Cheaper Parking Bathed in Purple in Walnut Creek

A new on-street parking regime comes with a royal purple color scheme in a ritzy suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area.

1 minute read

September 24, 2017, 5:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Main Street

Main Street in Walnut Creek is a popular shopping and entertainment destination. | Todd A. Merport / Shutterstock

San Francisco suburb Walnut Creek "now has a whole zone dedicated to long-term parking that didn’t exist before," reports Sam Richards.

"Approximately 1,000 spaces in an area bounded by Civic Drive on the east and south, Parkside Drive on the north and California Boulevard (and a short stretch of Main Street) on the west are now long-term spaces, at $1 an hour all day," according to Richards. A recent parking study found those spaces have been falling below the desired levels of occupancy, so the city is making changes to "even out the parking demand."

But one unique angle on this common story of a city tinkering with its on-street parking regulations, is the color the city is choosing to call attention to the new long-term parking spots. "A number of pole colors were considered for the newly christened long-term parking meters north of the downtown core area before city officials settled on purple," explains Richards.

Thursday, September 21, 2017 in East Bay Times

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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