Parking-Count Sign at Bayshore Town Center

Glendale, WI 53211: When the former Bayshore mall became the mixed-use Bayshore Town Center, this sign appeared at a busy corner of the property to reassure shoppers and office users that parking spaces were available for them inside. At all times but the busy weeks before Christmas, however, the sign and others like it reveal the prodigious amounts of surplus parking at the center. And that parking has costs, as well as benefits. Since the center's array of stores, restaurants, and offices (a small number of townhouses are coming) are wedged into a relatively small site along with enough parking to satisfy standard suburban parking ratios, large parking decks and unsightly surface lots greet visitors from many of the major entrances, creating a dubious welcome to an urban project. See related images.