![Resident-Parking-Only-Sign-K-8618[1]](https://theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Resident-Parking-Only-Sign-K-86181.gif "Out of town commuters NOT WELCOME in Ridgewood?")
March 1,2018
the staff of The Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, strong recommendation made by Walker Consultants (contained in their parking garage financial analysis report) to allot 50 spaces for out of town commuters in the proposed Hudson Street parking garage, more than one member of the Village Council said “absolutely no way” during last night’s Village Council meeting.
The Walker report says: “The new garage will attract roughly 50 commuters from outside Ridgewood, which it should be able to accommodate during weekday commuter hours without impacting Village businesses.” It further explains: “Although we are not able to quantify potential gains of customers due to more space being available, we do quantify (albeit broadly) an increase in commuter demand from non-Ridgewood residents looking for parking near the train station. In the past Ridgewood had upwards of 120 out-of-towners using the Ridgewood train station. With parking in short supply, the Village raised rates for non-residents and demand decreased. The out of town permit rate has decreased again and there is a small amount of demand. With supply available on weekdays once the garage is built, we project about 50 new permits.”
The staff of The Ridgewood Blog questions why Village Council members are so opposed to out of towners provided, as Walker suggests, there is plenty of parking available. Have we become such an elite community?
This “no out of towners” welcome attitude clearly sends the wrong message. Let’s fill the garage so we can avoid going into debt and not worry about where the money is coming from.
LOL. Build a wall, Get surrounding towns to pay for it.
they just shoot from the hip. there is no effort to understand or think these things through and each time it just costs us more in taxes and more in fees. so frustrating.
Good one Ridgewood Taxpayer!
“The out of town permit rate has decreased again and there is a small amount of demand.” That’s because there isn’t a parking defecit. Properly enforce meters and implement long term parking to the east end of the CBD. COUNCIL, SAVE US FROM 15 MILLION DOLLAR DEBT AND ANNUAL MAINTENANCE COSTS (to run a non profitable garage).
People of the village Ridgewood is so overrated. In 2 to 5 years retail cannot make it. 40% right now or buying from warehouse is like Amazon and free delivery. How can anyone afford the rent
Any garage that is built will almost certainly fail to turn a profit and will therefore become a taxpayer-subsidized albatross. Municipalities and their elected governmental leaders, regardless how well meaning they are, are not running a business. Neither are they educating themselves, or making timely, wise decisions at the high level of business leaders who run successful modern companies or thriving small businesses.
I shop online or go to shopping mall. Paramus Park Mall and Fashion Center works for me.
I cook at home to maintain my bikini figure. Satisfying meals that fill me and low in fats , salt and sugar , delicious and easy to fix. Tons of great cookbooks in library for info. Do the many restaurants in town really have a future.
What about self driving cars. Uber , and so on, taxis. bikes, walkin baby walkin. What about raising meter rates for garage. Will people drop a dollar for each hour. Not in our town. NYC, yes.
Garage is a PREVENTABLE disaster in the making.
Not sure we need a garage but we do need a commuter solution. As a commuter who uses the train station parking lot we do need to limit this lot use to,residents only. It is not possible to park at the station after app 6:50 am. Very frustrating to pay 40k in annual taxes and see non residents taking spots for a fraction of those tax costs.
It is not uncommon in better managed towns to have resident only commuter lots and cheaper or no parking meters.
Maybe after we address parking we can design a train station that allows people to be picked up and dropped off without causing a huge traffic jam.
But that takes leadership, something lacking in all areas of this village
I am perfectly fine with a resident only parking solution. And yes maybe a jitney system that picks up and drops off people during morning and evening commute can help alleviate the issue.
Yes, indeed. Residents only. Let whycoff build its own garish lot and bus people to the Glen Rock train station. Why are so many people intent on making our downtown a mecca for traffic?
And, if we can’t economically do this garage without importing people from surrounding towns to park there during the day, then the answer is clear. we don’t need this garage.
…..and who pays for the jitney system ?
5:25 we will take it out of the teachers and police and town hall coffee pot expenses Run it 6 am to 10 and 430 to 730 that would take leadership
Apartment builders need a lot. Make the builders pay for a large portion of the garage IF WE BUILD ONE. Otherwise, make them provide adequate parking in their construction. This “most of the residents won’t have a car” stuff is as big of an imaginary concept as “There will almost no new school children” is a pipe dream. Even though Ridgewood’s education is no longer good enough for national bragging, it is better than some school districts. You say “people buy and leave the second their child graduates”. Renting an apartment will accomplish the same thing at a much cheaper cost. Those are the families who will fill the apartments. Is Ridgewood going to set a limit for the number of people in each apartment? These people, like many of our current apartment dwellers, are used to being crowded. It would be worth it to many if it meant putting their children into a better school. Now, each of these families must have at least one, if not two, cars to get the parents to work. And they’ll need much more water than a single older couple would utilize, etc. etc. Ridgewood taxpayers shouldn’t need to pay more than a very few dollars if the builders must pay and the big businesses (most of whose owners are not Ridgewood residents) should be forced to contribute also. They’re the ones screaming that “their businesses will fail w/o a garage”. Let them “put their money where their mouth is”!.
I’ve lived here and commuted to the city for 20 years.
I’ve had to park in HHK for a good chuck of that time since parking at the Ridgewood train station is impossible. Why isn’t there a reasonable plan for those of us residents who already pay too much tax to park in town instead of out of towers? The reason they are saying out of owners get the parking is because they know we won’t pay the extortionate prices they will surely charge. The VC don’t care about us, no matter how many Amigos are currently on the board. If they build this garage despite the majority of us not wanting it, they should all be voted out!
11:45 are you kidding? Talk about a showoff. Bikini figure? Prove it. You do definitely live in Ridgewood.
A decision to go with resident only parking is not elitist. It is based in simple economics. If Ridgewood taxpayer funds are used for the parking structures and for the lots and on-street parking, why shouldn’t the people who pay those taxes have preferential access to that parking? They have already contributed to the costs. I commuted by train for a while. Parking in Ridgewood anywhere near the station was almost impossible, but it was very easy to park in the HHK lot (not so easy now). Why would we give preference to non-residents? If they pay the same parking fee but do not pay Ridgewood taxes that support the parking, then they pay less for the same usage. That would be unfair to residents.