The Parking Problem
Parking has an impact on almost every part of our lives including the vibrancy of our businesses, how much exercise we get and real estate values.
We all know that Maylands has a parking problem. We have commuters that park in residential streets and even in the business district - all day (just to name the most prominent problem). The City needs to have a multifaceted car parking strategy. A smart system will plan for our future! The city would need to look at parking meters, timed and monitored bays, residential street parking permits etc. It is not a popular option, no-one likes a parking meter or getting fines. But I am not going to tell you that we as ratepayers should spend millions of dollars on purchasing land in the business area to then spend even more money on developing it in to a car park for a limited number of cars. Building more car parks encourages more cars! We need to invest in travel options that give people an alternative to driving. We need to fund traffic calming, sidewalk improvements and plant street trees that encourage walking and cycling.
We need to install smarter street furniture. We need to install better street lighting We need to clean streets and sidewalks We need to invest in our business districts to encourage locals and new customers. We can create better community by allowing residents and or businesses to develop and vote on projects funded by parking revenues.
