An article examines "Exhibit A for bad public contracting"—a 75-year lease between Chicago a Morgan Stanley-led private consortium for 36,000 parking meters—as a cautionary tale about the lingering impacts of bad deals.
In 2008, Chicago signed a $1 billion contract with a private company to manage the city's parking meters. According to an article by Stephanie Farmer and Donald Cohen, "[after] the ink was dry, the city’s inspector general concluded that the city sold the meters $1 billion dollars under their value. Parking rates skyrocketed, and the terms of the lease protecting Morgan Stanley’s investment created new annual costs for the city."
The post then goes on to apply lessons from the bungled portions of that contract is continuing to hinder planning efforts in Chicago, including the removal of parking meters in connection with the city's planned BRT lines, pedestrian safety improvements, and adjustments to rush hour realignments.
FULL STORY: Why Chicago’s Botched Parking Meter Privatization Is Also Bad for the Environment
Parking Privatization Efforts Not Spreading Smoothly
In the wake of the problem-plagued privatization of Chicago's parking meters in 2008, two WSJ reporters assess conversions (or attempts) in Indianapolis (2010), Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and New York, as well as what went wrong in Chicago.
Motorists Sue Chicago Parking Meter Operator
A lawsuit claims a company's 75-year contract to manage the city of Chicago's parking meters amounts to an "unreasonable" monopoly.
Chicago to Install New Parking Meters to Lessen Impact of Bad Contract
The city of Chicago will install 752 new parking meters in 2017—but still fall far from the Shoupian ideal.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs
The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.
Seattle's Plan for Adopting Driverless Cars
Equity, safety, accessibility and affordability are front of mind as the city prepares for robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles.
As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?
With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.
With Protected Lanes, 460% More People Commute by Bike
For those needing more ammo, more data proving what we already knew is here.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)