Friends and Smarter Growthers tell me that the new Target in Columbia Heights has been a rousing success, except for the bike situation. According to reports, there were bicycles locked up all over the place this weekend because, when spending $42 million for a parking garage, our government didn’t build enough bike parking.

Meanwhile, the taxpayer-subsidized garage was about half full midday on the weekend. Only the Target is open so far, so that may change. Remember, the garage needs to be about 95% full, ten hours a day, to break even. But if bike parking is already scarce while car parking is plentiful, we’ve already gotten it wrong.

Update: here’s a picture from Cheryl Cort of Coalition for Smarter Growth. I count at least seven bikes and zero bike racks; one bike (toward the background) seems to be blocking some pedestrian walking space. Cheryl also says there is room for racks along the building’s edge that is currently empty.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.