Shopkeepers hate free parking

I've previously made the counter-intuitive point that business owners benefit from market-based parking fees (high enough to maintain 15% vacancy). Here's some support for the position from the opposite perspective -- too low meter rates hurt business.

Since New York City ripped out meters on a Brooklyn shopping strip (in preparation for a now-delayed improvement project), the people parking on the street have not been patronizing the businesses. Free or low meter rates lead to bad -- from a business perspective -- parking.

Previously:
Parking is bad
Donald Shoup interview
Demand-priced parking