Hastings has enough parking to support our current business and could support further development.”

City intern Amelia Thibault

Finding a spot to park along the downtown corridor is a nuisance all too familiar to many Hastings residents, especially during big events like car shows and Rivertown Days weekend.
Despite that perception, a recent city study found that parking lots downtown average about 38.7% utilization. That number is enough to support current businesses as well as future development according to city intern Amelia Thibault, who presented the report before the planning commission on August 25.
Parking studies started for the downtown corridor in 2017 and examines both the amount of parking availability as well as parking utilization downtown.
The particular area in question runs from Spring St to the west, 5th St W to the south, and Tyler St to the east, ending at the Mississippi River to the north.
The goal of the study was to determine areas of high parking use, as well as when during the day parking was most utilized.
Using 13 different surveys taken from May through August, city staff found that total parking spots in the area totaled 1,549, a 5% increase since the previous study in 2024.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the area was most utilized during the weekend boasting 40% of parking spots being taken.
Top parking lots were the block 4 alley, Sibley St. North of 2nd, and the Parking lot under bridge. These spots were highly used across timeframes and the block 4 alley in particular has seen a sharp rise in usage since previous studies.
Both the utilization and overall number of parking spots has risen in recent years in broadly equal measure. Both have risen by about 200 since the initial study in 2017.
A common point of comparison for the city is parking in the downtown corridor versus the Hastings Walmart. The footprint of the Hastings Walmart and its surrounding parking lot take up a huge swath of the study area.
Often residents park what would be blocks away from the Walmart if measured against distances downtown.
“When you compare how far you’re walking from your spot and then walking to the building itself and then walking around the building, it takes up most of our downtown,” said Thibault.
The perception that parking is more limited downtown might have something to do with barriers and sightlines versus the large parking lot outside of Walmart.
Given Hastings current parking utilization numbers, even having risen in recent years, “Hastings has enough parking to support our current business and could support further development,” said Thibault.

Cutline: A recent city parking study found that there is sufficient parking downtown for current usage.