Re-Starting Downtown Business - Idea No. 1 - Street Parking Auction
As we move into this new phase of the Covid-19 Pandemic response and start to have businesses opening, it is going to be hard to see that a number of them won’t be coming back. We need to do what we can to make sure that as many of our amazing downtown businesses can get back on their feet as soon as possible, while still making sure we are all safe. While some of their needs will be more macro from the province or the federal government, there are things that we can be doing locally. I thought I would write down one or two ideas that I have had over the next few weeks and here it the first one, The Street Parking Auction.
One thing that is certain is that we are going to have less people downtown over the next few months than we have ever seen through a Victoria summer, at least in the time I have lived here. We still don’t have the Coho bringing cars into town and won’t until at least June 30th. There are very few people driving downtown to work. International students have disappeared. This means that we are going to have a surplus of parking between now and September. Now I know, some of you are getting edgy, I am not saying we should get rid of all street parking, just some of it for a short while to help our businesses.
Okay so the idea. What I think we should do is select a portion of the street parking across downtown, maybe 20% of it, and set-up an opportunity for any business in the community to take over the spots until September. This will give Victoria businesses space outside where people can maybe look at their wares in a safer environment or possibly once it is a possibility, some outside dining space for places that don’t currently have that option inside. I think it could go beyond that though.
How it would work
Once the areas had been designated, the spots outside of a business would be first offered to the businesses located adjacent. They would have an opportunity to create a plan for the spot and I think that they could even include making an argument that your business required a parking spot outside it, if there were some very specific criteria (Like you sell vaults maybe?). If the business adjacent to the spot did not create a plan for it, the space would go to a small first-come-first-serve free auction (I don’t think people should be paying for this at all actually). This would be opened up to anyone, it might be another closeby business that wants to further increase their presence or it could be a local farm that wants to sell berries along the street. There really is no end to what could happen here. You could have barber chairs for haircuts or a desk and a computer for accountants or real estate agents. The main thing is that there would have to be solid plan and a commitment to use it. Any failure to use it for a couple of days means that they would lose the spot.
The Areas
Like I said, I don’t think that this should be done across the city for all pay parking spots. Instead, I think that the city should target some specific areas that would both be more beneficial to the businesses and also to create a little bit of sidewalk activity for the area.
I think that what you would be looking for would be to select some areas where it would have the most impact due to a large amount of stores and restaurants in a small area. A few clear place for this to me would be LoJo, Chinatown and the Blanshard and Fort Food Market.
The Spots
The parking spots themselves could be rather simple. A raised wooden platform that brings the new space level with the sidewalk, the use could be up to the business that wants to use them. It could be patio space for a couple of well spaced tables or a new area to put out the wares of the adjacent business. Of course, with the opportunity provided we might see some pretty creative creations, with banquet seating or co-working space. Really I think that it may just become such a nice way to enjoy local businesses that in some cases we may want to have it happen more often.
I would love to know what you think and if you have any areas where in town where you think this would work particularly well. I would also like to hear any of your ideas for downtown businesses. Next time I will look at an idea for hotels!
Also I though it is not a lot, I am also going to be providing an opportunity for two local restaurants to put free advertising on my website for the next 6 months. If you have or know of a locally owned restaurant that would like some free ads, let me know. I am going to do it on a first-come-first-served basis as well.
