I can not tell you the number of times I have heard complaints about parking in Hartford. To this day I still do not see the validity of these comments. The criticism has always been that there is not enough parking downtown. Ironically, the Center for Transportation and Urban Planning at the University of Connecticut found that since 1960 the number of parking spaces downtown has increased by 300 percent - we have gone from 15,000 to 46,000 parking spaces. During the same period downtown lost more then 60% of its residential population, the entire city lost 40,000 people and 7,000 jobs. These new parking spaces were not built out of necessity.
First off I must make it clear that parking is not a problem in Hartford. The suburbanites, business owners, employees, and developers who consistently cite parking problems must realize this. A fact that not many people realize is that parking is free after 6pm on weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday. This information is not on the parking authority website and one only realizes this if they closely read this information on the new parking meter machines downtown. This means that parking for dinner or a show in Hartford can be just as cheap as parking at the mall. I say this because there is usually a parking space to be found downtown - even during a big event if you are willing to look around for a little bit. You do not need to pay to park in a a garage or on a surface lot. For those who need to park downtown during the day there is still plenty of street parking and you can now pay with coins, a credit card, or a debit card. There are then the 50 parking garages and surface lots that offer a plethora of spaces.
City employers and employees must realize that parking is a privilege. Millions of people in cities throughout the country do just fine without guaranteed parking. Millions ride the subways, trains, buses, and ferry's into work in New York City each day. Parking is at a premium in New York City and thus most must go without it. And they are doing just fine. This is not to underestimate the individuals who take public transportation to work here in Hartford. However, people must realize that you are going to have to pay for parking at work here in Hartford. Parking is a luxury. Get over it. And we have plenty of it so we do not need to add any more spaces.
We have more then enough parking here in Hartford. New development projects do not need to include parking. Almost every single new development in the last 10 years has included a new parking garage (Convention Center, Science Center, Front Street, Trumbull on the Park, Hartford 21, Lofts at Main & Temple/Sage Allen...do I need to continue?). Even before the bulk of Front Street is up we have a new garage at the edge of the development on Columbus Blvd. This garage is not necessary right now. We must now work to fully utilize the parking that we have and work to decrease the number of surface lots downtown. Most of the spaces in surface lots downtown are never used - even during the business day. Development should be centered on those lots. Or these lots could be converted to park space or open market/farmers market spaces.
And finally one more thing on city parking...
1. I love the new parking meter stations in the city. They have been criticized by some but I personally think they are amazing. First they make paying for parking so much easier. I love that I do not need to worry about dragging my change around when looking for a space here. This means no one can complain about not having any money for the meter. Second, the machines are going to allow us to get rid of all the old single parking meters that are showing their age. Once the city gets around to completely removing the old meters and their poles our streets will be a little more aesthetically pleasing.
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