By FELICIA DECHTER
Rogers Park resident Steve Straus would rather walk several blocks than pay $1 an hour to park in the lakefront lot at Loyola Park, next door to his house.
“I would park three blocks away before I would pay any money for this frickin’ lot,” said Straus, a neighbor for 18 years. “It’s a damn shame they can’t give us permit parking. Nobody around here is rich.”
That’s why another neighbor, Maynard Krasne, thinks now that summer is over the lot should be free. Krasne said working-class Rogers Park residents can’t afford to park close to home since the price recently jumped from a quarter to $1 an hour under the privatization deal the city has with Standard Parking.
“That’s a lot of money for this community,” said Krasne, a resident since 1993. “A quarter an hour is acceptable, but when people are not using the park and beach, there should not be any charge at all in that parking lot.”
Although the lot is free from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m., neighbors say with winter coming and the park emptying out it should now be free 24/7. The lot, they say, is empty during the day because residents can no longer afford the parking, even though spaces are now available because no one is visiting the beach like they do when it’s warmer out.
They note that at $1 an hour for 10 hours a day— from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. — for 30 days a month, it now costs $300 a month to park in the lot. With the last U.S. Census reporting the median income for the neighborhood at $31,602, the meters are a “high-priced item in a working class neighborhood,” Krasne said.
“A lot less people park there now, there is no economic benefit” to the city, said Krasne. “It’s senseless.”
In June, 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore used $89,000 of his aldermanic menu money—each alderman receives about $1 million a year to spend as he wishes on needs in the ward — to keep the lot free at night for three years, and that same amount will have to be paid annually until the free deal he cut with the Chicago Park District is up. But there will be no freebies for daytime parkers, said the alderman’s chief of staff, Betsy Vandercook.
“Nobody likes the dollar an hour, nobody’s happy about it,” said Vandercook. “But it will not be free.
“Could daytime parking be paid off?” said Vandercook. “It could probably… and us not pave any streets.”
To help alleviate parking troubles, neighbors for years have asked Moore for more permit parking in the 49th Ward, which would allow residents who don’t have a spot on their property to more easily park on the street. But Moore has not budged on the issue and has said east of Sheridan Road is a gateway to the park and lakefront, so no permit parking will be issued. Yet neighbors dispute that reasoning, and say even permit parking at night, when the park is closed, would help.
“If it’s truly a gateway to the park and beach, the lot on Lunt should be free,” said Mark Droegemueller, who lives a block away. “The people who don’t want to pay for the lot crowd the streets — Lunt, Morse, etc. — and then the residents have no place to park by their homes and are forced to pay for the lot.”
Out of 1,300 permit parking zones in the city, the 49th Ward has three, according to information provided by Kristine Williams, spokeswoman for the Chicago City Clerk’s office. Although zone sizes vary, that number is low compared to, for example, the 97 zones in the 30th Ward or the 75 zones in the 12th Ward. A parking permit costs residents $25 annually.
Williams said since permit parking was established in 1979 with the intent of establishing zones near schools and hospitals, “it’s mushroomed and grown, encompassing every area of the city.” That growth is one reason City Clerk Miguel del Valle last week asked the City Council to review permit parking, she said.
Vandercook said there will be no additional permit parking in the 49th Ward to alleviate the crunch.
“There is no plan, and I don’t believe there will be a plan,” she said.
Related stories:
Park District Puts Squeeze on 49th Ward Aldermanic Menu Money
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if residents are too poor to afford the parking rates, they’re too poor to own & operate a car legally (meaning with proper insurance). here’s a thought, stop driving & use the CTA? i haven’t driven in over 15 years & only do so when needed. you will save yourself much more money that way.
EJE… some of us drive for our job (using our personal vehicle) or work in areas that either the CTA doesn’t go to or does not feasably go to. My company moved to Vernon Hills several years ago. My ‘one way’ commute would be 2 1/2 hrs on public transportation and would still require a two mile walk down a road with no sidewalks once I got off the train in the suburbs.
In addition to gas, insurance, maintenance, city permits, the street tax (parking tickets), etc. $300 per month to park a car is indeed a big issue. I own my car (no payments) so that helps at least.
Not everyone has the same public transit options that you obviously do. Since my car is paid off and I’d need a pass for CTA, Metra, & Pace to get to work every day (plus put in 2 1/2 hours each way), driving is the logical, most time and economically wise way for me to get to work.
The only other option is to quit and find another job… no easy task in this economy.
my old company relocated from old town to park ridge. i vowed NEVER to work outside of the city, though i had become complacent in my cozy position at this employer. i quit as they left the city & have since found an even better job making almost twice as much money. it can be done, even in this economy.
Glad that worked out for you EJE… In my case, I have a company with great benefits that appreciates their employees and has shown a great deal of loyalty to me during these trying times. I’m more than happy to make the trip to Vernon Hills and am in position to be able to do so.
The crazy thing is that while the parking meters are charging people $300 per month for parking outside (on streets or parking lots that have already been paid for by our other tax payments), I pay my condo association 1/3rd of that to park in a heated, secure garage in my building.
Alas, parking meters are designed to discourage long term parking in areas which are more suitable to short term parking (commercial districts). I’m not a proponent to using a public parks for long term parking needs, but when there is such a lack of other options either public or private, allowances have to be made. This is especially true when the city continues to allow for zoning with dense housing. Something has to give and I don’t think that charging citizens to park in a city owned parking lot that was constructed with their tax dollars an amount 3X as much as I pay to park in my building is fair. But I digress…
My original point was that while some of us have the ability to not own a car and take public transit or even walk or bike to work (as I once could), that’s not the reality for everyone. Nor is that a desire for everyone. Making a judgment on whether one should give pushback over $300 a month for parking assumes that those that are upset are somehow at fault and that’s just not the case. You’ve made a decision to work in the city. That works for you… but that doesn’t work for everyone considering the number of companies who have moved OUT of the city due to the same higher taxes and fees that the people in the article are fighting for themselves personally.
… another point is that the people upset with the $300 per month for parking could very well be just able to pay that amount in addition to the insurance, maintenance, gas, etc. Maybe they are upset because that additional $300 out of their monthly budget is going to be money they cannot now spend on other household needs for their families. $3600 per year is tuition for a better school. $3600 per year might be braces for a child. $3600 per year might be tuition and books for one of the city colleges. They might have the $300 per month but likely that money will come from displacing other things that are needed for a better quality of life. Maybe, they think that can better direct those funds for their families rather than paying for city departments with 1/3rd absentee rates, truck drivers paid by the city who sleep in their trucks, etc. I’m sure part of the frustration is the city continuing to go back to them for more and more $$$ (sales tax, real estate taxes, stickers, taxes on their phone, taxes on their cable, higher gas taxes than in the ‘burbs, etc) while allowing the city government to squander the tax receipts they have now.