I could see that. There is another deck by the library and park, plus one opening next month on Academy St, and one supposed to be built near Vicious Fishes on a gravel lot. So basically all 4 corners of downtown Cary will have their own free deck. Plus street parking and some various lots. I hope they’re good for awhile! 
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South of the RR tracks, besides the new deck, there are or soon will be a 225-space deck and a 600-space deck. North of the tracks there’s a 244-space surface lot and a 485-space deck. Realistically, this amount of parking would pretty much fill the downtown businesses and venues. It’s a surprisingly good vibe there… the Cary Theater, in particular.
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SHHHHHHHHHHHH come on man!!! This is a IYKYK situation, you can’t be giving this info out willy nilly!!! 
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Yep. Yhe one next to the Capitol building on Hillsborough St is always my go to.
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Is the 2 hour free parking deal still available in certain garages in downtown? This could really affect how many photos I take of the Capital City and where I eat? I got an email from Downtown Raleigh group stating there was still discussion about it. Coming next week.
From what I understand, it’s extended until June, but it’s certain decks. FWIW, there are state employee lots that are free after hours and on weekends as well.
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Yes, free 2-hour parking is still available in 5 city-owned decks downtown. We discussed the future of the program at our work session this past Monday, and staff is now recommending the free 2-hour parking remain a permanent program in our upcoming fiscal budget.
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My thoughts as a visitor: it is great and encourages people to come downtown during the day for lunch or whatever. 1 hour is just too short a time for most. Charlotte charges for parking in meters 6 days a week just not on Sundays and holidays.
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If you are capable of walking a few blocks, you really should have no trouble finding free street parking around the outskirts of downtown.
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There’s even free street parking in Glenwood South, which is still downtown proper. You just have to get off of Glenwood itself & walk a block.
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This is actually something I hope the city does not try to incentivize with whatever plan we decide to move forward with, and it’s why I’m a big fan of the decks having the 2 hours free. Removing that pushes people toward street parking, which creates a cascade of real problems:
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It adds traffic, not reduces it. When street parking is the preferred option, drivers circle looking for spots. Studies have consistently found that a meaningful share of downtown traffic (not our downtown, but other downtowns) at any given time isn’t going anywhere, it’s just hunting for curb space. I’ve seen that especially be true on weekends or during events where street parking is free and decks cost money. That’s congestion the city is actively creating by underpricing street parking.
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The act of parking itself disrupts flow. Parallel parking maneuvers create temporary bottlenecks, especially near intersections. Every car pulling in or out of a street spot is briefly stopping or slowing the lane behind it.
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Street spots get hoarded by long-term parkers. All-day parkers; employees, people running errands that stretch into hours; arrive early and claim the most convenient spots. By the time someone needs a quick stop, there’s nothing left. This directly hurts the people who need street parking most: DoorDash and Amazon drivers, Uber/Lyft pickups, people grabbing a to-go order. Those users can’t reasonably use a deck, they need curb access for minutes at a time.
The incentive structure should reflect this reality. Street parking should be priced to encourage turnover and short stays, and that revenue should flow into making the decks more accessible. If the decks are cheap or free and street parking is also free, you’ve given people no reason to use the decks, and all the costs get externalized onto everyone else in the form of traffic, slower roads, and blocked curb space for the people who actually need it.
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There is non-revenue, on-street parking along Boylan Ave. in front of my building, and I suspect that folks from 615Peace, whose unit didn’t come with parking, are using them consistently & hoarding them. The Paramount has at least 1 parking space per unit in the garage, and the units with more than 1 bedroom have 2 spaces, so there isn’t a lot of resident demand from my building. It’s pretty common on most evenings for those non-rev spaces to fill quickly along Boylan, and Johnson + other east/west streets.
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I do that a lot but with limited time I like to park centrally located so I can walk by all the major construction sites downtown. I have parked in Boylan Heights and off Glenwood. If yall ever come to Charlotte I will share of my secret spaces LOL.
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For real hit some of us up. I’m sure you could make up for parking fees in free beer and tour guide info.
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When you research this history of automobile parking, its interesting. At some point in the 1900’s, owning a car became treated as an automatic claim to public storage space, no one formally decided this. Today, it has simply evolved into the norm; you buy a private vehicle, and the city provides a place to “store it” on public land at no cost.
There has only been a few circumstances in the past couple decades where globally a region has removed automobiles from their city centers. In the city of Pontevedra in Spain, the city decided it didn’t owe the residents parking spots. Some would say the city would be on a decline with that decision, but instead air quality improved, vehicle caused pedestrian deaths ended, and the city has seen steady population grow.
It is unlikely that automobiles can be removed entirely from American cities given the current state of public transit, but we can begin creating more car‑free areas, especially in neighborhoods with enough density and walkable access to daily amenities. Walking around Smokey Hollow this past weekend made me think, if that pedestrian friendly environment were extended a few more blocks in every direction, it would further enhance the neighborhood.
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As someone in that walk-shed, I couldn’t agree more. Developing up West St. (much to the chagrin of Glenwood-Brooklyn) is a good start. Kane developing phase 3 and 4 of Smoky Hollow would be another terrific thing to do. Jumping over Capital to the Zimmer assemblage would also do wonders for the overall urban neighborhood credentials. Of course, continuing to densify within the existing Glenwood South District is a no brainer.
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This one is for @GucciLittlePig
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It’s important to note that most cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, and now portions of Paris, still have major roadways downtown and highways surrounding them. The difference between American cities and those is the fact that their downtown streets no longer prioritize the car but the pedestrian or bicyclist. Transit systems have even been placed lower on the scale in favor of more bike/ped infrastructure in some downtowns.
Smoky Hollow’s Tucker St. is an example of a street where drivers are guests instead of owners of the street/square. Many more streets could be like that. Transit malls should also become a local trend.
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I’ve always been curious about how that section came to be. Before the development, neither Johnson nor Tucker connected to Harrington. While Johnson functions like a full blown city street, it seemed like Tucker is private. However, when I checked imaps, it looks like Tucker is actually a city street. Do you know what the arrangement is for this short stretch of it? If you do, do you also know if there are other streets like it downtown?
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