That might be ok if there were good transit options, but there are not.
Bus service is very slow unless you're travelling a short distance on a
direct bus line. I completely support biking, but the whether in Minnesota
makes
it difficult for most people to bike during about one half of the year.
Meanwhile, parking in downtown Minneapolis has become prohibitively expensive,
except at long-term parking meters. The solution is to provide better mass
transit. Raising the rates at parking meters will only make going to work and
conducting personal business downtown more financially burdensome, and
disproportionately for those with the most limited economic means who cannot
affort to pay exorbitant parking ramp fees.
Jordan Kushner
Ward 6 (formerly in Ward 7)
and works downtown
"Goodman, Lisa R" wrote:
> What would dramatically improve livability downtown is for people to get out
> of their cars and walk, bike or use transit! A person out of their cars is
> what will provide life on the streets.
>
> More people would be inclined to do this if parking was more expensive and
> if there were more and better transit options. Raising parking meter rates
> would help visitors on short trips because it would be more expensive to
> park all day on the street thus more meter turnover. If we added more
> meters on the street the result would be more traffic, especially during
> rush hour and there would be less room in the right of way, than there
> already is, for bikes and busses.
>
>
> As to downtown livability, clearly we would experience better air quality
> with less cars stuck in traffic.
>
> Lisa Goodman
> Downtown Resident
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Rocker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Friday, November 17, 2000 2:53 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: Re: parking meters
>
> What struck me about the Strib article was Lisa Goodman's
> comment that
> increasing rates could encourage more people to use ramps
> and thereby
> alleviate the congested downtown streets. To me, that flies
> in the face of
> creating a more livable downtown.
>
> In my uninformed opinion, raising the rates is fine, but we
> should be
> dramatically increasing the number of on-street parking
> spaces in the core
> of downtown to make quick stops easier, provide some life on
> the streets and
> buffer the pedestrians from traffic.
>
> If congestion is a problem during rush hour, limit the
> parking to non rush
> hours and heavily ticket the cars that haven't been moved.
> (This works well
> in Washington DC.) During non rush hours, all I see are wide
> open streets
> and No Parking signs.
>
> John Rocker
> JCR Realty Advisors/
> National Survey Systems
> 3211 Fremont Avenue South
> Minneapolis MN 55408
>
