Pike Place parking: Rising prices leave vendors questioning future

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Vendors at one of the oldest open-air markets in the country are worried about how expensive it's becoming to work there.

A change announced Monday by the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority will boost parking rates at the market garage from $12 per day now to $30 per day in August in order to prioritize parking space for customers.

Several of the markets 250 craft vendors — whose businesses already operate on thin margins — say that's a rate they're not sure they'll be able to afford.

"It's a labor of love for a lot of people, and because of that, a lot of these businesses exist right on the edge of feasibility," said Russell Price, who runs a dog treat company called Adventure Days at the market with his wife. "Too many little bites like this eat away at that."

The $12-per-day early bird rate will first increase to a $18 per day before the early bird rate goes away completely in August. That's when the $30-per-day rate starts, causing a spike from $240 per month to $600 per month for vendors who are at the market five days per week.

-more-

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2015/07/02/pike-place-parking-rising-prices-leave-vendors.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2015-07-03&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1435966137

[pscot]

1. Park in the Regrade and ride the bus?

Not ideal, obviously, but $600 a month is a killer.

[montanacowboy]

2. How can Vendors bring their

fruit, veggies, etc. on the bus?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. Exactly

[pscot]

4. Are they really hauling that sort of stuff

in their cars? I thought produce came in in trucks. Those parking places are probably worth a lot more than $30 a day if they're allowed to turn over every hour or so. Does the city get the revenue or is it just going to Diamond parking?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

5. Craft vendors

Please read the article

[pscot]

6. Some else interjected fruit and veggies

Not I.