Today's News has the article 'Pay parking blamed for vacancy spike'. I don't think there's much 'new' here, nothing groundbreaking, and as Councillor Brad Clark points out, "We knew this was going to happen. We were not being Chicken Littles.”
True enough. However...
However, as I pointed out two months ago here and here, the health and sustainability of Downtown Stoney Creek goes well beyond whether or not the –small percentage– of available parking is of the pay-as-you-go variety.
I'm not saying that the extrapolations regarding vacancy rates are suspect. I'm saying that to focus on this issue, while entirely ignoring the other factors at play only allows the citizens of Stoney Creek the comfort of a demonizing element, a continuance of an 'Us vs Them' mindset...and probably in itself prevents Downtown Stoney Creek from becoming what it might be.
We need to think on a much bigger level and with a much more informed perspective than strictly a paid-parking issue. Even if braying against this allows umbrage and righteous indignation that provides us a moiety of succor against the 'malnutrition of place' that Stoney Creek's 'Golden Square Mile' seems to chronically suffer from.
(And as a post-script, this paragraph from the article really gives me pause:
"The immediate area of the Stoney Creek BIA, which is from Lake Street to the Attic Restaurant, has 10,000 residents, but most of that population are seniors, with few families with children."
I'd be very curious as to how the term 'the immediate area' is defined. Because if we're talking the aforementioned 'Golden Square Mile' of Centennial to Gray, from Highway 8 to the Niagara Escarpment, the genuine catchment area of Downtown Stoney Creek's BIA, then I'd like to see the numbers, please.)
I'm not saying that the extrapolations regarding vacancy rates are suspect. I'm saying that to focus on this issue, while entirely ignoring the other factors at play only allows the citizens of Stoney Creek the comfort of a demonizing element, a continuance of an 'Us vs Them' mindset...and probably in itself prevents Downtown Stoney Creek from becoming what it might be.
We need to think on a much bigger level and with a much more informed perspective than strictly a paid-parking issue. Even if braying against this allows umbrage and righteous indignation that provides us a moiety of succor against the 'malnutrition of place' that Stoney Creek's 'Golden Square Mile' seems to chronically suffer from.
(And as a post-script, this paragraph from the article really gives me pause:
"The immediate area of the Stoney Creek BIA, which is from Lake Street to the Attic Restaurant, has 10,000 residents, but most of that population are seniors, with few families with children."
I'd be very curious as to how the term 'the immediate area' is defined. Because if we're talking the aforementioned 'Golden Square Mile' of Centennial to Gray, from Highway 8 to the Niagara Escarpment, the genuine catchment area of Downtown Stoney Creek's BIA, then I'd like to see the numbers, please.)
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I'm always interested in feedback, differing opinions, even contrarian blasts...as long as they're delivered with decorum...with panache and flair always helping.