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Community Corner

Letter: Parking in Phoenixville

It's no secret. Parking is a problem in Phoenixville. And I fear that it might destroy this town.

Phoenixville has been thriving thanks to its many unique shops and amazing selection of restaurants and bars. People come from all over the surrounding area to eat, drink, shop, and socialize. The town has been booming thanks to this influx of people from the surrounding area. But people don't go to places where they can't find easy, and preferably free, parking.

Until recently, we had a large free dirt lot that ran from behind Molly Maguire's all the way to across from Iron Hill. On a busy weekend, this is where the majority of out-of-towners parked. Now that lot has been closed in anticipation of a new development project. New development is great. New development will certainly help the town in the long run. But the costs of closing a parking area of that magnitude must be carefully considered.

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Sure, there is street parking available a few blocks south of bridge street. But people who aren't from the area don't know that exists, and more importantly, don't want to have to walk an extended distance in an area they don't know. Plus the borough has recently extended the number of streets limited to 2-hour parking.

There are rumors of a parking garage that will be constructed downtown. Six months is the estimated time frame that I heard. Six months during which every employee and business might have to struggle to survive. Six months of First Fridays (undoubtedly the biggest day of almost every month) where people drive into town and drive right back out, because they were unable to find suitable parking.

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Will people even return after those six months? Will they come back to see if it's worth trying to find parking? How many businesses will fail during that time frame? How many employees will be forced to seek work elsewhere?

Finally, to compound the problem, right before the closure of the free dirt lot, the borough installed meters (working meters for a change) in all of the smaller lots around the town. I understand the borough's desire to monetize what they see as an easy and continuous revenue stream. But their timing couldn't be worse. Parking authority agents are also handing out tickets left and right. I know someone who got a parking ticket the other day for being parked too close to a crosswalk (1 foot away), in a spot where there was no sign, no yellow curb, and no impeding of turns by his car. Someone from out of town would be strongly discouraged from returning by an unexpected ticket such as that.

Parking in P-Ville is a major problem. Everyone is talking about it. No one is doing anything about it. Let's do something about it. Start a petition; make the small lots free; delay development until the parking garage is erected; eliminate the two-hour parking restrictions on all but the main drag; put up signs pointing people to free parking areas. Let's do something. Anything. Before it's too late.  

 

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