When the story hit Facebook, we were met with a flood of reactions from readers. Many of their takes were positive, but we couldn’t help but notice a prevailing sentiment that people are staying out of Deep Ellum because of expensive and inaccessible parking.
“We do not go to Deep Ellum because parking takes up so much time and is expensive,” said Trey Brown, bluntly.
“As others have said, parking is the worst part about deep ellum now. I’ve paid over $40 to park in an unkempt lot just to eat down there, and that was after looking for ANY spot for half an hour,” said Svaya Grundstrom.
Being the hard-hitting journalism organization that we are, we took to Deep Ellum during prime dinner hours to put those claims to the test in an episode of Dallas Mythbusters.
I went down to Deep Ellum for dinner at Picardera around 7 p.m. The Dominican restaurant is located on Main Street, in the center of the entertainment district, allowing us to experience a typical night out.
On the drive in, there was certainly traffic around every turn, but I passed up at least a dozen empty spots with parking meters. Typically, those meters are a few bucks for two hours, a reasonable rate in any area but especially in the heart of a big city’s entertainment district. Most meters in Deep Ellum remain free until 6 p.m., so this isn’t even an issue for the lunch crowd.
Directly across from Picadera, I was able to find a spot on the street with no meter, completely free and legal. I absolutely did get lucky, but if I were from out of town, I wouldn’t know the difference. There were more than enough parking spots available on the street, not even including the higher-priced lots around each block.
In an effort to be fair and thorough, our food editor, Lauren Drewes Daniels, went back on a Saturday night around the same time to test Deep Ellum parking one more time.
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On a mild Saturday night in February, around 7 p.m., we headed to Deep Ellum to settle an argument about barbecue (I won). Terry Black's is one of the few places in the area with its own free parking lot. Clearly, that lot was full of people with luck like Simon, but there were a dozen or so spaces in the parking lot just across the street. We picked a spot, pulled out a phone and paid about $20.
Prior to that, we scouted a few lots to see what the going rates were. Once, freelance writer Aaren Prody visited Kanpai and paid $30 for a spot in the lot across from Angry Dog at 7 p.m. on a Saturday night. That's a touch much: $20 is sort of expected in an entertainment district, but $30 is getting high. However, when Simon and I visited, we never saw $30 spots— only $20 and under.
The Stack parking garage, located at 2700 Commerce St., on the same block as Angry Dog, has more than 600 spots and charges from $2 per hour to $10 for 24 hours.
Deep Ellum Lot B, is a $5 lot at 100 S. Good Latimer owned by the city of Dallas. It's under a bridge, was well lit and just across the street from Punch Bowl Social. It requires a short Frogger trek across a sometimes busy street (use the crosswalk), but nothing too crazy. There are 300 spaces here.
Our scouting report found many well-lit lots around the perimeter of the entertainment district for just under $20, all within easy walking distance of Commerce, Main and Elm Streets.
One problem we can't overlook, however, is getting a ticket even though you paid to park in a lot. Recently, that happened to me at a lot near the Observer's offices (half a mile from Deep Ellum) at a lot managed by Parking Systems of America. Several comments online also mention this mishap at lots in Deep Ellum. In my case, I had to email the company and wait about a week before they verified my receipt and cleared it up.
We contacted the Deep Ellum Foundation to find out if they've ever discussed ticket tactics and prices with lot owners, but we haven't heard back.
Cane Rosso, a pizza spot in Deep Ellum since 2011, doesn't interact with lot owners but offers that parking isn't much of a problem right now because of the construction on Commerce Street, but that's because no one is going down there).
Dynamic Pricing
One thing we did find is that parking prices vary depending on the day and time. On a very cold Tuesday evening, parking in a lot next to Bucky's Moonshine costs $6.65. On Saturday night, it was closer to $19.Ivan Pugh, Bucky's owner, feels the lot is overpriced. He wants a new multilevel parking garage nearby with "a set price of five bucks."
The city lot under the bridge is always $5, but that's a hike from Bucky's, which is on the other side of Deep Ellum.
Of course, we're not excited about paying $20 to park, but writing off Deep Ellum for the parking situation feels like a misunderstanding of expectations. Deep Ellum is an entertainment district. If you're not willing to pay to park no matter where you are, that's fine, but to blame an entertainment district for being an entertainment district is unfair.
Point us in the direction of a strip that has live music venues, clubs, bars, restaurants and local boutiques with accessible free parking and we'll be there every night. Until then, let's support Deep Ellum for what it is.
