Motorcycle Parking (Valley Fair in Santa Clara/San Jose)

[Bike_Snipe]

Edit: Moto parking everywhere. Now Valley Fair has more parking than Oakridge. Thanks all, for your e-mails and time spent. We all are rewarded now!

Hi fellow riders,

We need your help:

Myself and a few of my fellow riders that shop and eat at Westfield Shoppingtown Valley Fair in Santa Clara need your support in convincing the ownership and management that there is a need for motorcycle parking at this large and major shopping center.

I've been riding my bikes to Valley Fair for years, I always end up with evidence of inconsiderate a**holes sitting on and tampering with my baby. Additionally, I've had a couple acquaintances get their beloved machines stolen while parked away from high foot and vehicle traffic areas at large shopping centers, such as Valley Fair. I've discussed my situation with a couple other riders that work at the mall or visit regularly, they each have similar stories.

Westfield owns another South Bay mall, Oakridge. Oakridge has two separate and generously sized designated motorcycle parking locations. Valley Fair is considerably larger and has ZERO designated motorcycle parking areas. However, the management does feel like the recent inclusion of a few "Expectant Mother Parking" spots is much more important. I'm genuinely appreciative of their consideration of this, but when about our motorcycles?!

Please take just a very quick moment to jam away a brief, "Where the hell is the motorcycle parking at Valley Fair?" Or the like. (Of course, feel free to be as passionate and as brief or detailed as you prefer.) And send it to:

Operations Manager, Orlando Burch: oburch@us.westfield.com

General Manager, Adam Kamlet: akamlet@us.westfield.com

Assistant GM, Dino Piscione: dpiscione@us.westfield.com

valleyfair@westfield.com

and

http://westfield.com/uscentres/site/contactus/

I'll keep you posted as to WHEN changes occur... because, together, we WILL make this happen.

Thanks a million for your time and support. Be safe and have a great week.

- Ryan

 

[crick]

done. Here is what i sent. I like how great mall has designated motorcycle parking. I never park there tho... because... i stopped going there

=============

"i have noticed no motorcycle parking at westfield valleyfair in norcal. At the other various shopping locations i have been, there have been considerate and safe designated areas for motorcycles.

I have had unfortunate mishaps parking on the street curbs between cars and on sidewalks. I can occupy a single vehicle space, but quite frankly, you can fit 3 or 4 motorcycles in one vehicle spot.

I understand it is something i cannot change, but am hoping that in the least my voice and concerns are heard.

thank you for your time!

warm regards

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

 

[UDRider]

Vote with your wallet and don't shop there, convince your friends etc to do the same and let corporate know?

 

[crick]

Vote with your wallet and don't shop there, convince your friends etc to do the same and let corporate know?

done!

actually i dont shop there anyways. you want to know why?!?!?

CUZ I CANT FIND PARKING FOR MY MOTORCYCLE!!!!

 

[VTRZA]

I think the best way to approach this is to let them know that having motorcycle parking can free up lots of space for cars by not having each bike take up a spot

 

[blacksheep]

I agree enough voices from potential lost costumers could persuade them to add some. However, it may not make perfect economical sense, which is where this may prove difficult.

From what it looks like, Westfield is a fairly large international business. I assume they have studied the gross income from all its tenants to set a value to each parking spot, lets guess $1000.00 per stall/day. More parking stalls equals more revenue. This is especially true to high value stalls closest to the building or entrance, which is the safest location for motorcycle parking. Now, this equation is true if the customer purchases goods and places them in their over sized H2's. Marketers assume motorcycles cant carry an average of $1000.00 per visit, hence the hesitation to take away full size stalls to add motorcycle parking.

Whats the big deal with taking away two stalls, out of 7,500 current spaces, in the front when there is always extra parking? There are surely studies out there that show customers are less likely to park (spend money) if they cant easily find a parking spot within 4 minutes of entering the property, and are less likely to spend as much money if they cant find a convenient spot front up close (pleasant parking experience equals pleasant shopping experience).

I would guess if you want to be successful, go to the mall, take pictures of low traffic or low car accessible areas. These can be corners of parking garages, obscure zones at the end of parking rows, or narrow and long areas that car stalls would not fit. These can be, and often are areas very close to entrances or high walking traffic areas. These areas can be repainted to accommodate motorcycles. Use their logic of turning a nonprofit zone into a profit zone, regardless of profit size. The cost of paint will be recuperated within several motorcycle visits. Forward these pictures with a brief statement of reason and you may be successful.

I wouldn't argue to much about taking your business to, say, Oakridge, because although its a separate mall, its still a Westfield Mall. Eastridge on the other hand would appreciate your new found business because of its separate ownership, and plentiful parking near...Barnes and Noble(?)

Sorry for the long winded essay, but I would guess this is the best way to convince the Operations Manager to add a couple white lines on the ground. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[lunerkid]

Organize a day for lots of motorcycles to go Valley Fair on a busy weekend during the summer.

Each moto would take up one regular parking space. Do that for maybe a week with lots of participants and I'm sure they would throw in moto specific parking in no time.



Imagine if this was done during the last week before Christmas.
All management would be up in arms and moto parking would be made within the week .

 

[crick]

Organize a day for lots of motorcycles to go Valley Fair on a busy weekend during the summer.

Each moto would take up one regular parking space. Do that for maybe a week with lots of participants and I'm sure they would throw in moto specific parking in no time.



Imagine if this was done during the last week before Christmas.
All management would be up in arms and moto parking would be made within the week .

OMG this is a brilliant idea!

 

[Xenos]

I truly feel as though we, as motorcyclists, are being targeted and singled out here... as often is the case.

Seriously????

 

[Bike_Snipe]

I would guess if you want to be successful, go to the mall, take pictures of low traffic or low car accessible areas. These can be corners of parking garages, obscure zones at the end of parking rows, or narrow and long areas that car stalls would not fit. These can be, and often are areas very close to entrances or high walking traffic areas. These areas can be repainted to accommodate motorcycles. Use their logic of turning a nonprofit zone into a profit zone, regardless of profit size. The cost of paint will be recuperated within several motorcycle visits. Forward these pictures with a brief statement of reason and you may be successful.

Excellent idea, blacksheep. I'll start on this next time I make a trip over to Valley Fair.

Thanks, all, for dropping Westfield a quick note.

Have an awesome day.

 

[badjoojoo]

Organize a day for lots of motorcycles to go Valley Fair on a busy weekend during the summer.

Each moto would take up one regular parking space. Do that for maybe a week with lots of participants and I'm sure they would throw in moto specific parking in no time.



Imagine if this was done during the last week before Christmas.
All management would be up in arms and moto parking would be made within the week .

I like the idea, but it could backfire. They could designate an area hell-and-gone from any foot traffic and then put up signs requiring motorcycles to park there.That would solve the problem on their end.

Not saying it will happen but it could. It'd probably be best to work with them.

 

[reidconti]

Actually you should cut that $1000/spot figure in two if you figure that you can at least make 2 motorcycle spots per car spot, so you'd only have to carry $500 in stuff on your moto.

That said, it's probably more like $40 per spot than $1000. I've been going there for years and can only once remember spending a decent amount of money, it was ~$300. Every other time was between $0 and $50, usually $0.

I honestly don't think the math would show that a motorcycle shopper would spend as little as 1/2 as much as a car shopper.

 

[triXr750]

Organize a day for lots of motorcycles to go Valley Fair on a busy weekend during the summer.

Each moto would take up one regular parking space. Do that for maybe a week with lots of participants and I'm sure they would throw in moto specific parking in no time.



Imagine if this was done during the last week before Christmas.
All management would be up in arms and moto parking would be made within the week .

do this

let us know when.

 

[Meno]

haha, I'd be there too. Good luck.

 

[back2thelab]

The mall always seems like a hassle. I try to manage to find ANY other option for eating and shopping. Malls suck.

 

[rmautino]

I rockstar parked my bike there at least once a week last summer and nobody ever ticketed it or messed with it.

 

[lunerkid]

I like the idea, but it could backfire. They could designate an area hell-and-gone from any foot traffic and then put up signs requiring motorcycles to park there.That would solve the problem on their end.

Is it required for motos to park in designated motos?
I was always under the impression that we can park in any parking space and that moto parking was suppose to be there for convenience and not take up a full parking.


Ie. At SJSU, we can park in the moto parking, but if we really wanted to, we can park in the metered parking so long we pay the meter??

 

[budbandit]

This always confuses me.

I have been riding for 25 years, give or take. When I want to park, I park in a parking space. If there are motorcycle spaces, I use them, if not, I just use a regular space.

Why is this such a big deal?

 

[deathbug74]

This always confuses me.
Why is this such a big deal?

This.

I've been riding my bikes to Valley Fair for years and I can count on being ticketed or hassled each week by their security and management for parking my bike in various spots. I've experimented from parking in everything from regular spots, to underneath stair cases, to bicycle racks... each with no success.

I've discussed my situation with a couple other riders that work at the mall or visit regularly, they each have similar stories. I've also plead and justified my case to countless security members, including supervisors, and I'm consistently told to simply "quit riding here, then."

 

[VTRZA]

Organize a day for lots of motorcycles to go Valley Fair on a busy weekend during the summer.

Each moto would take up one regular parking space. Do that for maybe a week with lots of participants and I'm sure they would throw in moto specific parking in no time.



Imagine if this was done during the last week before Christmas.
All management would be up in arms and moto parking would be made within the week .

I'm totally down for this. Not really cause I care about having MC spaces that much, but for the lulz.