We discussed earlier in the week our frustrations with parking in the city and as a city driver myself, I consistently feel this annoyance. Chicago has just installed in many places meters where it costs $1.25 to park for an hour as well as expensive parking garages where it can cost anywhere from $10-$50. The Chicago Tribune discusses how other States may follow suit after the success Chicago has had after privatizing much of their parking. The Tribune explains since this change “Chicago reaped an upfront payment of $564 million for its parking garages in 2006, and about $1.2 billion upfront for its parking meters a year ago” (Uribe). These meters and parking garages are run by Morgan Stanley and have helped Chicago fill some of the holes where the budget has thinned.
This is Friedman at his finest. As a firm believer that what the market place can take care of, it should is exactly what Chicago is doing here with their parking garages and meters. Friedman preaches privatization and it shows that it works. Though we may not want or like to pay for parking often it becomes a necessary evil after circling to find that free spot for 35 minutes. Chicagoans, as well as their visitors, have grown to accept that to find parking in Chicago one must pay for parking in Chicago. However, we have proven that Chicago parking is a business with a high demand and a low supply, therefore, it will continue to make profit and take the money of the public and proceed to give it towards the private businesses that own it.
Though I am one of those people that have to pay for this ridiculous parking where someone is more than likely to hit or scratch my car anyways, I understand it is a gold mine. I am interested to hear your thoughts though, should we be paying for parking? Should it be privatized? How else may this problem be resolved?
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I agree with you. This is exactly what Friedman would want or propose to be put in place. And reading this made me think of the issues that came up recently when Mayor Daley allowed privtized parking meters in some areas. For the economy's, it's a good thing because through the privatization, it's helping fill in some of the accumulated debt. But it has a negative side for the consumers who have to pay extra for parking. It can go either way.
ReplyDeleteThese are some great questions you ask. Personally, I believe we should not be paying for parking, and it shouldn’t not be privatized. With the recent installation of parking meters on public roads, it is impossible to find parking without paying for it. I personally believe that public streets should be for the public, and private companies should not be making a profit off public roads. However, in terms of Friedman, he would be all for the privatization of parking. I agree with what you said that he is a firm believer in whatever the market can handle by itself, should be handled without the coercion of the government. But as a city driver like yourself, I am sick of paying for parking on public roads where there is a great chance of someone putting a ding in my car. As far as parking garages go, they are just far too expensive to use on a daily basis, and it is ridiculous how much money is made at the expense of the public. It almost seems like there are so many parking garages now that they can never be filled up! Yet the prices keep going up and up and I cant see it stopping anytime soon. This was in interesting article to read and I am glad we both agree on how ridiculously difficult, and expensive it is to park in this great city of ours.
ReplyDeleteChicago is known for it's food, being a sports town, sightseeing and the windy city nickname! Resolution you say?! There is no way anyone can resolve this without effecting someone's wallets! If you do not use the CTA to arrive as your daily commute, you drive your car through an expressway of congested traffic, dealing with non-drivers for sharing the lanes and once you get into town you throw down money to pay expensive parking garages or search frantically for a open spot to park! Frustrating I know but Mayor Daley's main concern is the betterment of Chicago and how he looks for re-election so it's not one of his top priorities! For the time being I think it should be privatized otherwise it would be placed at the bottom of the barrel of things that City needs to be corrected like the Thompson Center!
ReplyDeletehttp://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2009/10/granite-panels-on-thompson-center-deemed-unsable-all-panels-in-buildings-arcade-to-be-removed.html
Well, this is a tough issue, because as you said, supply is scarce and demand is great, and due to the law of supply and demand, when there is a shortage, prices go up, to reset things at a higher equilibrium where there is less demand due to higher prices, so supply and demand become equal, and only a select few can enjoy those benefits.
ReplyDeletePrivatized or not, paying for parking sucks, the alternative is the CTA, which is not that great, especially after this latest development of route cuts. We are left with a choice, which one is the lesser evil?
Great article, but I am a firm believer that parking should be something we don't have to pay for. We already pay for so many things as tax payers. I think that expropriation of the streets is what we need. You said we take the risk of having our cars hit or scratched anyways, why pay someone to have that happen to us. I believe that an issue like this should not exist because it is part of the welfare and greater well being of all citizens of this country. There is a fine line that businesses should not step over, and I believe the streets that we pay for anyway should be available without further payment.
ReplyDeleteChicago will sell anything as long as they can make a profit. Friedman would definitely agree with the idea of a city selling its properties to private hands. This is Friedman's biggest statement about privatizing everything. I think its only a start when it comes to Chicago selling of its assets. It starts with meters and parking. Then it will go to making a deal to lease Midway Airport and so on. One bad thing about all this is that prices have sky rocketed for parking, but thats what happens when private firms own this. On a good side its a less of load for a city because they can focus on other problems in the city while still making revenue from the assets they sold off.
ReplyDeleteI liked your blog post because it brings many issues to my mind. First, I think that whether we like it or not they will never delete these meters the government has brought because of the fact it is making lots of profit. Like many mentioned if you dont want to pay for parking then you can take the CTA which is bad also. Second, I think they should and should not privatize streets. Its conflicting because first there are lots of people in the south that like Prof. Manos says "save" their parking, and its hard to park there because you know if you do then something will happen to your car. But if the government put meters or residential parking in many streets then its harder for these people to save their parking which is not fair for so many who take more than 30 min to find parking. Then if they Charge for public parking its also not fair because like someone mentioned above we are paying for something to happen to our car which is not fair. This is a difficult situation but Friedman would totally agree with this type of privitization of streets.
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