Driving 20 Minutes Looking for Parking:
Shae Uisna Letter to the St. Johns Review 9/8/15
Dear Editor,
For those of us who live or work in St Johns, it’s becoming clear that lack of parking is starting to have an impact on all of us. There are several new developments in the works that won't have any parking associated with them. The few that do will charge residents extra to park there, prompting many to forgo the lot and take their chances out on the street.
I think we're kidding ourselves if we think that by not providing enough parking spaces, people with cars are going to stop driving and start walking and taking the bus. I don’t envision outside people taking the bus to St Johns to shop in our downtown. "Progress" almost always means that a new option is easier than an old one, and driving is easier than walking and taking public transit. Have you visited Nob Hill lately? Even though they have the NS Street Car going right through their neighborhood; morning, noon and night, there is no parking to be had - people drive around for twenty minutes searching for a space and invariably end up parking seven blocks away in the residential area. Alberta Street and Hawthorne? The same.
The one neighborhood that I DO think is getting it right? Downtown Portland: Easy access by train and street car, while still providing parking garages for those who wish to drive downtown.
While fossil fuels are on the decline, and with them gasoline-powered vehicles, it's feasible that the use of solar-powered (and other types of) engines will rise. We'll still need more parking spaces, even if we someday bring the street car back to St Johns.
Shae Uisna Letter to the St. Johns Review 9/8/15
Dear Editor,
For those of us who live or work in St Johns, it’s becoming clear that lack of parking is starting to have an impact on all of us. There are several new developments in the works that won't have any parking associated with them. The few that do will charge residents extra to park there, prompting many to forgo the lot and take their chances out on the street.
I think we're kidding ourselves if we think that by not providing enough parking spaces, people with cars are going to stop driving and start walking and taking the bus. I don’t envision outside people taking the bus to St Johns to shop in our downtown. "Progress" almost always means that a new option is easier than an old one, and driving is easier than walking and taking public transit. Have you visited Nob Hill lately? Even though they have the NS Street Car going right through their neighborhood; morning, noon and night, there is no parking to be had - people drive around for twenty minutes searching for a space and invariably end up parking seven blocks away in the residential area. Alberta Street and Hawthorne? The same.
The one neighborhood that I DO think is getting it right? Downtown Portland: Easy access by train and street car, while still providing parking garages for those who wish to drive downtown.
While fossil fuels are on the decline, and with them gasoline-powered vehicles, it's feasible that the use of solar-powered (and other types of) engines will rise. We'll still need more parking spaces, even if we someday bring the street car back to St Johns.