Sarasota Must Go Back To Paid Parking, Report Says (Miami: real estate, apartment)

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by bbronston

I agree, too....great idea. Maybe they could have some sort of conveyance that runs up and down the street continually for those who are mobility challenged.

Yes, this^^. It's a no-brainer. At one time they had some "pedal cabs"- not sure what happened to those. But there are always those shuttle trolleys like the ones at the beach. I think it would all work very well.

[ShekleKing]

About as dumb as "boulevarding" Fruitville from Honore to DT..what as bunch of knuckleheads, but they've been of stupid plans since about 1979, no surprise for me...like pavers on traffic circles around southside..megastupid waste of resources

[ShekleKing]

I was trained in Urban Planning. What exactly the percentage of true residents are "mobility challenged" ?

Give me a break. It can't be more than 2-3%.

Smart and capable cities should not promulgate solutions to relatively small problems that seem to focus on
a very very small population of people with "mobility challenges". That's nutty and is not practical in the
real world of limited resources, and the intelligent allocation of tax revenue for the general "good". In a perfect
world this might be possible, but to allocate massive resources for a truly small "problem" simply defies
wisdom and clear-headed thought. In other words, cities must pick and choose the projects that do the most
good, for reasonable amounts of your tax dollars.

Some local pinheads believe that using inlaid expensive pavers in a roundabout is more utilitarian than simple
concrete aprons and asphalt roads with correct lane lines and signage. This is patently stupid and a waste of
tax dollars. In fact it's downright nutty.

Eliminating vehicular traffic in favour of "walkable spaces" is equally absurd for DT Sarasota (and most other cities
which are not densely populated). First, people don't arrive "DT" by anything other than a CAR for the most part...
not even by bus or taxi. Second, these same people are going to have to be able to PARK...so where the hell are
these vehicles going to park ? Build more decks ? Open spaces? (like WHERE ??)

DT Sarasota's roads don't lend themselves to accommodate high-density living, shopping, entertainment as far as
ingress and egress is concerned. The city would have to start with an entirely "clean slate"...and that ain't happening.

Additionally, the Northport-Bradenton-Sarasota MSA is becoming increasingly full of "satellite towns", hamlet-like communities, and "township hubs" , rather than a large bustling "city centre" .

This is evidenced by examining enclaves that exist across the MSA. ..such as the University Corridor, Lakewood Ranch Main Street, North Lakewood Ranch, Venice (see Lennar), Southside Village, Village of the Arts, RiverWalk, various mixed-use communities in Manatee such as Lake Flores in West Bradenton/Cortez, (which would dwarf the size of Lakewood Ranch in eastern Manatee County.

In short, it appears right now that there is more interest in "de-centralization" all around Manatee County and Sarasota County. People are clamoring to flock to just DT City of Sarasota...that ain't happening now and it ain't happening in the near future. There is ample evidence to the contrary.

The City of Sarasota has a history of trying to find a solution to a non-existence longterm problem.

The smart money, including buyers, developers and investors are looking elsewhere for the longterm...it ain't DT Sarasota.
That strata of demographic is hellbent on mimicking certain areas of Naples Florida. More conservative masses are more interested in the decentralized satellite areas, whether that is the University Corridor/North Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch all the way south, all the way north, the sr70 corrior, the sr64 corridor, due west Bradenton, and the massive newer areas of Venice.

Residents and transplants have and will have a plethora of choices of where to live, work and have fun...and most people in the MSA won't be attracted to DT Sarasota...those are subsets of a subset.

[imagardener]

What exactly the percentage of true residents are "mobility challenged" ?

Many people simply don't like to walk very far, even though they may not fit the exact definition of mobility challenged, perhaps call it a "drive-in" mentality. Not everyone, regardless of age, can walk 2 or 3 city blocks and then there is the issue of being unsure of where you actually parked, which street? So you walk 4 or 5 blocks trying to find your vehicle. Add Florida tropical climate with possible rain (except in winter of course) and you've added another hurdle.

I was in business for 24 years and know how important parking as close to the business as possible is to customers. No convenient parking=no business.

[ShekleKing]

Originally Posted by imagardener

What exactly the percentage of true residents are "mobility challenged" ?

Many people simply don't like to walk very far, even though they may not fit the exact definition of mobility challenged, perhaps call it a "drive-in" mentality. Not everyone, regardless of age, can walk 2 or 3 city blocks and then there is the issue of being unsure of where you actually parked, which street? So you walk 4 or 5 blocks trying to find your vehicle. Add Florida tropical climate with possible rain (except in winter of course) and you've added another hurdle.

I was in business for 24 years and know how important parking as close to the business as possible is to customers. No convenient parking=no business.

Frankly my opinion is that if you're "unsure" of where you ACTUALLY parked, you may not be fit to be permitted to drive in the State of Florida, and maintain a valid Class driver's license.

If you can't or unable to remember where you parked your own vehicle, this is tantamount to being evaluated as "incompetent".

Parking CLOSE is an excuse to be very LAZY....very lazy indeed.

"No convenient parking" means NO business" ???????????? That is patently absurd. All a thinking person has to do is visit any Mall, or Town Center Shopping District. People park their vehicles FAR away from entrances and WALK MILES around a mall !! many times for HOURS.

Your contention has absolutely no basis in fact....none.

If people "don't like to WALK", then I would submit that they don't understand or accept what it actually means to be HUMAN BEINGS....that's what we DO....we WALK UPRIGHT.

If some Human doesn't "like" to walk, they are denying their humanity indeed. Perhaps you should crawl around on all fours like your dog.

[Picshooter]

True, funny and sad....all at the same time

Originally Posted by ShekleKing

Frankly[/b] my opinion is that if you're "unsure" of where you ACTUALLY parked, you may not be fit to be permitted to drive in the State of Florida, and maintain a valid Class driver's license.

If you can't or unable to remember where you parked your own vehicle, this is tantamount to being evaluated as "incompetent".

Parking CLOSE is an excuse to be very LAZY....very lazy indeed.

"No convenient parking" means NO business" ???????????? That is patently absurd. All a thinking person has to do is visit any Mall, or Town Center Shopping District. People park their vehicles FAR away from entrances and WALK MILES around a mall !! many times for HOURS.

Your contention has absolutely no basis in fact....none.

If people "don't like to WALK", then I would submit that they don't understand or accept what it actually means to be HUMAN BEINGS....that's what we DO....we WALK UPRIGHT.

If some Human doesn't "like" to walk, they are denying their humanity indeed. Perhaps you should crawl around on all fours like your dog.

[photoman_6]

planners should strive to make downtown sarasota a destination, with stores and restaurants and art galleries that people can walk through and stroll through. this can be easily accomplished by having sufficient offstreet parking in the recently built parking lots or more if necessary, and maybe add a trolley that could drive right down the middle of the closed off thoroughfares into the official parking lots. This would take care of the people with mobility issues

[d4g4m]

People are so lazy that if the malls didn't have entry doors, they would be driving their cars down the store walkways and if the store doorway was wide enough, in the store.
Have you ever been in a Publix lot behind the person waiting for a car to back out of the 2nd parking space instead of just driving to the 6th empty spot?
If anyone has done jury duty, the walk from the parking garage to the court house must be a killer for some people.

[Ladywithafan]

Please SRQ do the right thing & install those meters at all public beach parking; it's such a no brainer ~ daytrip over to the east coast & see how well it works there.

As far as limited mobility ~ if & if Main street was closed from 41 to 301 with a trolley running down the middle ~ could be feasible ~ kinda NOLAish ... I understand there's now mats rolled out on SKB for the mobility impaired ~ the hike from parking lot to beach is quite the walk...

[ShekleKing]

Geezus....DT Sarasota needs a freekin trolly like a hole in the head.

Closing the entire Main street to vehicular traffic is plainly stupid, and promoted by the pedantic, academic, artsy, "za-zou-vogue" phonies who long for creating a "Euro Zone" replete with bistro tables, umbrellas, and small shops selling overpriced chotchkies, bad Italian wine, and lousy smelley cheese....all the while "strolling" with their dogs.

This crap never works in any city which has no historical/culural foundation for this style of "Euro foolishness".

DT Sarasota will not be a "destination" for the vast majority of people in the MSA...why? any fool can see that's not where people are buying housing, living, shopping and playing...and the future of continued de-centralization is obvious.

But there again, there is a subset of the "za-zou vogue" who are hellbent of gentrifying the otherwise ghetto of north of Fruitville from Lime west to 10th street. Most buyers are not looking to "gentrify" anything.

These are the same fools whose code words are "walkability", "urbanism", "community", and high "density" transformation.

This city has no need for goofy ideas like a trolley.....hell, we don't need "light rail" either....lol. Most people around here don't even use "mass transit aka the bus system".

Some in this city have lost their freekin minds.....probably the same idiots that think Marina Jack serves great food.