Parking is not the problem, driving is

[Tom Lamar <lamar@pcei.org>]

Dear Editor,

The suggestion by the Latah County Maintenance Director to spend $250,000
to build a parking lot is a classic example of mis-identifying a problem
and wasting tax dollars.  The problem faced by the County and the High
School is not a lack of parking, but rather one of too many people driving
to work and school.  A shift in the analysis of the problem leads us to a
different solution set, and saves taxpayers a lot of money.  If we simply
respond to the many able bodied people who choose to drive to work or
school by subsidizing their habits with a new parking lot, then we
encourage people to drive, add to the road congestion, and fill up parking
lots.  The traffic will always expand to fill the infrastructure.  One high
school student told me this week, "if there were more spaces to park, more
of my friends would drive."  Here are a few suggestions for each entity to
solve the real problem:

Latah County:
* The courthouse lot should be made available primarily for customers of
the courthouse, not employees.  Establish a policy to encourage employees
to walk, bike, carpool.
* If employees must bring a car, have them use the lot on the east side of
Van Buren or park in the neighborhood a couple of streets away.
* Remove the many vehicles stored in the two parking lots.  County vehicles
could be placed off site in a lower demand lot controlled by the county.
* Install good bike racks. There are none.  These are needed by both
employees and the public.
* Spend a small fraction of the $250,000 on local vanpool efforts to bring
employees to work.

Moscow High School:
* Encourage your faculty to walk, bike or carpool.
* Work with the student environmental club to encourage students to do the
same.
* Establish more parking spaces as "visitor spaces".
* Replace the tire bending bike racks with good ones (see the new racks at
the University).
* Allow faculty (or the public) to ride your buses.

Each entity could set goals to reduce the number of drivers among their
staff.  Such programs could be uplifting for employees and develop a sense
of team work while solving space, environmental and health problems.

Tom


Thomas C. Lamar, Executive Director

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Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute
P O Box 8596; 112 West 4th St; Suite #1
Moscow ID 83843-1096
Phone (208)882-1444; Fax (208)882-8029
url:  http://www.moscow.com/pcei

Please Note our individual staff email addresses below:

Thomas C. Lamar, Executive Director: lamar@pcei.org
Kathleen Lester, Office Manager: lester@pcei.org
Laurie Gardes, Financial Manager:  gardes@turbonet.com
Adam R. Thornbrough, Watersheds: thornbrough@pcei.org
Colette DePhelps, Community Food Systems: dephelps@pcei.org
Jon Barrett, Idaho Smart Growth:  smartgro@micron.net
Elaine Clegg, Idaho Smart Growth:  eclegg@micron.net
Jennifer Bell, Environmental Education: bell1719@uidaho.edu

Celebrating twelve years of connecting people, place and community.
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