[SkateDC] yet still more on Parking in DC

[George Marinkovich]

MyeongHee, that's a very good point regarding the 2 hour parking limits.  I missed that my first time through the article.  It motivated me to map out the 8 new parking district and see exactly how we might be affected:

These districts require $2 per hour with a 2 hour limit.

1: Adams Morgan: 18th Street NW from Florida Avenue to Lanier Place and Columbia Road NW from 16th Street to Wyoming Avenue.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432696 

2: Georgetown Historic District: M Street NW from 25th Street to 38th Street and Wisconsin Avenue NW from Water Street/Whitehurst Freeway to Whitehaven Parkway.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432703 

3: Penn Quarter/Chinatown: an area of Northwest bounded by 16th Street, Massachusetts Avenue, Louisiana Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue between Fifth and 15th streets.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432721 

4:
 U Street NW corridor: Georgia Avenue/Seventh Street to 18th Street. 
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432725 

5: Downtown Central Business District: the area of Northwest bounded by M Street, 12th Street, Constitution Avenue and 22nd Street.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432671 

6: Maine Avenue and Water Street SW
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432735 

7: The Mall: the area bounded by Constitution Avenue NW, Third Street, Independence Avenue SW and 23rd Street.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432671 

8: Van Ness Street NW: from 40th Place to Connecticut Avenue. 
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432741 

The good news is that parking at the White House is really only affected by three districts:
District 5:  Downtown Central Business District (the big kahuna), 
District 3:  Penn Quarter/Chinatown, and
District 7:  The Mall

Consolidating those three districts yields
 the following map which I call the Parking Exclusion Zone (PEZ):  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3432789
 
It's an area which is, more or less, a rectangle with it's four corners at 22nd and M, Massachusetts and Louisiana (Union Station), 3rd and Independence, and 22nd and Independence.  That's a big chunk to be sure, but there appear to be some good hunting grounds for parking just outside the PEZ.

Parking areas near the White House that appear to be unaffected by the new parking restrictions (most promising listed first):

Parking in these areas should be free after 6:30 pm and not limited to 2 hours.

1.  West End: roughly the area bordered by O to the north, 23rd to the east, K to the south, and 25th to the west.  Mostly office buildings so would expect on street parking to be available at 6:30 pm.

2.  Foggy Bottom/GWU: roughly the area bordered by K to the north, 23rd to the east, Constitution to the south, and Rock Creek Parkway to the west.

3.  Dupont and Logan Circles: roughly the area north of M.

4.  Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center: roughly northeast of Massachusetts.

5.  L'Enfant Plaza (yeah, it's a nasty rough-tile surface, but you can skate into the 12th St. tunnel at Independence and zip under the Mall, which is fun).  Parking free from 6:30 pm.

Bottom Line:

Parking for our Sunday skates are unaffected.  Parking is not an acceptable excuse for not coming to our Sunday skates ;-)

Parking for weeknight skates (Wednesday and Friday) has become harder, but there are still areas that are reasonably close to the White House and also very close to Froggy Bottom Pub.  Unfortunately, it won't take others very long to figure this out too and then we'll all be competing for the same limited number of good spots.

Finally, if you patronize any businesses in the PEZ you might mention to the owner or the people who work there how surprised you are to find out about the new parking restrictions and share with them whether the new parking restrictions make you more or less likely to do business there as often as you did in the past.  Businesses have a lot at stake with the new parking restrictions and unlike many of us who live outside DC they have a voice in DC government.

Cheers,
George

--- On Sun, 1/24/10, MyeongHee Elgibali <pleskobali at hotmail.com> wrote:

From: MyeongHee Elgibali <pleskobali at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [SkateDC] yet more on Parking in DC
To: "George Marinkovich" <skatewash at yahoo.com>, "Susan
 Burgerman" <susan at burgerman.net>, "Andrew Baxley" <baxlap at msn.com>, "WAR WAR" <skate at skatedc.org>, sharonj2 at remax.net
Date: Sunday, January 24, 2010, 11:51 AM




i will shut up and skate...but my worry is not about feeding the meters. it's about being able to get back to the car within 2 hours after the friday skate.  unless we can find a parking meter that have no time limit, it will crate lots trouble for lot of skaters who cannot simply walk, skate or take metro.
 

 
 		 	   		  
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