Neiman Marcus Employee Parking Lot Next to San Miguel Center Squeezing Retailers

May 2, 2012 8:30 am

When Neiman Marcus open its doors in March, where did you think all those employees would park? It turns out they purchased a parking lot located next to the San Miguel Center at the corner of Newell Ave. and S. Broadway, and apparently the lack of parking is impacting retailers in the center as customers have trouble finding parking.

After 3 years, Quiznos closed in March, and word on the street is that other retailers near that part of the San Miguel Center are having a tougher time as well.

Not all retailers in the San Miguel Center are experiencing problems with less available parking, so I guess we’ll see what happens in the future. Has anyone had problems parking at the San Miguel Center recently?

7 Comments

Walnut Creek Available Parking Digital Sign of the Day

April 20, 2012 8:30 am

The digital signs around downtown Walnut Creek notifying people of the available spaces is a really useful service so people can try other garages that may have more spots available. This sign is next to the Broadway Plaza parking garage near Crate & Barrel. Does anyone know how long this has been there?

Previously someone commented on how the employee spots are on the first floor. Do people think the employee spots should remain there or be moved to the top floor, or to the top covered floor?

0 Comments

Private Parking Vs. Public Parking in Walnut Creek

April 9, 2012 8:30 am

I was contemplating making this a “sign of the day” post, but I decided to focus on public vs. private parking in downtown Walnut Creek instead. The sign says, “PRIVATE PARKING” at top, and right below, “PAY PUBLIC PARKING”. Is this confusing to anyone?

I’m so used to these signs that I never really pay attention anymore, but it is somewhat bizarre, isn’t it? How could there possibly be both private and public parking in the same spot!? I believe what it means is that the City of Walnut Creek farms out these public spaces to a private company who manages them to earn revenue for both the company as well as the city, but I can only imagine the confusion to visitors to Walnut Creek. Maybe the wording could be changed, instead of “PAY PUBLIC PARKING”, to “CITY OF WALNUT CREEK” or something.

*UPDATE* A reader below notes that, “these are privately owned parking spaces that are made available for public use, for a fee. The City has nothing to do with enforcement, collection or revenue.”

In that case the sign should be changed from, ” PAY PUBLIC PARKING” to “Parking Meters Available to Public” or something.

The parking garage situation in downtown Walnut Creek is another confusing anomaly because the private garages are free, and the publicly own garages are fee-based. I bet there are quite a few visitors to Walnut Creek who assume the public garages are the best deal available. Or am I off base here?

4 Comments

Private Parking Ticket Enforcement in Action

January 6, 2012 8:30 am

I’ve been parking in the free Walnut Creek private parking garages for many years now, and I always note the signs stating that parking is only for 3 or 4 hours otherwise there is a $25 fine. I have witnessed chalk marking on the tires several times, but until yesterday I had never witnessed parking fee notices being issued. The photo above shows a parking garage employee issuing a parking fee notice that was left on the windshield shortly after.

The notice says:

INVOICE
PARKING FEE IMPOSED

By: Broadway Pointe

INVOICE FOR
PRIVATE PARKING CHARGE

THIS PARKING CHARGE
NOTICE IS NOT ISSUED
BY THE CITY OF
WALNUT CREEK

Crazy in Suburbia has a thorough report on this private parking charge situation, definitely check it out for more info.

4 Comments