CoH: downtown parking is bad, be prepared to walk
I suppose this counts as KTRK-13's Parking Commission story -- a story that explains how downtown parking sucks and you might as well just walk:
The good news is that downtown Houston is getting more and more vibrant every day. The bad news is that with the growth comes growing pains. And that pain includes a perceived and problematic lack of parking. For anyone who's been downtown once or a thousand times, you know parking can be tough.
"It's very hard and inconvenient," said downtown driver Barbara Clark. "By the time you get where you're going, you're all sweaty and stinky."
"It's pretty crowded," agreed downtown driver Colin Amann. "It's hard to find and you've got to walk a fair piece to get to where you're going."
Hmmm, they forgot about MetroRail, I guess.
And in front of the courthouse complex, it could get worse even after construction is finished. One lot is about to go away, meaning roughly 200 fewer spots in favor of a new park in what is one of the busiest area of downtown.
"We're looking at being able to increase the number of on-street spaces," said Liliana Rambo with the city of Houston. "We're working with the public works department."
The city is also holding town meetings to coach suburbanites where to park when they come downtown and that if they can walk a couple of blocks, they'll find a reasonable space, despite the constant desire to find something closer.
Suburbanite meetings? Has anyone seen any info on those? And who wants to walk extra blocks in the middle of July and August to visit downtown, not to mention the courage required to drive anywhere around the Danger Train.
The city is also working on changing parking meters for the better. Their advice is to be patient. Be prepared to walk. And get to where you're going early just in case.
That's catchy! A new downtown slogan: Be Prepared to Walk.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/31/06 09:13 AM | Print |
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