The parking for downtown businesses needs to be close because of the perception for potential for crime. It's dark, with nooks for a person to hide. The malls although statistically more targeted for crime because of the dense population dont have the same feeling of vulnerabilty at night. Especially with all of the vacant dark buildings... We need lights, security cameras just like the mall and parking that feels safe and insulated from panhandlers. We also need metered parking upto 3 hours for daytime. My friend got a ticket today while in a meeting near hemming plaza. Really makes me want to go downtown and conduct business. This isn't NYC ... Our downtown is competing with beautiful pristine Disney like malls with piped music lush furniture and fantastic security. I say open downtown to the young creative entrepenuers and let them give it an identity. What do we have to lose?
