Are Sarasota Parking Meters On There Way Out?

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by punkfan39126

I've been biting my tongue abit since I discovered these forums, trying to restrain myself from ranting about this entitlement issue that Sarasotans seem to have because I know it would probably upset some people. But this is just a perfect example of it.

For a town that wants to be considered an arts destination with a cosmopolitan feel, Sarasota can be as backwards as it gets. I worked in a restaurant on Main St. for years and almost every customer that dined there during the high season complained about the parking situation. Keep in mind that none of these people had to walk more than two blocks from there cars, they were just perturbed that they couldn't park directly in front of the restaurant. THERE NEVER WAS A PARKING ISSUE.

These same people complained to the city, and lobbied for something to be done. The city built a huge parking garage and installed meters that would make it easier for people to park closer to their destinations. Now these same people are boycotting Main St., in effect, punishing local businesses for something the city decided to do at their own behest. It makes no sense. This wouldn't be any kind of an issue for any other city but Sarasota, a place where people love nothing more than to take their proverbial ball and go home. People really can't afford a dollar to park? How about parking, literally, 3 or 4 blocks noth or south of Main, where it's still free. If you don't wanna deal with parking, move to Parrish or North Port.

People won't be satisfied until the city finds a way to allow inside to park INSIDE their favorite downtown businesses, and even then they'll complain.

Having said all, it was stupid of the city to install these things during the dead of Summer and I do feel for the business owners. Although, if your business is gonna fold up like a cheap umbrella because people don't want to pay a dollar or park a few blocks away to support you, maybe your business kinda sucks anyway.

Now they might scrap the whole thing and call it a wash, several years, and $600,000 later instead of making it work by lowering the fee and/or making parking free at certain times. Typical Sarasota.

Hehe - I actually agree with you. When we moved away from Sarasota the first time in the 1990's it was because of stupidity like this. Sarasota was and still is run by morons, sorry to say. And there are CAVE people in Sarasota like no place I've ever seen (citizens against virtually everything). How about the city removing the park benches to dissuade the homeless?

There are a lot of beautiful things about Sarasota, but the city leadership has a long way to go. I am actually happy I live in Manatee County, rather than Sarasota proper.

Again, all nice cities have meters, that isn't the issue. But the timing, expense and whatnot the way this was done should have been better thought out, IMO. In summer the businesses are already struggling, why do this now when it's only the cheapskates that live here that are complaining.

[d4g4m]

A few whinners voice a complaint about 'parking' and as usual, politicians/bureaucrats attempt to fix the problem with spending alot of money and overkill. Spend $500,000 for complicated meters AND charge $1.00 per hour to use them for a parking space. If they really wanted meters, they could have bought surplus old fashion meters where you turn a knob to set the clock and charge .25 cents each 20 or 30 minutes. [requires a fistful of quarters]The meters could be 'bagged' or removed from the poles between a week after Easter to Thanksgiving for free parking. Or they could time a free one hour and use the people being paid to 'chaulk tires' in other parts of downtown.
A few whinners in Carrollwood [just outside Tampa] complained that there was too much speeding traffic in their community. So in a typical political/bureaucratic approach, the area was littered with speed bumps and speed tables. A majority of the community petitioned the County to remove them. They determined that all the speed bumps/tables were overkill to fix a problem that did not exist. Cost to tax payers to remove the bumps/tables-- $108,000