1. Remove all parking meters immediately and replace with an enforced but free two-hour limit on parking from 9am to 5pm weekdays only.
2. Make all streets two-way where feasible.
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These two are the top priorities in my mind, with number 1 (remove parking meters) more important than anything else, by far. Perhaps more important than the rest of the list combined.
I recently took a day trip to Jax for the first time in about 3 or 4 years. I wanted to check out the Landing and grab a bite to eat, since it was lunch time. I had totally forgotten that I would need quarters to park. I only had one on me [giving me 30 minutes]. So, rather than risk a ticket, I got something to go from 'Apple A Day', took a very speedy walk-thru to judge the activity level, and headed back to my car. The meter had expired but fortunately I didn't have a ticket.
Had this been my home of Greenville, I wouldn't have needed a quarter, I could have taken my time and had a sit down lunch (and spent more), taken a more leisurely walk and browsed the shops either before or after I ate. I wouldn't have had to 'briskly' walk to and from my car in the hot sun, in hopes of avoiding a ticket. Unlike Jax, the Greenville sidewalks would be shaded too.
If I had run into someone I knew and chatted, or stopped to enjoy one of the roving street musicians, I could have done so, without having to worry about a ticking meter either.
As you drive into DT Greenville, there are signs that say "Enjoy Greenville's Downtown". That is exactly what I do too, every time, because it is not a hassle and it is a clean, vibrant urban oasis. Whenever I go to DT Jax, I rarely enjoy it, I simply 'endure' it.
If TIME-LIMITED (max 2 hours) but FREE parking works in Greenville and many other cities, in Avondale, the King & Park district, Five Points and San Marco Square, why can't it work in DT Jax? 9-5 office workers will not take the spaces, because they are not going to move their car every two hours.
I swear if this was done permanantly, you would see twice as much retail business on the Northbank within 18 months. The Landing lunch crowd was the leanest I had ever seen it on a weekday, BTW.
Later that day. I had a break in my schedule and went to Chamblin's for the first time. I had gotten more quarters at Apple A Day, so I had one to feed the meter. Places like Chamblin's are a time warp where you can lose a hours or two just by walking in.
I only had 30 minutes open in my schedule, but if I had more time in my schedule I would have spent it there, PROVIDED that I had the quarters to do so. With 2 hour free parking, it wouldn't be something I would have to think or worry about.
