Deborah Butler, a downtown part-time worker, wrote this letter to the Sentinel pointing out that if the parking rates increase as the city proposes, she’ll have to pay nearly twice as much to park, just to go to her job! She also rightfully points out that the parking fees are a deterrent to shoppers as well:
After reading the Sentinel’s article concerning raising the parking fees in downtown meters, I couldn’t help but wonder why the Keene City Council is determined to make downtown Keene as unattractive as possible to visitors and workers alike.
Reducing the amount of time each quarter buys means that shoppers will spend less time in the stores along Main Street. Visitors to the area, who may park on Main Street to see what the merchants in Keene have to offer, will not know that they should have brought along a pocketful of change in order to park for any reasonable shopping time. They will probably cut their shopping trips short in order to avoid having to pay a parking ticket.
Like many of the people who work in the downtown establishments, I am a part-time employee. Right now, it costs me $5.50 a week to park for the part of the day that I am at work. With the proposed change to the parking fees, it will cost me over $9.
The more difficult and costly it is to park and shop downtown, the more people will avoid coming here. Kris Roberts is quoted as saying, “…people who don’t use parking spots will have to come up with money to subsidize the parking fund …” Well, I don’t have any children in the school system, but I ‘subsidize’ that; it’s the same principle. Does the City Council want happy shoppers spending money in a thriving downtown business district? I would like to suggest that the Keene City Council not be “Penny wise, pound foolish.”
DEBORAH BUTLER
