Scenario:
It’s a Saturday. Late-morning/early-afternoon. I’m working on revamping my new downtown home. Something comes up and I need to go to a hardware store. What are my options?
1. I can go to Zettler Hardware downtown, a local business that’s been in place for over 160 years, and pay to park at a parking meter.
2. I can go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and park for free.
Obviously, I’m going to go with the first option and head to Zettler, but why should we have to pay for parking to support our local businesses in the heart of downtown on a weekend? I can understand metered parking in the Short North or the Arena District, but on Main Street? Unfortunately, it’s currently a ghost town over the weekends. I can’t imagine the small amount of meter money collected offsets the burden this paid parking places on the few business that are willing to remain open over the weekends downtown.
And the part that makes even less sense is that the meters go off at night (6pm or 8pm depending on the street) so that the few businesses open late (bars, restaurants, and theaters) can benefit from free parking while the businesses open during the daytime can not.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a bit lopsided? Couldn’t free weekend meters in select spots like Main Street be a boon for our local businesses?
At first read, I disagreed with you because establishing districts where street parking is free on Sat can be confusing to drivers but also carries a financial cost for the City because signage and meter markings need to be changed but I think it is a good idea especially if it is appropriately marketed by the City and the neighborhood businesses.
Good observation.
[...] 15, 2008 by johnwirtz Walker’s post on his blog about downtown parking woes due to capricious and seemingly senseless regulations inspired me to post a link about Donald [...]
I completely agree. It makes no sense to say “we support local business” and then not only tax-abate places like Lowes and Home Depot, but charge the local folks’ customers to park. Seems a but backwards – but I know it’s just competition and “economies of scale”, right?