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Regarding Parking...

I want to share a quick story about a little town similar to ours and how they successfully attracted visitors.

This little town has one Main St with a few offshoots, and they wanted it to grow. What they did was, they wired the entire area for free WiFi to encourage people to sit in their coffee bars and restaurants and relax with their laptops. They also made parking entirely FREE. They built several 3 story parking garages, as well as street parking, and added a minuscule local retail tax of 1/4 percent to pay for it all.

I keep hearing how Vancouver is dealing with it's parking problems...they seem to think they need to make XX number of dollars per space per year, thus they have limited the building of new parking spaces, and raised the prices on the spaces they already have. The result has been that fewer people are visiting downtown due to the prices to park and utter frustrations with finding convenient places to do so. I hear the complaints daily. The current strategy is counter intuitive and failing our little city.

I suggest we go entirely in the opposite direction, like the little town above. Build more parking, make it free, and add a smidgeon of a local retail tax to cover it all.

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greg.nate over 4 years ago
This is a good idea, PROVIDED, an accompanying plan to prevent the inevitable deluge of loiterers, transients and drug traffickers that will flock to free WiFi areas, is included as a mandatory part of the plan. currently, downtown Vancouver does not suffer the mess of homelessness and drugs that is downtown Portland. --LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY PLEASE !!-- --KEEP VANCOUVER CLEAN--
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Share This is a good idea, PROVIDED, an accompanying plan to prevent the inevitable deluge of loiterers, transients and drug traffickers that will flock to free WiFi areas, is included as a mandatory part of the plan. currently, downtown Vancouver does not suffer the mess of homelessness and drugs that is downtown Portland. --LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY PLEASE !!-- --KEEP VANCOUVER CLEAN-- on Facebook Share This is a good idea, PROVIDED, an accompanying plan to prevent the inevitable deluge of loiterers, transients and drug traffickers that will flock to free WiFi areas, is included as a mandatory part of the plan. currently, downtown Vancouver does not suffer the mess of homelessness and drugs that is downtown Portland. --LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY PLEASE !!-- --KEEP VANCOUVER CLEAN-- on Twitter Share This is a good idea, PROVIDED, an accompanying plan to prevent the inevitable deluge of loiterers, transients and drug traffickers that will flock to free WiFi areas, is included as a mandatory part of the plan. currently, downtown Vancouver does not suffer the mess of homelessness and drugs that is downtown Portland. --LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY PLEASE !!-- --KEEP VANCOUVER CLEAN-- on Linkedin Email This is a good idea, PROVIDED, an accompanying plan to prevent the inevitable deluge of loiterers, transients and drug traffickers that will flock to free WiFi areas, is included as a mandatory part of the plan. currently, downtown Vancouver does not suffer the mess of homelessness and drugs that is downtown Portland. --LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY PLEASE !!-- --KEEP VANCOUVER CLEAN-- link
Pat about 4 years ago
I think this is a great idea. The wireless would certainly draw people in and having a ramp garage would definitely attract people who can’t find parking. Paying for parking drives people to malls and shopping centers where parking is free. I watched this happen I my hometown of Rochester, N. Y. Where downtown is now almost a ghost town. People have chosen to go where the parking is free and convenient.
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Share I think this is a great idea. The wireless would certainly draw people in and having a ramp garage would definitely attract people who can’t find parking. Paying for parking drives people to malls and shopping centers where parking is free. I watched this happen I my hometown of Rochester, N. Y. Where downtown is now almost a ghost town. People have chosen to go where the parking is free and convenient. on Facebook Share I think this is a great idea. The wireless would certainly draw people in and having a ramp garage would definitely attract people who can’t find parking. Paying for parking drives people to malls and shopping centers where parking is free. I watched this happen I my hometown of Rochester, N. Y. Where downtown is now almost a ghost town. People have chosen to go where the parking is free and convenient. on Twitter Share I think this is a great idea. The wireless would certainly draw people in and having a ramp garage would definitely attract people who can’t find parking. Paying for parking drives people to malls and shopping centers where parking is free. I watched this happen I my hometown of Rochester, N. Y. Where downtown is now almost a ghost town. People have chosen to go where the parking is free and convenient. on Linkedin Email I think this is a great idea. The wireless would certainly draw people in and having a ramp garage would definitely attract people who can’t find parking. Paying for parking drives people to malls and shopping centers where parking is free. I watched this happen I my hometown of Rochester, N. Y. Where downtown is now almost a ghost town. People have chosen to go where the parking is free and convenient. link