Jake: Bellevue just gave up its biggest advantage over Seattle

You know the scene in “The Office” where Michael Scott walks into the annex, sees Toby sitting there, and just loses it — “No! God! No, no, no!” It’s absurd. It’s over the top. It’s exactly how I feel about Bellevue’s new parking plan.

The Bellevue City Council has voted to start charging for street parking, modeled after Seattle’s dynamic pricing system, $1 to $8 per hour depending on demand. I get the theory. Some studies found that only 25% of cars in these spots are overstaying, and the city wants to keep at least 80% of spots available at any given time.

Fine, great, but here’s the thing: Bellevue only controls about 600 street-level parking spots. Six hundred. The underground garages? Different story, the city doesn’t set those rates. So we’re having this enormous civic conversation, burning goodwill with residents and visitors, over 600 spots.

That’s not nothing, but it’s not exactly a parking crisis either

Here’s what Bellevue has always had going for it: When you ask people why they choose to spend their date nights or family outings over there instead of Seattle, free parking comes up every single time. It’s not glamorous, but it’s real. It’s a tangible reason people cross the bridge or don’t cross it and stay on the east side. Why would you voluntarily give that up to copy a city that can’t keep its downtown alive?

And yes, the rates seem modest right now, but that’s always how it starts.

Remember when they were setting the toll rates for the I-405 and SR 167 express lanes? They landed on $10 as the ceiling, and they practically laughed while they said it.

“Don’t worry, it’ll almost never hit that; it’s just an arbitrary cap.” It hit $10 on day one, and day two, and it kept climbing.

That “ridiculous” number is now the floor of the conversation, with serious proposals floating an increase currently to $20 and $25. The number that sounds crazy today is just the next decade’s baseline.

Bellevue doesn’t have to go down this road. The city has a real differentiator — lean into it. Fight the good fight, and don’t follow Seattle’s lead.

Maybe you think I’m wrong. Maybe I’m preaching to the choir, and you hate it. Either way, I’d love to connect and hear your thoughts. Follow me on X and Instagram.

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