Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Parking in Arlington Village


This was another topic that was creating quite a stir in some of our other threads.

Do you have space near your unit to park?

Do out-of-state plates make you crazy?

What do you think can be done to help curb the problem?

Should units be permitted to only have so many cars depending on their size? One bedroom = One car?

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Parking is a serious problem along 16th Street South. With Fairway Village and the Courtyard condos it is impossbile to find a spot in front of your unit after 8pm. Residents should be limited to the number of cars per unit according to the number of bedrooms they have. However, some people on the BoD don't think parking is a problem. Probably b/c they DON'T LIVE IN THE VILLAGE!!!

Katie said...

Limit by # of bedrooms? That's dumb. What about the 1 br plus den? Should they be limited to one car plus a scooter? Actually, I live alone, so I think my fees should be lower. I use a lot less water.

Anonymous said...

I was hoping that with the "What have you done for your neighbor" thread we would have turned the corner on complainers.... I didn't realize there were so many whiners in my community....

Anonymous said...

Did the board do a survey about the parking situation?

Anonymous said...

I think the board actually had a parking committee for a bit.

Anonymous said...

Wow a parking committee you say...It's amazing that nothing ever got done. They had a survey and released some results that really didn't show/prove anything and no action was ever taken as a result of it. Another waste of time.

Femf8tle said...

Now I could be wrong, but my memory seems to tell me that Sec’y Kennemer (non resident owner) headed up that parking committee. You’re right, I don’t really recall what was communicated at the end of their work. I did complete a survey, and I believe they did re-strip some spaces around the Village to afford us a few extra spots. If you look at Kennemer’s real estate ads she frequently uses the phrase, “plenty of unstickered parking,” or something to that effect. From her real estate perspective, she obviously senses a value to potential buyers if parking is wide open. I’d read that as....buy in Arlington Village and park as many cars as you like. Once you’re an owner perspective changes as in....why does unit owner so and so have some many cars? I remember Kennemer saying that she was opposed to stickers because of the security risk, i.e. someone would know where you live. I don’t know if that holds much water. The bottom line is that the leader of the committee certainly had a bias going in to the deal. Now if she wasn’t leading it up, I’m sorry.... I thought she did. Cupcake will get to the bottom of it for sure.

CUPCAKE said...

Cupcake to the rescue. Click on the Cupcake for the exact wording, or for those who fear my links, here it is verbatim.

Brick END TOWNHOUSE facing woods and stream in ever popular Arlington Village. Sparkling hardwood floors and crown molding. Neutral paint. Modern kitchen has GAS stove, microwave, dishwasher & big frig. Eat-in space faces woods! Spacious MBR w/big closet & 3 windows. Den makes a perfect office, child's room or hobby room. Patio out back for BBQ & gardening. Central A/C. Extra storage & laundry in courtyard. Bus stops across the street for easy access to Pentagon City Metro. Or walk 4 blocks to Columbia Pike and catch a bus straight downtown, skipping subway. Pool, tennis, extra storage, lawn maintenance, parking included in rent. Plenty non-stickered parking out front. Walk to shopping, restaurants, theater, library & county recreation center. Will accept pets on case by case basis w/deposit.

Anonymous said...

My inconsiderate neighbor has TWO cars and rarely uses one of them BUT takes the two best spots in front of our units!!!

BillArlintonVillage said...

What??!! Why, like you I'm stupefied!! Utterly stupefied, I tell you.

You should move. If I were you I'd move.

I'll even help you.

Anonymous said...

I live on 16th St South and yes, sometimes it is hard to find parking. But I have never been without a spot. I may have to walk a little bit but it might do some people good to walk two minutes to their car in the morning. Do we really have to complain about everything?

Anonymous said...

Watcha smoking, Bill?

BillArlintonVillage said...

Perhaps I overreacted. I just can't believe that someone could be so inconsiderate as to park right in the very spot where that woman wants to park.

But I think stupefied is the right word.

Anonymous said...

I think if we go to assigned parking, some people will not be happy with the space assigned to them. For instance, I wouldn't want my car parked under a tree and have to deal with the bird droppings daily. Is parking really that much of a problem for people that they may actually have to walk a block or two to their unit?

Anonymous said...

No, it's not that bad.

CUPCAKE said...

Cupcake didn't think about being assigned to a bird poop tree. Interesting idea though. Maybe assign the renters to the bird poop spots and leave the good ones for the owners. Give me a click.

Marla said...

I have not had a problem parking; in fact it is one thing I love about the Village. There are times, if I get home after 10 (I work shifts) that I may not be able to directly park in front of my unit, but I still find close parking. Sometimes people leave too much space between their car and the next, thus taking up space. But usually parking has worked out quite well.

Katie said...

I think the tree sap spots are worse than the bird poop spots.

Able to walk to my car said...

I get angry when people park in my spot too. Then I realize I don't have a spot, I have a parking area. If you want a spot next to your door, move to the burbs. The commute will be longer but you will have your personal parking spot and maybe a garage.

Anonymous said...

AV repainted the parking lines down by the pool on Barton, making the spots way smaller. We got a few extra spots, but now its harder to get in and out of the tiny spots and made worse by the bigger SUVs and folks who can't park theri cars in the lines. Why did they repaint without checking with Villagers? And why did they do it in one area only? And why when they started repainting in one courtyard did they stop because a AV budget volunteer came out and asked them not to do it in his courtyard

Anonymous said...

I don't think this photo is from the Village. I little dishonest don't you think

Anonymous said...

What about the commercial vehciles that we're seeing more of? Like the HILT trucks and the enviro taxis that are parking here? Getting rid of them would open up a few spaces.

Zak said...

Parking in AV for me isn't a problem. I have my smart car & scooter, and people encouraged me to take up a parking spot with my scooter, because other places are more prone to crime if it's not in an actual parking space...

Anonymous said...

I live on 16th and after 10pm you will likely have to park on Edgewood or near the community center. I'd be ok with assigned parking or better yet, sticker parking which comes with a fee for more than 1 car (regardless of bedroom size).

However, if I get stuck under a tree... there is a good chance the tree may end up dying. Don't worry earth people, I'll plant a tree in the ravine or your front lawn to make up for it.

Anonymous said...

My favorite was when someone put a note on a car with purple heart tags telling them they parked too long in a "good spot" and should move it further away. (It was there for about a week) This was in the strip on Barton between 1401 and 1415. So some lazy piece of sh*t wants this veteran to move so she can park closer to her door by say 10 or 15 feet or so. I hope she gets permanently stuck under a sap tree.