Parking along 28th Ave NW between 56th and 57th has always been angled parking – that is until Monday – when Seattle Department of Transportation installed “parallel parking only” signs. Signs that are ignored by some neighbors.
Marybeth Turner, spokesperson for SDOT says that they received “a complaint that cars parking at an angle on either side of that section of 28th Avenue NW were blocking pedestrian access and parking up onto the sidewalks. SDOT staff investigated and confirmed that was occurring.”
Luke, one of the neighbors, is frustrated that this change was made from the one complaint, “the unfortunate thing is none of [the] neighbors were aware of his case with the city, and weren’t able to weigh in.” Luke says the changes from angled parking to parallel parking has reduced the number of parking spots from 33 to just 15. “This is extremely insensitive to a dense housing area,” he says, “as 56th only allows parking on one side of the street, and parking is already a premium.” Turner tells us that while the field investigation determined that the angled parking intrudes on the sidewalk, crews will go back again to see whether it would be possible to allow angled parking, even if only on one side. “Doing so might also require placement of wheel stops, and we’d want to understand the potential costs and make sure we’re not introducing a potential tripping hazard in the right of way,” Turner says.
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Those who park there have townhouses with garages right?
“access to the sidewalk”…?! You've gotta be kidding me. This is all that some people have to do all day is fret about these things and take it so far as to waste time out of thier lives to complain to the city…
This IS what we all get with central planning. We have elected kings. They know best. There are no questions. So let's pack another freaking 100,00 people into Seattle, take away more trafic lanes for bikes, do away with parking, install more and more red-light-cams and the all get along. NOT. It wouldn't be the central planners wanting us to rid ourselves of our vehicles would it? They wouldn't want/do that, would they? Not sure just how much more hope/change I can take. We're all just supposed to bend over, grab the ankles, and enjoy it. Time for real “change” locally. I just can't wait to vote with my GD feet and get the bleep outta this experiment. Hide your cars and your wallets.
I'm glad someone complained. I always hated driving down that stretch as the angle-parked cars would jut out too far. they would also come flying into traffic as opposed to a parallell parked car you can readily see leaving.
for the people who will now have to walk another block or so to park–sucks to be you.
I'm glad someone complained too. The angle parking has turned what was a two lane street into a single lane. The folks that bought the townhouses should have looked at available, legal parking before they put their money down to decide whether it was going to work for them or not, rather than whine about it once SDOT finally does the job the rest of us expect them to.
Good to see this problem addressed. A lot of the people seem to park there who work on Market Street.
Now to get the city to clear the sidewalks of all the urban gardens which block the sidewalks and the low hanging tree limbs that make it difficult to walk around Ballard.
How does one person get this stuff accomplished, without consulting the neighborhood? He, for one, is a coward. The city should have consulted with others or counted the number of townhouses they issued permits for in such a small area.
That block can fit two cars side-by-side even when both sides of the street have angled parking.
Efficient use of space is really the issue here. The city made a decision to go the easy way rather than consider what the best use of space would be.
If they turned the whole stretch into back in angle parking, a solution that has worked in many other places in the city, it would allow many more cars to park there while remaining safe.
I don't think the issue the neighbors are complaining about is having to walk further, there is nowhere else to park in that area as evidenced by their refusal to comply with the new signs.
Yes, how DOES one person accomplish this? My cowardly, anal retentive neighbor (the unofficial president of a non-existent neighborhood association) did the same thing and had some ugly no parking signs put up. We didn't know about it until we came home and saw them standing…
A townhome, like a regular house, is only required to have one off-street parking spot, and I'm pretty sure most of them do.
the real problem are all you car hogs with 3 or 4 vehicles! although as someone else pointed out, I see a lot of people park here then walk to their job down on Market.
This doesn't surprise me. Parking in Ballard is the worst. With all the new condos going up it will continue… oh well!
New tagline: Ballard, A sleepy little drinking village with a parking problem…
Quote: “This is extremely insensitive to a dense housing area,” he says, “as 56th only allows parking on one side of the street, and parking is already a premium.”
Sadly, that's the way this city's been going for some time now. It's all part of Nickels' grand urban plan. No cars in the city.
Of course it did not help that the giant hedge here was only recently trimmed, that thing took up more of the sidewalk than the cars.
I think this section of ballard needs residentail parking stickers anyway, with one per house, 35 for every second car, and visitors getting two hours.
Its become quite bother to find parking, and with so many fools driving more than one car, or parking to walk to the market, I just think its time to create an incentive. I'm sure there is a way to proctect the residents, and met the needs of the local business.
Many of those “garages” are proforma!
That's totally effed up. I AM ONE OF THOSE NEIGHBORS, in fact one of those cars is my husbands car! Where are we supposed to park now? There are way too many residents in this area to have parallel parking on this street. It's ridiculous.
you know the sad thing is this whole thing could have been avoided with a little communication and 30 dollars of parking bumpers. I don't care about the parking one way or the other but I would like to think that as neighborhoods we don't have to have the city solve our problems.
This sidewalk was pretty difficult to walk down, and I agree, it was due to both the angle parking and the overgrown hedge. I can see how it's a pain for the parkers, but there's some good here.
Lot of people calling the complainer a “coward”, here. I don't really get that. What would a “brave” person have done to get the sidewalk issue addressed?
Instead of eliminating parking they should be looking at options that increase parking spaces and efficiently move traffic such as converting some streets to one-way only. Then again that might go against the city's plan of doing away with the 'evil' cars.
there is reason to complain about it. it's not fretting by any means.
I am also a neighbor affected by the change. I have been parking several black away from my home since I moved to this area 9 months ago.
I have no idea where I will park if the city starts to enforce this short-sighted change.
This block is one of the few where setbacks were respected and there is plenty of room for angle parking.
I live in a town home with two other young professionals, each of whom own cars. I would be happy to pay for a parking spot or some sort of permit, but it looks like there won't be enough spaces to purchase a permit for.
I wouldn't put it past the city to sell more permits than available spaces. They clearly don't do their homework before making decisions.
and these are the same people that spend big bucks to work out at the gym and then complain because they have to walk. obnoxious!
as someone stated earlier, before one purchases a place to live, one needs to look at the complete picture of where they are going to live not just the four walls they will be living in. those walls would include a garage.
This is absurd! Why the hell are they changing something that works because one person complained? This should come down to a vote for the neighborhood. What happened to democracy?!
The guy with the Subaru yelled at me the other day from his townhouse window! I was going to put a note on their ugly Subaru apologizing for parking close to his rear bumper. Then his fat wife asked if I was the same person who put dirt and gravel on their car. Ha, seems like they are pretty good at making friends in the neighborhood. So passive aggressive!
I think that the best solution would be to have permits for the residents as another reader proposed. I didn't pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a townhouse to have to park my car by loyal heights community center.
A “brave” or “non-cowardly” person would have consulted their neighbors first. This guy is the worst neighbor you could ask for.
This is just us vs them negativity.
I've walked that strip in the morning, afternoon and evening and many cars do park all the way up to the bushes and fences making you have to walk into the street. I've also seen school buses not being able to make it by because of the tight corners and on coming traffic and garbage trucks not being able to make it into alley ways to pick up garbage/recycling as people park to close for many trucks to turn passed. Also I don't know when the change happened, maybe when someone took out one of the don't block the ally parking signs by backing into it but about two years ago everyone parked parallel on that stretch of the street. We may like having a few extra spots for parking a second car or for visitors, but we have caused this scenario by cramming multi-unit buildings onto small plots of land without having adequate off street parking. You may have to park your car up to two blocks away or more, but as we become a city this is not uncommon and the city is just doing what's right for pedestrians, city vehicles and safety. You can always move out of the city and get all the parking you like.
Someone put a note on the guys Subaru before, when he parked sideways blocking two spots about a month ago. My wife and I watched from our house as he just lost it, screaming and yelling obscenities in the street for a good 20 minutes. Haha, I guess that counts as “passive aggressive”
Let's face it, Ballard has become a more densely populated neighborhood and the days of easy parking are over. If you count on street parking then you're going to have to wait in line. When every house, condo, or apartment has 2 or 3 cars, there is no way there will ever be enough space on the street. It has nothing to do with a directive from the city; it's simple math. Some people just like to politicize everything. Even with angled parking on 28th street, it won't solve the parking shortage. I've lived in neighborhoods where parking is much more difficult than Ballard and I would never do it again without off-street parking unless I decided to not have a car. Ballard residents are going to have to factor parking into their choice of housing like people do in many other urban neighborhoods. I for one don't want to live in a neighborhood where parking regulations are loose or poorly enforced. I've done that too. What ends up happening is that if you're walking, you're constantly dodging cars that are hanging over the sidewalks from people's driveways or where there are inadequate curbs.
Kim I suggest you tone done the us vs. them smug theme you've been working on today. I for one would like an amiable solution that all can work with.
First issue here is not parking, it is about due process and public comment – THERE WAS NONE!
I don't know. I recently did the “brave” thing and consulted my neighbor about the giant shed he's building in his backyard, rather than sicking DPD on him. Now I know more about what he's doing, it's not as bad as it could be, but it's still fairly illegal, and if I called DPD now he'd know it was me, relationship wrecked.
If I'd done the “cowardly” thing, the community would possibly be better off. People are obviously going to disagree about whether any particular change is an improvement, but at least this is a way to make change. And it's reversible.
I totally agree Adriane. This is totally lame.
Well said. Does the city have any response why nobody who lives on the street was contacted about this? Where is the due process?
There is always plenty of Parking on 57th up from 28th, though people would have to walk an extra half block from where they are parking now. This is just people complaining they cannot park within a block of their apartment/townhouse with their second car. I would never park my car in those spaces anyways after all the breakins and car thefts there over night. Where you are going to park your car is always an issue in the city and I knew that area was over crowded when i moved in, but only have one car so it rarely affects me. Park a little farther away and just be thankful you don't live downtown where you circle for 20/30 minutes trying to find a legal spot around your apartment.
Parking permits are not intended to reserve a spot for the permit holder. They are intended to keep out non-permit holders, increasing your chance of finding a spot.
You should have thought of where you were going to park your cars before you moved into a townhouse with three cars. There is never a guarantee that street parking will be available.
Maybe you should have thought about parking before you plunked down hundreds of thousands of dollars. Street parking is never guaranteed.
yeah I saw the whole yelling fit and it's a shame that it ever comes to this. when you live in a high density area like this a little diplomacy goes a long way to getting what you want.
I have friends that live in this area, and I occassionally walk down that street. I don't see an issue with limiting it to parallel if people were parking on the sidewalk.
True, places like Chicago are full of neighborhoods where you regularly must seek out a parking spot blocks away from your home.
Ballard isn't near as bad, and with only 50 backyard cottage permits issued per year, it will be at least 2017 before the parking congestion reaches NW 65th Street.
wow. A parking change on one street that you probably don't even live on gets you this fired up? I hate to break it to you, but when you move out to the boonies you'll have issues there too. Maybe you should try having a little empathy for the rest of society, oops I said two dirty words to the wingers, empathy and society. Have fun in Liberia.
Most large, dense cities have this issue. It also comes with the territory when you have 3 people sharing a townhouse (as evidenced above), each with their own car. It makes it even worse when these people use their townhouse garage for storage.
I agree, this is an isolated issue at this point.
Parking is not bad in Ballard. Bad parking is when you circle your neighborhood for 40 minutes looking for a spot and then writing down where you parked so you can find your car the next day.
The angled parking has been caboshed because many were abusing the luxury. One person may have complained, but SDOT investigated and noted the repeated violations. As a driver and a pedestrian, I applaud their fast and decisive action.
To all of you whiners!
If you don't like the parking in the area, MOVE! You want to be trendy and live in Ballard but you aren't willing to live within its parameters. Blocked driveways and sidewalks inhibits older ppl and those that have a handicap. Move to the U-district you bunch of cry babies!!!!
Ha I heard that guy yelling in the street too! If you thought overgrown shrubs were disrupting your walk to the bus…how about a crazy man yelling in the street and scaring your kids?? I say we lock him up!
*note- I believe there is some rule about cars being parked in one spot for over 72 hours. So if everyone is up in arms about people taking up what's left of the parking spots because they leave their cars there for weeks at a time, how about filing a complaint? NOt sure if you get a ticket or if you get towed, but this might be a good way to show folks that if you plan on hogging a parking spot, don't do it in a prime parking area like 57th & 28th!!
I understand the need for a parking redesign- but I do wish that the neighbors had been previously consulted. We should have a stake in what happens to our neighborhood.
Oh, and regarding permit parking- hell no I am not going to pay to park on my street! Please, let's not try to push this through…
Huh? You want the city to remove people's urban gardens? I don't think that I've ever seen one that encroaches more than a couple inches over a sidewalk, and even when plants do hang over it, what's the big deal? You have to duck, or brush up against something natural?
This parking issue and now the gardens is all about weighing costs and benefits. Parking was costing mobility, so it was adjusted. People are complaining about the cost of less parking so SDOT will weigh in again and make an adjustment if needed. What's the big deal?
What about 56th?? Right now there only parking on the south side of the street, and there is definitely room for parking on both sides. This would easily add another 20-30 spots! What do you say? Let's try to get this passed!
I once lived in a townhouse. Yes. I admit it. Each of the 7 units that replaced the single house that was there before had a garage. Only two of us ever used the garage for our cars as we were the only two who either had the maneuvering skills or small enough cars to get them in there. The garages were literally within an inch of the minimums required by code. In most of the townhouses there were at least two people with cars, not necessarily related. 7 units x2 cars =14cars -2 usable garages =12 cars on the street -2 previously =10 more cars than were there before.
The way the city allows townhouses to be built will put more cars on the street no matter what they claim to have in number of garages. Especially when people drive pickups and SUVs and developers keep building minimum spec garages to meet the code.
I agree, and this may also slow down the jerks that speed up and down 56th like it is highway!
Actually, many of us were aware of the parking when we plunked our money down, and knew it would eventually be a struggle with the city.
As for getting organized, GAME ON. Parking in Ballard will change as does our population. Making it work for everyone who lives here, will be the challenge.
P.S. There are rental properties, multi family group houses, with offstreet parking that contribute as many as 4 to 6 cars.
So you tell people not to whine, but the fact is that a non-broken system was effectively broken. This isn't progress, it is the opposite.
Stories about driving a long time looking for spots happen because of this sort of policy making.
There is nothing wrong with 3 people living in a townhome and each owning a car. In my particular case, each person relocated to Seattle from other states. I ride my bike to work every day and would only like to have my car close enough to my house that I can hear when it is broken into.
We are not asking for something impractical, just to leave what was working in place.
What you are missing here is that the current system is broken for pedestrians on that street. You're right that there is nothing wrong with 3 people living in a townhouse, each owning a car. However, street parking is no guarantee. You can choose to have three cars in one townhouse that probably has one off-street parking space that may not even be very practical, but you will have to deal with trying to park the other two cars somewhere else. Street parking is not a right or a guarantee. It is your choice to live in that situation, not the city's responsibility to accommodate.
Not arguing with you here, SPG, just pointing out that “something natural” could, sometimes, contain spiders.
Just sayin'.
But that's the point, it wasn't working. People abused the luxury of parking near their homes by blocking the sidewalk. Now that luxury has been taken away.
Driving a long time to look for parking isn't due to policy making, it's due to urban density. And that is here to stay.
It's time for city stickers, and zoned parking.
Up With Zones! Up with incentives!
There is plenty of room for both cars and pedestrians on that street. People do block that sidewalk sometimes, but that is poor driver training.
I hope we can work with the city to install curb stops so the sidewalks won't be blocked and the space can be used to its fullest potential.
We should take the few opportunities that we can to relieve issues associated with urban density rather than exacerbate the situation.
The city issued the permits allowing these homes to be stacked on top of each other. The least they can do is mark streets to be as efficient for parking as the lots are for generating taxes.
Due process ???? They are enforcing the current parking regulations. Did they take down signs that said 'angle parking only', no ? Do you cry for 'due process' when you get a ticket for not paying the meter. Due process would be holding meetings so it becomes angled parking rather than the established parellel parking. I've been driving thru there for 20 years and until the townhouses were built that was all parallel parking.
Or hornets.
But cars parking on the sidewalk is a bigger annoyance than untrimmed gardens I have to duck.
He complained. The city sent their own people out to check on it. There was a problem confirmed. They didn't just do this because one squeaky wheel said so.
Have you ever tried to consult a neighbor about their parking habits? I have. And I don't recommend it. It doesn't ever go well. The way this person did it, and the city handled it, was the only way to keep the sidewalks clear without this person getting his/her town home egged.
Too right.
Some A hole left rocks on his car with a little passive agressive note. Talk about cowards! Maybe if people were more considerate of not blocking sidewalks, driveways and alleys they would not have been all the complaints. You want to park all ove the everything…go back to Lynnwood!
Aside from observing a 20 year old norm, how do you know it was “parallel” parking by regulation, and not de-facto?
That someone has to have been here for 20 years to make sense of “current parking regulations” is a good sign that something needs to be done better.
All the rude Habitude folks will now have to park elsewhere BOO HOO!!!
They were treating driveways , sidewalks and alleys like thier own personal parking lot. Most of them were too dumb to realize thier cars were even blocking.
The side of the street is open so Limback lumber and other local businesses can get deliveries in from large trailers.
Agreed that things generally worked as it was before the change — every now and again I would choose to walk on the other side of the street because of the shrubbery being too close to the cars. And I suspect that the people that pull cars too far in are usually not residents, but visitors of people or business in the area.
I would rather see the sidewalk removed on that side of the street than the ridiculous move to parallel parking.
AD, are sidewalks a right and guaranteed? This line of reasoning gets us nowhere. We should focus on a solution of greatest value to the community.
Go back where you came from if it sucks SOOOO much!
Agree. Ultimately, streets are designed for moving goods and people. Parking restrictions and regulations are designed with the above in mind, with safety as the overriding factor.
Any new resident of a home or townhome this close to a commercial district is at risk for not having the convenience of onstreet parking right in front.
Sidewalks are for walking, not parking
Of course the city should also come in and enforce individual trees/shrubs, etc that encroach on the public right of way.
Well, there needs to be pedestrian access, which ironically is currently incomplete. The sidewalk between 56th and market is non-existent. On one side, it contains builder’s yard, on the other the driveway to the Locks Deli. From 56 to 57, at least there is a side walk. Its funny, I always thought those shrubs were more of an issue than cars.
It was parallel just 4 years ago. It's gotten worse since they put up the god-awful orange and black townhomes. The developer put 11 units in where there used to be 2 rambler duplexes.
yeah, I saw that too — not cool.
A coward parks in someone's driveway or an alley or a sidewalk because they get frustrated that they can't park in front of thier house. A brave person would continue to look for a legal spot that is not inconsiderate to the neighborhood. Hipster, it sounds like you want to start a community group.
There is pedestrian access (to whatever) — on the other side of the street.
Of course sidewalks are not a right and a guarantee — witness the large swaths of Seattle without them (a crime, in my view)
But, when a sidewalk is present, and in consideration of the range of capabilities of individuals to navigate them (think old, blind, in a wheelchair, recent broken leg on crutches), and if we truly want to make it safe for people to walk on sidewalks, then free movement on, through, and to and from sidewalks is a right.
We also have a right to have safe streets (both streets and adjaacent sidewalks, and usually a few feet into the adjacent lots, are part of the platted right of way), but there's nothing that says we have a right to park, or block, or impede. We've just gotten used to it, and as others have so eloquently reasoned, more cars than there are places to park == difficulty parking.
Go for it. If curb stops, and back in angle can work, be restricted enough from the corners to allow turns of larger vehicles, then it seems like a good solution. Keep pushing SDOT to get out there and check it out.
Please elaborate! I don't belive their is an actual sidewalk by the bulders yard on the east side of 28th, and I know there is no sidewalk on the west side, which is parking access to the locks deli.
Not to mention the traffic calming effect provided by rows of angled cars. Daily, I see people really step on the gas as soon as they make that last turn through the circle and get into the gap between the parked cars. If that gap is larger, look for more speed earlier perhaps before the circle.
Kind of amazing that in all these comments, I have yet to see a single comment that references the governing ordinances that the city must follow with regard to parking and street access. Since I don't really care what the outcome is, I am not going to research the ordinances, but for those of you who are interested in the outcome, I would suggest you do a little research and arm yourselves with data and facts, then go to the city and present it. Currently, I think the city is simply applying (what they think is) the uniform rules that they apply everywhere with the city… or you can just whine and complain a lot.
I've done some digging – This one stands out!
Angle Parking (also Back-in Angle Parking and Head In Angle Parking) – Refers to cars parking at an angle to the curb in space clearly marked for such use. Angle Parking can increase the parking supply as much as 50% over parallel parking, depending on the location of driveways and other objects along the street or curb, and the angle of the spaces. Angle parking can make the street less desirable for pedestrians and wheelchair-users because of cars overhanging the sidewalk and making it narrower, and can affect visibility for residents and businesses. Requests for installing Angle Parking are reviewed for safety and other considerations. For more information call (206) 684-ROAD (7623).
I do know it's illegal to park on a sidewalk.
I don't know why there is such a focus on townhome owners. There are plenty of apartments in the area as well. And I see lots of people parking in the mornings.
Further, as a Ballard townhome owner (you can see our unit in the picture) we only have ONE car and we ALWAYS park it in our garage.
The city won't go searching for that encroaching greenery, but if after you talk to your neighbors and they still won't trim the bushes, you can file a complaint on-line:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Compliance/Filing_a_…
Sidewalks are not a right or guaranteed as far as I know. However, roads are primarily for moving people and vehicles. Private vehicle storage is a secondary use and shouldn't interfere with its primary use, in my opinion. The only reason I used the terminology “right and guaranteed” is because it seems to me that people feel they are entitled to store their vehicles on public property. The city has set aside some public property for the storage of private vehicles, but it is not an entitlement. Ultimately, the owner of the car is responsibility for its storage, not the city. It may seem like things generally worked for you, but there are many who don't agree.
Here's how I know… by code all parking in Seattle is parellel unless otherwise noted.
Something better should be done, no parking within 30 ft the traffic circles on 28th.
I have called and complained about the parking in the area a couple of times so it's not just one person complaining. When a truck parks there and it's backend sticks out into the street or they are on the sidewalk then they need to park somewhere else. The other side of the street did a nice job of their parking area. I am glad they are finally deciding to fix this nightmare
Thas good to know. Can you show me the link for that, I've been digging for traffic regs today without as much success as I had hoped.
And I totally agree. You should have looked at the parking situation before you purchased your place. The entire intent of this dense housing is to get people out of their cars. And the garages are being used for storage and not parking as intended. I lived in Ballard prior to all this density occurring and as it occurred and the parking even around my place increased I decided it was time to move out. Not only did the parked cars increase and the roads go down to one lane but the inconsiderate drivers came with it.
Some facts. This area WAS NEVER angled parking legally, it was adopted by people who work in the neighborhood about 3 years ago. The cars stick out into the streets or block sidewalks, driveways and alleyways. Most of the people parking between 56th and 57th work at Habitude or live between Market and 56th. Before the 11 townhomes were built at the corner of 28th Av NW and NW 56th, there was no parking problem. There are households with multiple cars and none are using their garage or driveways, but regularly block the driveway and alley.
The parallel parking only signs are a much needed blessing and took multiple complaints…not just one…to get installed. Those of you who ignore them, I hope you get ticketed and towed away!!
Was there no curb to keep drivers from parking on the sidewalk? If not, there should be.
It's actually a little worse than that. The old houses usually had a garage, a driveway or both. So in many cases you're adding 12 more cars on the street.
The point of dense housing is not to get people out of their cars. It is to make more money on less space. Clearly.
A curb doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent, at least not in my part of the 'hood. I don't know about these town homes, but the curbs along 15th and 60th are pretty low and there are a lot of driveways to help too.
A curb doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent, at least not in my part of the 'hood. I don't know about these town homes, but the curbs along 15th and 60th are pretty low and there are a lot of driveways to help too.
Nothing was changed so no due process was needed. Existing parking regulations are now being enforced. Angle parking would be the change.
The worst neighbor is the one that blocks your driveway, blocks your sidewalk or vandalizes a car…not one who tries to restore some dignity and respect to a neighborhood. I guess you are not a brave or non-cowardly person hipster since you were probably one of the problems.
Its not as simple as that.
For a period of 4 years, the regulation was not enforced, suddenly it is enforced. At the very least, some sort of announcement that explains the gap is due.
In the face of the density increase during the same period they did not enfore the existing reg, combined with the city's flexibility in creating angled parking, it would seem that after a 4 year period they might want to do more than followup with the locals than the black letter of the law.
Your facts are incorrect. Only two of those 11 townhomes do not use their garage for cars. Anecdotally, I have never witnessed one of their cars blocking the driveway or alley…though I have seen them block the handicap ramp a few times. Please don't try to make this about the latest development, as most of the same points could be leveled at any of the apartments or townhomes.
“Most of the people parking between 56th and 57th work at Habitude or live between Market and 56th.”
That's complete horse crap. A blatant false lie. I live here and I know my neighbors who all park alongside my car.
The city screwed this one up bigtime.
And parking will continue to get worse as more townhomes are completed and more retail business comes to Market. Those 11 units are not evil and may in fact be a force for good in this nasty world.
…and telephone poles have splinters. What's your point? That there are minor dangers in everything? I'd rather have those minor dangers in nice things to look at versus concrete, but we're not arguing here. ;)
From what I know, this guy lost it because his car was vandalized for being the only legally parked car on the strret. The lack of diplomacy is what brought this about in the first place!
Love watching the Green left vs. yuppie left vs. working class left slugfest here on myballard.com….
Hyperbole much? “the worst!” While parking may be difficult in some places have you ever tried parking in other neighborhoods? Capitol Hill is a nightmare. I'm glad I bike/take the bus!
really? the worst neighbor? i can think of a thousand things a neighbor could do that are worse than contacting the city to look into a parking issue. get over your bad self.
I'm sure the developers decided to build back-to-back 3 story houses that stretch all the way to their ordinance governed setbacks as a way of encouraging people not to use cars.
Most of the developers I know are benevolent, caring about people and the environment first, making money only when they are forced to.
That is why I love this city.
Very true, parking sucks on Capitol Hill and many other neighborhoods…Alki!
The difference is parking has always been that way. My gripe is the subtraction of free parking and addition of the pay to park close to Market Street. Plus with the many bars that are in Ballard (I love Ballard’s choices, don’t get me wrong) parking to go into businesses that you need to run into for a “minute” are tough to come by. Ballard hasn’t always been that way.
you can call it WHAT you want. facts be told….
What? Isn't the city supposed to protect us from ourselves? ;-)
Point taken, SPG. I'd rather scurry past overhanging florals than not have them there to look at.
So do I and I observe and note where the people go when they park…pay attention to your neighborhood Frank!
I am home, I have photographs, I have seen the cars towed from the alley and driveway during the day. This was a much needed change and every fact is true and I have evidence…shall I post your picture blocking my neighbor's driveway to show you?
just got off the phone w/the duty officer at the north precinct. parallel parking in residential neighborhoods is the law. now finding it in the muni code isn't as easy…..title 11 somewhere.
edog….e-c-o-n-o-m-y. think about it. same reason for enforcing dogs in parks.
this we DO agree on. it serves as a perfect way to slow down those that feel the need to get somewhere 10 seconds sooner. so does this continue my “them vs us” negativity?
heh heh
Yes, facts be told. Just got back from the gym. Walked as I have for nearly every trip to gym for the past 8 years!
I hesitate to comment on here because people are so frequently rude and horrible.
That said, I'm frustrated by how many people comment about how people who park around here can get over it, and, as one said, “walk another block”. My husband and I are a two car family; we'd love to be a one car family but for our lifestyle it's just not feasible. We've tried to work it out, but we can't. His job requires use of his vehicle and I have physical impairments that restrict my ability to walk the distances required for regular bus use. We are responsible with our cars and put only about 1,000 miles per year on my car. Not that it should matter, but we willingly recycle even though our building doesn't have bins (long story, we think it's bs, but whatever).
Here's the rub- we have one spot with our home, but beyond that it's nearly impossible for my husband to find parking. He frequently has to park multiple- not 1, for the snarky person, but multiple blocks away. He works 3 jobs and is in school full time so he has massive amounts off stuff that he's lugging back and forth, not to mention the fact that he leaves for work at 3 am and if he forgets something it's a huge pain in the a. Now, I don't say this to make anyone feel sorry for us- we love Ballard, we made sacrifices to live here, and we suck it up and take it when things like this happen.
All of that said, we completely do not appreciate the lack of proper planning in this area. If you want to remove all that made Ballard great and gentrify the hell of out it, suck as it may, so be it. But it's absolutely preposterous to try and force people to be de-vehicleized (yeah, made it up) by getting rid of parking while cramming in vomitous (that's a classic I made up) dense-housing developments with completely inadequate parking. I'm sorry that it's tough to drive through there, but you can take a different street. That's a whole lot easier than moving out of a neighborhood you love when the ability to stop the over-population via condos and townhomes has been all but completely stripped from you.
The parking situation sucks, it's compounded by people getting up on here and being complete jacka's for no good reason other than b/c they can since it's essentially anonymous. What happened to working together, trying to make things better? Myballard.com seems to think that's important, so why don't the (majority of) people who comment? I'm saddened that I'm neighbors with such vindictive people when we all have the privilege of calling one of the best neighborhood's in one of the greatest cities in the world home.
End rant.
First off, you didn't make up 'vomitous.' That's been around for years. Watch the end of Princess Bride if you don't believe me.
Second, yes, the comments here can sometimes be a bit snippy. But please remember the points being put across in the article. These cars were blocking the sidewalk. The parking situation was changed for the safety of others in the neighborhood. I'm sorry you have trouble finding parking. And it has gotten worse, as friends who drive often tell me. But public safety has to be a consideration too.
Fibromyalgia?
Please post your photos. And please remember that we are generally nice people here.
SPG, spiders are not “minor dangers”. They are SPIDERS.
And no – I'm not for real arguing with you. Agreeing with you, in fact. But SPIDERS. You see my point.
Please don't log out forever and ever. ;)
No, not all of us who park there have spots or garages… that's why we park on the street!
Very frustrating…there is definitely not enough parking in this neighborhood as it is! Why don't they install those cement parking blocks on the edge of the sidewalk to keep cars off the sidewalk?
sigh…
I know my neighbors too, and those who park on 28th live in the neighborhood…the problem in finding parking is at NIGHT, not during the day when people are working on Market.
I am also nice and just want to live in the nice neighborhood I moved to 7 years ago. There is no issue with the newest townhomes other than there is now a critical mass issue that did not exist before. There is a two car couple who live there that park a car and an SUV on 28th, as well as a few other single cars being parked there. Right now there are angle parked cars that are taking up two spots and the neighborhood looks awful with haphazard parking. At 9 PM each evening, spots open up as the Habitude employees leave for the evening. Watch the pattern, look where people go and how they park…the problem is created by non-residents and has now frustrated those that live here to breaking point. I have at least 2 neighbors that I know complained to the DOT.
BTW, did anyone see/hear the car that jumped the traffice circle last night?
Some of us bought a townhouse on 56th before at least three additional houses were torn down and replaced with even more townhouses. Parking on 56th and 28th has gotten much worse in the last few years as a result. Yes, some cars park up onto the sidewalk – but this could be addressed by barriers along the curb. And I have absolutely no freaking idea what you are talking about turning “what was a two lane street into a single lane”… there's plenty of room to drive on that road.
I agree that urban planning in Ballard is poor at best, but an urban area like Ballard will NEVER have enough on-street parking. So, if you aren't going to rent or buy housing that has off-street parking for all of your cars, then be prepared to have a difficult time parking your car, or just live somewhere else. That's not being vindictive, that's reality. I'm all for working together, but working together isn't going to magically create enough parking.
Obviously, increasing density of housing doesn't decrease the need for a car, only the hassle with owning one. If people didn't buy or rent housing without adequate off-street parking there would be less incentive to build it.
It is not uncommon for folks in this community to forget that people might be disabled.
Edit: It's probably not just this community but…. :)
56th already looks ghetto what with the line of already rotting ratty fences and half dead euonymus on the south side.
Please let me add that the dead grass parking strips and crappy apartments on the north side are not really better. Really the block is just very ghetto. I do believe that one of the stimulus funded projects is to extend the sidewalks on 28th down to market. That will help bit.
I feel a need to point out that when I moved in, there was adequate street parking. Over the last 2 years, this has changed. In addition, they were in the process of building a structure which was to have underground parking at the corner of 28th and market. That building has since turned into a giant gaping hole.
I also remember reading that a new city ordinance will be to install sidewalk next to the gaping hole – I assume this will mean the elimination of 3 more spots from this area.
We need the angled parking – the parallel only works for people who stay at home all day or get off of work at 2:30 pm.
These we'd like to see please share.
Reading the comments are really amusing. As a pedestrian I assume that most car drivers will not stop at stop signs, will not give me the right of way at crosswalks and generally will try to intimidate me as much as possible, and now I see many can't even park properly or stay off a sidewalk. I'm curious, what laws are left to obey?
Man. Could be worse. Folks could be enforcing the “5 foot” rule. http://tr.im/uxqb
To your point, the good ol' 5 foot rule. :P http://tr.im/uxqb