Stauts letter: Downtown parking
A few weeks ago we attended the open house of the new hotel Inn at 500 and were shocked to discover that the hotel does not have on-site parking. We were informed that guests need to valet their car for $15/day, and the parking is scattered among three areas. How did this ever get passed? Parking in that area is already at a high premium (Trader Joe’s and Flicks are great examples) and this will only make matters worse.
My husband and I are retired and don’t bike in. We love downtown but don’t dine there often because we don’t want to hike in for five blocks. Now discussion is underway to place a stadium on Americana where parking in that area is very restricted. Unless a parking garage is built large enough that can hold everyone (fans, teams and vendors), we will have a very serious problem with parking and congestion in that area.
The downtown business association needs to be more vocal about this if they want to see their businesses increase, and more research of parking issues needs to be addressed prior to new projects.
Colleen Stauts, Boise
This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 11:38 PM with the headline "Stauts letter: Downtown parking."