A small step to making downtown more welcoming

This past Saturday evening downtown Hartford welcomed thousands to the city. There were shows at the Bushnell, Hartford Stage, and Theaterworks plus a Wolfpack Game at the XL Center. Later on in the evening downtown bars and clubs were bustling. Every on street parking space that was available was taken. As usual though the city was unwelcoming. The Hartford Police Department blocked off wide swaths of on street parking by putting red "NO PARKING" bags over the new parking kiosks.

The police department continually cordons off spaces when there are events downtown. This is nothing new. It has been going on for years. I have never been able to clearly answer why they do it. I would guess that spaces are cordoned off for safety purposes. However, inadvertently these parking restrictions create large swaths of dead streets with no pedestrians or vehicles which arguably creates safety hazards in itself. People feel uncomfortable when they are the only ones walking on a city street. There are no pedestrians to deter criminals.

Saturday night for instance parking was blocked off on Church Street between Church and Ann-Uccello Streets and thus there was no pedestrian traffic on this strip. Add to the fact that parking is not allowed on Church Street between Ann-Uccello and High Streets and you create the ghost town many portray Hartford as.

Besides creating a possible haven for crime the city could possibly be losing money by doing this. Many drivers may choose to park in a privately owned parking lot or garage instead of in a city garage. Parking in cordoned off spaces would be free since the meters are not in effect after 6pm and on weekends.

This is just another example of the city being unwelcoming to both its residents and its guests. Those coming into downtown from the West End, West Hartford, or West Des Moines face the same hassles and it is uncalled for. As I have said before all on street parking must be utilized in downtown Hartford. At a time when businesses throughout Hartford are hurting these parking policies do not make it easier for them to attract customers. As a I write this I cross my fingers that the Hartford Hilton does not close its doors because of the economy. We must make Hartford friendly. Other cities do not cordon off parking every single time there is an event. There is no reason Hartford must do this. Time are changing. Lets move away from our antiquated parking regulations.

And for the record - Hartford does not have a parking problem just antiquated parking policies.