As the City of Seattle plans on running its parking meters until 11 pm on a daily basis, first
in Queen Anne and then throughout the City, the question of theater and parking comes to the forefront.
Want to have dinner and catch some theater? Now, you can park in Seattle, pay for a couple of hours of parking before the meters stop charging. Just buy your parking stamp and have dinner, and then go to the show. If you can walk to both dinner and the theater from where you park, no big deal. But if the meters charge until 11, it gets more complicated. Can you eat and see a show in just two hours? Three? Maybe not.
At BAT we have plenty of free onsite parking. Even with a sell-out, crowd BAT’s lot will 
hold your car. If not, there is free street parking on the edges of BAT’s parking lot. True we do not have much food in easy walking distance, but in Burien, all of the street parking is free. A few pay lots have popped up, put their use is minimal.
The impact of theater, beyond sharing stories and seeing the world through other’s eyes, is economic. People who attend theater like to eat, drink and shop before and after the show. BAT is working with the Foster School of Business to take a closer look at this. But to eat, drink and shop takes time. Time with a parked car.
