Downtown Denver parking drops to $5 in new pilot
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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston drives through downtown during a ride-along with Axios to discuss the city's new $5 parking pilot. Photo: Alayna Alvarez/Axios
Downtown parking just got a lot cheaper. Denver is rolling out a pilot that lets drivers park in about 3,000 spaces for $5.
Why it matters: It's the latest experiment in Mayor Mike Johnston's turnaround strategy to lure people back downtown post-pandemic.
The big picture: The SpotHero partnership kicks off this week and runs through September, unlocking thousands of underused parking spaces across downtown.
- The city recruited the company to launch what Johnston calls a "first-of-its-kind" program.
What he's saying: Driving through downtown with Axios on Monday, Johnston's pitch was: Make parking "simple, predictable and cheap" so people stop thinking twice about heading downtown.
- The goal, he said, is to rebuild the "muscle memory" of residents who fell out of the habit of visiting downtown during the pandemic, amid safety concerns and years of construction.
How it works: Drivers can reserve participating spaces for $5 through the SpotHero app or website.
- The discount applies Mondays and Fridays during the day, plus every weeknight beginning at 4pm.
- Weekend parking costs $5 for up to 12 hours.
- The mayor's office is also offering promo codes to waive SpotHero's 99-cent booking fee, starting with MILEHIGH5 while supplies last.
State of play: The push comes as fresh signs of downtown's struggles keep piling up — with high office vacancies and business turnover.
- In the past week alone, multiple downtown businesses — including longtime 16th Street staple Rock Bottom Brewery — announced plans to close, adding fuel to a recent Wall Street Journal article that labeled Denver home to the "emptiest downtown in the country."
The intrigue: Johnston said that coverage didn't influence the timing of the pilot. "We've been working on this for probably 12 months," he told Axios.
- He said the city first needed to make progress on homelessness and the long-running 16th Street reconstruction before trying to entice visitors.
- "We couldn't have done this 2.5 years ago when there were a thousand tents downtown," he said. "We couldn't have done it a year ago when 16th Street was closed."
What's next: The city hopes to expand the program to roughly 5,000 discounted spaces by late summer and could extend it beyond the pilot if it succeeds.
Go deeper: Downtown Denver looks to a new, more vibrant chapter