November 30, 2006
What Section are we Parked In? Oh Yeah, RFK
Ahhh, the stadium parking saga would be hilarious were it not so maddening.
WTOP is reporting that the city may finally have found a solution to what is sure to be a lack of parking at the new stadium -- RFK. No, seriously. RFK. The old stadium. Where the Nats are playing now, and where you park NOW. Read for yourself:
City and team officials are looking at alternatives for parking at the new stadium. The D.C. Council recently agreed on a plan to build the required 1,225 parking spaces at the Southeast site, but there are concerns that more spaces will be needed.To see if this idea would fly at all, the team has sent their season ticket holders a survey asking whether or not they'd mind the trek. We're guessing they will, but given the alternatives (well, there aren't many just yet), they might not have a choice. Of course, RFK's neighbors are none-too-happy with the idea. After all, the entire site is simply ripe for development, and acres of parking don't seem like such a great investment.One option is having fans and stadium employees park at RFK Stadium and take a free shuttle bus to the new stadium. According to a spokesperson for the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, a Transportation Operations Parking Plan includes the RFK shuttle as a possibility.
What do you think? Would you mind parking that far away? Is it a better alternative than turning the planned baseball entertainment district into a baseball parking district? Comment away.
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Let the Nats locate in Maryland or Virginia. This whole enterprise is way to expensive.
Too little, too late - of course - but they should have followed the Philly model. Build new stadium in the parking lot of the old one, then tear down the old one and replace its footprint with parking. Why do this? Well, RFK is already on the metro, already off 295-395, and already features nice riverfront views. And it would have cost a fraction of what the current project will end up costing us, the DC taxpayers.
As for the idiotic RFK shuttle bus plan...it's idiotic. Seriously. People should take the metro, sure, but are we going to have FedEx Field-like problems at the new Nats park? (paying 30 bucks to park in a satellite lot, then have to hike a mile to a shuttle bus stop, then take a 25 minute bus ride)
Wow! Just when you think this whole stadium debacle can't get any worse, it does. Parking at RFK for a game located off of South Capitol St?
This is too ridiculous to be real, I'm sure this all part of Martin's plan to undermine the stadium project one blog post at a time.
Couldn't DC just enact another "business tax" to fund the construction of a 10k parking garage directly under the stadium? Since it's a business tax, this wouldn't affect residents at all. Gotta keep picking fruit from that business tax money tree.
I think the solution is obvious, either fill-in the Tidal Basin and convert that to a parking lot, OR raze and pave over the Navy Yard for additional parking. While we're at it why not redirect the flow of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and create more land to develop.
And just because you build it doesn't mean that "they" will come. As the last MLB season drew to a close the Nats were averaging what, about 24,000 fans per game? Unless the team sees marked improvement this next year I wouln't worry too much about additional parking.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Seriously, its as if they didn't think about any details...Oh, wait.
However, if you were going to have satellite parking, RFK isn't the worst place. With a little road building (they'd have to get across the railroad tracks) you could have shuttle buses use Water St. and M St. to get down to the stadium.
I really hate to say it, but this stadium is being built inside of a city. Suburbanites who want a front row parking space right outside the wall of the stadium are being highly unreasonable. It's a city. Find a parking space, front row or otherwise, at the park and ride at your suburban metro stop and ride the train into town. Quit b*tching about parking at the stadium. They built few spaces at the MCI/Verizon Center and sure, people grumble about the lack of parking, but they still manage to sell the place out routinely and without issue. People learn to adapt, like takign metro, etc, rather than building a facility that complies with peoples attitudes now.
Dearest Martin -
Are you really this obtuse or is it an act to get comments? The land at RFK is not ripe for development. That land is Federal property on which, as it is currently allowed, nothing BUT a stadium may built. Are the intellectually lazy hipster doofuses that seem to comprise the vast majority of DCist readership not able to understand the details of stadium contruction, revenue allocation, revenue generation and neighborhood revitalization? Or have their Lindsey Lohanish intellects been too severely tested by the nightly efforts to order another Pabst Blue Ribbon and bum another American Spirit?
Dearest Martin -
Are you really this obtuse or is it an act to get comments? The land at RFK is not ripe for development. That land is Federal property on which, as it is currently allowed, nothing BUT a stadium may built. Are the intellectually lazy hipster doofuses that seem to comprise the vast majority of DCist readership not able to understand the details of stadium contruction, revenue allocation, revenue generation and neighborhood revitalization? Or have their Lindsay Lohanish intellects been too severely tested by the nightly efforts to order another Pabst Blue Ribbon and bum another American Spirit?
Fuck 'em. Get on the Metro.
Logan,
I'm not obtuse at all. Reservation 13, which is right next to RFK, is being turned over from federal control to the city for re-development. What's to say that the feds won't do the same come 2008 with the land at RFK? In fact, I bet they would, and I bet the city would push for it. Even is it isn't turned over, the NCRC held a forum a few months back where they brainstormed what to do with the RFK site after the stadium goes out of use -- and very little of it included another stadium. Are you too obtuse to have known this?
Frankly, I don't mind if there's no parking built at the new stadium, save for spots for the handicapped. Seriously, the point Jason makes is most valid: the stadium is in an urban location, and adding behemoth parking structures doesn't really make sense. Metro is there (Navy Yard station is close to the stadium, and it will be renovated for the new neighbor), all is well.
And why not use the RFK lots? Setting up a shuttle from RFK wouldn't be too difficult, and Metro is there, too.
I took the Nats' survey, and I answered what I'm sure a lot of Nats fans answered: I take Metro to games.
And Logan: it's not just hipsters who read and participate in DCist.
if those suburbanites are gutsy enough they could always come across the river and park off of south capitol on the anacostia side. it's a short walk across the bridge, and i promise we're friendly over here.
housing is still cheap over here too, maybe they'll check the views of the cathedral, the monuments, and the capitol and join the ranks of the urban pioneers buying up property over here. who said you couldn't find a two bedroom condo for under $250?
Your graphic designer is special.
National Capital Planning Council (NCPC), not NCRC. But thanks for mentioning the forum! I still like their proposal, fundable or not.
I've never driven to RFK for games, but I've heard consistently from Virginia-based friends that it's very easy to park and driving makes getting home MUCH faster. Much as in "driving shaved an hour off the trip." I loves me some Metro, but an hour's an hour. If I lived in Virginia I'd probably drive too.
The team has to weigh that inconvenience into any decision about parking. For every ten minutes longer, on average, that it takes to get home from the park how many fewer seats will be filled for an entire game? I assume there's some economist out there who can answer that question, but I sure don't know.
Actually Martin.
First, if you look at the NCPC website they actually have a plan for the site. Take a gander. Not much that creates revenue for the city or expands the tax base. And there have also been discussions about a postal sorting facility on the site.
Second, as difficult as it was for the city to get the the feds to turn over Res. 13 and Poplar Point (and it was the first major land grant to the city from the feds since home rule) I doubt they would turn the RFK site over to the city so easily.
Finally, RFK won't be vacant in 2008 unless DC United was secretly building a new stadium.
The planned expansion of the Navy Yard Metro station was severely cut back (by 60%) under pressure to cut corners to secure a qualifying estimate for stadium project costs from the CFO leading up to Council approval. The Navy Yard station is, and will remain, much smaller than the Stadium-Armory station -- not big enough to ensure adequate service to baseball fans.
Instead of expanding the station and platform to handle game crowds anywhere close to as well as the Stadium-Armory station, all that is being provided after cut-backs are added escalators and turnstiles. And the next closest Metro stops are too far away for most to consider.
Worse, the Mayor's city planning officials had the nerve to spin this as a positive for economic development as fans would be crowded outside the stadium, unable to get home after games, and likely to spend more money in and around the stadium out of boredom.
But guess what? Much of the promised economic development (including bars, restaurants and other post game entertainment) was just eliminated by the approval of giant aboveground parking garages. Rather than being held hostage by the lack of an adequate Metro and/or nearby bars etc., this would, of course, encourage more people to drive.
Oh wait. There's not nearly enough parking either. Transportation Nightmare!
I believe plans for a DC United stadium are in the works.
Regardless, the good news is that no public monies will be spent in bringing Rod's House of Semen to Washington, DC.
Hurm, RFK is near the Anacostia River; the new stadium is near the Anacostia River. Instead of shuttle buses, they should set up a party barge to float people between parking and games ...
Okay, I feel stupid but I have to ask... What is Rod's House of Semen?
In the past when my wife and I have done the Bike DC event, the route goes past RFK, across the river on E. Capitol and eventually down Anacostia Dr. along the river to S. Capitol and back into the city across whatever bridge that is. It isn't actually that far. But seems like a great reason for people not to drive.
The bigger point, however, is one of city planning and getting your shit together. This across-the-city parking plan is just more fuel from those NYC natives who love to complain about dumb stuff that DC does. If you want a stadium and you want to have parking, make sure you can do both in the same spot. And if you are going to spend a lot of money on parking facilities, don't bother putting "close to a metro station" on your short list of criteria. Said another way, if you plan to put your stadium near a metro station, don't worry so much about parking.
Wasn't Rod's House of Semen one of the many greasy old gay dive bars that was part of the "Gay Disneyland" that formerly occupied the new ballpark site?
What a total waste of time. The city is bending over backwards here for nothing. We have a glorious subway system with a stop at Navy Yard -- and guess what -- people can use their feet (you know, those things attached to legs) to walk from the South Capitol station.
"In the beginning, the earth was without parking. The planner said, Let there be parking, and there was parking. And the planner saw that it was good. And the planner then said, Let there be off-street parking for each land use, according to its kind. And developers provided off-street parking for each land use according to its kind. And again the planner saw that it was good. And the planner said to cars, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And the planner saw everything he had made, and, behold, it was not good."
--Shoup, Donald C., "The High Cost of Free Parking." Chicago, IL: Planners Press, © 2005, p. 21
It may have been greasy, old, and gay but Rod's House of Semen was NOT a dive bar. And anyone who thinks otherwise is merely a paid shill for Todd's House of Semen.
And a Gay Disneyland is exactly the sort of family-friendly place that this town desperately needs. Sort of like USPN Zone but with more show tunes and 2-for-1 happy hour specials involving sodomy.
For all the suburbanite bashers... the City needs the suburban fans to attend games and spend money. A nice chunk of the stadium financing will be paid by revenues generated by at-game spending. If the stadium is not easy to get to, it stops being an attraction and all you have left is a terrible team.
bawler - I don't think the city is "bending over backwards" so much as "grabbing its ankles." And MLB is only too happy to oblige our invitation, with a $1k bill wrapped around its wang.
Has anybody even considered approaching the Navy to co-build a parking garage on the Navy Yard? The NAVSEA influx makes parking a premium there. If they were to build a garage at the west end of the yard, secure access from the rest of the yard, and allow public access during games, everybody wins.
The Navy would never go for shared parking. Now that the military is frightened of terrists, they want to be as far as possible from the public. The Coast Guard is planning a facility for St. E's West that will basically lock residents out of prime real estate and open space because our homeland security heroes need all kinds of buffering.
As for DC United's stadium move, that won't likely be happening for some time if the site is supposed to be Poplar Point. The Anacostia Waterfront Corporation is talking about 2019 before any serious development happens on the site.
Actually, the Navy Yard and Stadium-Armory platforms are nearly the same size. All Metro station platforms are the same length (in order to accommodate the 8-car trains), and they are within a foot or two of each other in width. According to Metro's plans, the upgraded Navy Yard station should have the same passenger-handling capacity as Starium-Armory.
The RFK land is useless until something is done with it. I see no problem with using it as a satellite parking lot while the rest of the stadium area development gets its shit together. All you have to do is make sure that the commercial establishments have enough underground garage parking to accomodate game days. The folks from VA who feel like paying 25 bucks to park will get first-rown parking access to the stadium, and the ones who don't will find other options. Any parking solution in RFK is clearly not long-term because eventually something will be done with the land, but in the meantime, you gotta provide some kind of options for people.
My biggest concern is that the metro station is one line only, so train frequency will have to be increased artificially to a higher degree even than RFK, since that station serves two lines.