Monday afternoon looked like a typical summer day on Ogden’s 25th Street: couples eating outside on patios, people leaving coffee shops with iced beverages in hand, one block closed off ahead of a concert.
But something was different. June 22 was the first day for paid parking in parts of Ogden’s downtown.
“It took a minute to get through the wonky website and app,” said Gary Johnson as he and his wife, Stephanie, walked to their car after lunch. “But yeah, it's no different than living in Salt Lake. You pay for parking.”
Ogden is now on the short list of Utah cities that charge for street parking. Meters have been a mainstay in Salt Lake City since the late 1930s, and Park City began charging to park in the 1990s.
But parking in Ogden is still cheaper than in Salt Lake — $1.50 an hour for on-street and $1.00 for parking lots and the WonderBlock garage, compared to $3.50 per hour for street parking in the capital.
For now, paid parking is limited to 25th Street between Wall Avenue and Washington Boulevard, plus Electric Alley, the WonderBlock East Garage and the Municipal Lot. Parking is still free on cross streets and at Union Station.
It’s already changing the Johnsons’ habits. They finished eating before their parking expired, so they walked about 15 minutes to visit another shop before heading out. But in the future, Stephanie sees herself coming downtown less often. Paying is a hassle, she said, and she worries about people with limited mobility who don’t have a handicap placard to display for free parking.
As she left a paint-your-own pottery studio, Gracie Parkhurst said she and her sisters had parked a couple of blocks away for free.
“It's a little bit more of a walk, because you have to go down the street, but you know, anything to avoid the fee,” she said with a laugh.
She doesn’t come downtown often, but at a time when people are looking to cut costs wherever possible, having to pay for the most convenient spots makes her want to visit less. It’s also a big adjustment for longtime residents.
“For some of us, it's like 20 years of not having to pay for it, and now we do, and so that is kind of frustrating,” Parkhurst said.
The city’s decision to charge for parking angered many residents and business owners, who spoke up at city council meetings and signed a petition as a last-ditch effort to stop the plan. The city paused implementation after pushback in 2024 before announcing a revamped plan with a free 15-minute window and discounted employee parking.
But not all business owners see it as a bad thing. Ron Yeates, who owns the No Frills Diner On 25th, said his restaurant relies on parking spots turning over.
“It's hard when people just park there all day long, and you see the same car there hour after hour after hour,” he said. “And I've had dozens of people tell me they don't come down here anymore because there's nowhere to park.”
He’s conflicted because he doesn’t think people should have to pay to park, but he supports a system that will make it easier for customers to come and eat.
Ogden has been driving toward paid parking for years. A 2021 study recommended paid parking as an early step to “allow for catalytic redevelopment of Ogden’s downtown core.”
The mixed-use WonderBlock development will increase traffic downtown and require more parking, said city spokesperson Mike McBride. A private developer is building the apartments and retail space, and the city is building two parking garages, one of which is already open. With a bond authorized up to $85 million, the structures weren’t cheap.
“It had to be done to accommodate the number of vehicles and the number of businesses, the number of people that are going to bring a massive economic benefit to downtown Ogden,” McBride said.
Part of the city’s plan was to use revenue from paid parking to pay off the parking garage. But by this spring, the goal shifted, and managed parking is now “intended to generate sufficient revenue to meet ongoing operating costs.” At the current rate, net income from paid parking is expected to cover about 3% of the city’s $3.5 million parking structure debt.
That revenue could shrink or grow, McBride said.
“We need to make it through a period of time to reevaluate whether we move into phase two of a managed parking system or even into ultimately a way larger picture, which might be an expanded footprint in downtown Ogden, and even outside of downtown,” he said.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
