Parking and Belmar

I've recently heard from a handful of people who are concerned about the loss of surface parking lots as more and more of Belmar is developed. It's an understandable concern, but one I don't share.

I'm not affiliated with the city of Lakewood or Belmar, but I feel good about the planning that's been done, and I strongly believe Belmar will still have enough parking after build out.

I also think it's important to consider how, in this day and age, the success or failure of a shopping district doesn't hinge on the available amount of surface parking.

In terms of parking, Belmar has three multistory parking garages (next to Staples, Whole Foods, and Elephant Bar) that I've heard from the city are under-utilized. As the temporary surface lots go away, car drivers will be able to use these parking garages. Drivers who don't want to walk a block or two to their destination can pay for street parking. The street parking in Belmar is over-utilized right now, but that's in part because no one seems to be getting ticketed. If the city decided to ticket, I think street parking would open up. The price of metered parking could be set high enough to insure parking is always available for anyone willing to pay for the convenience-- while anyone who doesn't can simply park in one of the nearby garages. In addition, all of the currently planned infill continues to allocate significant square footage to surface parking, so it's not like all of Belmar's surface parking is going away, by any means.

The second point I'd like to raise is that there a lot of people right now who can access Belmar without the need for parking. Walking and biking are extremely viable options for anyone living in downtown Lakewood, especially for the Millennials that Belmar's owners are targeting. And with all the new residential units currently being built in Belmar itself, there's going to be more and more people living within a quick walk who won't need parking. 

Car oriented developments, with their vast surface parking lots, are probably the defining characteristic of suburban living. But if readily accessible parking were all that mattered, we'd still have Villa Italia and Belmar would never have been built. But people stopped shopping at Villa Italia, even though it was never hard to find parking there.

Instead, it's pretty clear that a growing number of people want the feel of being in an urban center, and that feel-- dense, walkable, vibrant, happening-- is simply incompatible with lots of surface parking. Indeed, I would hazard that for a lot of people living in downtown Lakewood, more shops and more restaurants outweigh more parking. It certainly does for me.

So, again, I understand the concern. And yes, it's going to be a little harder to find close-in parking once Belmar is built out. But it's going to be an even better, more vibrant place to visit, whether it's by car, foot, bike, or bus.