there are a number of policies and trends that will decrease shoppers’ dependence on cars.
We are building more downtown hotels. Those guests will be within easy walking distance of Broughton.
If CAT added another station for renting bicycles near, say, Forsyth Park, there seems little doubt that some Broughton shoppers and diners would take advantage of the service.
Other forms of transit and transportation are available too, but encouraging more commuting by bicycle is probably the top priority.
Historically, a fully occupied Broughton Street had enough parking. There’s no reason we can’t achieve that again.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.
