Category: default || By jt3y

I couldn't find a parking space Downtown the other day.

Normally, I'd be thrilled to not be able to find a parking space in Our Fair City. I would give dearly to see Downtown crowded every single day. I hope that Downtown McKeesport gets so crowded that --- like Yogi Berra said --- "no one goes there anymore."

But Downtown wasn't crowded. No, there actually weren't that many cars around, but I still couldn't find a parking space.

You see, I had to spend about five hours Downtown, so I couldn't park on Fifth Avenue --- the meters there only allow you to park for one hour. I checked the meters on Market Street, but they only go to two hours.

I checked the ramp from Lysle Boulevard to Water Street --- those used to be 10-hour meters, and I usually parked there when I worked at The Daily News. But all of the mechanisms have been removed from those meters, which I suppose means that you can't park there any more. In any case, there weren't any other cars there.

I went to the Sixth Avenue Garage, somewhat reluctantly, since I assumed it would be more expensive. I drove up to the ticket dispenser and hit the button.

Nothing. It was either out of tickets or turned off. I suspect it was turned off, because there was no one in the little booth to collect money --- I guess only leaseholders are allowed to use the Sixth Avenue Garage now.

I drove to "Cox's Corner," the lot across the street from the People's Building. A sign on the booth says to pay the attendant, but I looked all around and didn't find one. Maybe parking is free there now, but I sure didn't want to risk it.

Instead, I drove down to the new city hall (the old National Bank Building) to see if I could park there. Nope! And the Midtown Plaza Garage has been "closed for renovations" for two years, while the Lysle Boulevard Garage is just closed. (You may remember my idea for that --- a park-and-ride garage for Port Authority --- a concept which may become moot if all of the buses are cancelled.)

At this point, I was seriously considering leaving the car on the street and paying a ticket. My last city parking ticket was for $4 (expired meter), and it seemed like a small price to pay to not deal with the aggravation of looking for someplace legal to park.

On a whim, though, I cut down Sheridan Alley and checked the meters between the PNC Bank and Lysle Boulevard. Eureka! Ten hours. And it only took me 20 minutes to find a meter.

How many visitors to Downtown McKeesport are going to try for 20 minutes to find a meter, though? In a business district where two out of every three storefronts is empty, it should not take 20 minutes to find a place to legally park. Hell, it shouldn't take 20 minutes in a crowded business district.

Here's a modest proposal. Anyone from City Hall or the Parking Authority who sees this is welcome to steal it:

• Rip out the damned meters.



• Make parking on Fifth Avenue free, but limit it to one hour, with towing enforced and a $50 fine.



• Put in the electronic machines that the City of Pittsburgh has now installed. I first saw these suckers in Canada a few years ago, and it amazes me that it took so long for them to catch on here. It's a great idea.
  
  These gizmos work on solar power. You put in money or a credit card and tell the machine how long you want to park. (The rate increases if you park more than four hours to discourage people from staying.) Then the machine spits out a little paper ticket with the expiration time printed in big black letters. You put the ticket on your dashboard, face up.
  
  
• Everywhere except for Fifth Avenue, you have to have one of those valid tickets on your dashboard to park.



• If a cop or meter enforcement officer comes by and sees that the ticket is expired, he or she writes you a violation. Easy-peasy. No more maintaining 200 meters and emptying the cash from them --- you maintain a couple of machines, loading them with paper and emptying the loot.

It's hard enough getting people to visit Downtown McKeesport. Most of them are afraid they're going to get clonked on the head by marauding villains. (You're not, I walk the streets all the time --- or maybe I look too pathetic to rob.)

Once we get 'em Downtown, let's not make it so hard for them to stay