Ace May 11, 2000
It’s the Parking, Stupid!
What do we want? FREE PARKING. When do we want it? Now. Though the city recently added 20 spaces downtown (converting existing space, as opposed to the usual practice of bulldozing historic property) and Mayor Miller’s aide Bob Wiseman reports that he’s trying to scrounge up another 50, it underestimates the problem.
The Downtown Lexington Corporation’s “Universal Parking Validation Program,” on the other hand, overestimates people’s motivation and willingness to contort themselves for a decidedly user-unfriendly program. Downtown visitors can buy a book of UPV stamps for $14 bucks, which can be redeemed at 15 lots and garages downtown. Nice idea – as long as you have a map on you at all times – then you have to pay the attendants with your stamps, OR you have to affix the stamps to a UPV card and slide them into the pay box. At some point – even for rabidly pro-downtowners like us – it’s almost easy to see why people opt for (and we know this is the most profane blasphemy)… the convenience of a mall.
