I think metered parking is a good idea to bring in extra revenue, but covering them for free parking for certain events would be nice.

I estimated a count of 1000 public parking spaces in or near downtown Rochester. That sounds like a lot but it also depends on the event. I may be biased because I live downtown so I can walk or bicycle to town but when there is an event or even on the weekends, the lots fill up. On weekend evenings I have seen many parking lots on the fringe with plenty of parking (farmer's market lot, city municipal building lot and behind the Rochester Medical Village/Limelight area). Do we need a parking garage? Yes, for this fact: Our city has lost plenty of good real estate that could be used for businesses or even residences behind both sides of main street to parking lots. More businesses and residents mean growth and prosperity for the city. Reclaiming parking lots will call for a need to condense and creation a parking garage. Most say that it would not fit the look and feel of Rochester. True, it will not look historic but we are a car centric town and have given up so much of our sidewalk space for walking or dining outside to cars (on street parking). The residential area has been pushed further away from Main Street over the years necessitating the use of cars to get downtown for most. If done correctly, a structure could blend in, help solve our parking problem and promote new opportunities downtown.

One of the reasons I shop at a shopping center is free parking - and parking nearby the store(s) in which I am interested in shopping.

We do not need a parking garage, for heaven's sake. Stop bringing up such atrocities, before they become some politicians 'great idea', and before you know it, we are no longer charming, warm, or down-homey. Big events, mean big draws of people, and lots of cars... it's called life. The four or five times a year this happens does not qualify the idea of a garage in town. On a daily basis, there is more than ample parking in our city to accommodate needs. I shop Downtown often, dine Downtown frequently, and drive through it daily throughout the day... never seen a 'glut' of cars looking for spaces to park ever. We are still charming in a modern sort of way with what accommodations do exist... I'd like us to stay that way. Free parking? Nice; but a lost of revenue for sure. Not so sure it's necessary.

the reason we dont have a glut of cars....just daily commuters ..is because we are not fed by a Woodward or a BIG beaver or a 696.....that why RO and BGHM nead and have parking towers.......if we had one parking tower however....no doubt downtown businesses would start to really boom as the parking attraction along with the high quality merchants on main would make Rochester a very competitve venue

As it stands today, it is my opinion that we do not NEED a parking structure. My family went downtown on the Saturday night of the Fire & Ice around 7pm. The lots on the west side of main, south of University were all full, but just north of University, by PD and Limelight was completely empty. If that had been full we were gonna go check the library lot which I am guessing would have been available as well. Maybe someone else would have some info on the lot.

Based on my recent experience there are more than enough spots even during a special event. I guess this is a question of are we a walkable, pedestrian friendly, vibrant lively town, or are we car friendly town. When catering to the automobile you breed a behavior of – get in car - find parking spot – go to desired store(s) – get back in car and leave. Contrasted by someone parking a few blocks away from the actual store they want to go to and having to walk to it. While walking they are basically window shopping and are more likely to impulse or decide to come back again to try some store or shop they didn't know existed.

But it seems our primary concern today is the fact that it is hard for a car to get a spot directly in front or in back of a certain shop, so therefore we NEED more parking. I recently went to Ferndale on a Saturday night, no special event, and had to park about 4-5 blocks from where we wanted to go. It is just kind of expected when going to a town like that. Find whatever parking spot you can and you will have to walk there.

Now, Dave, you do make me think twice. If the intent to having a parking garage was to repurpose some of the current lots we have and maybe eliminate the Rochester Rd parking to better provide walkability on our store fronts and encouraging outdoor dining/seating, I might be in favor of a garage

First of all, I would like to say that we love living in Rochester. We specifically chose Rochester for it's walkability, parks, trails and downtown. We love how close everything is and that we can walk or ride our bikes everywhere. With that said, I will try to keep my comments short and to the point. Although I might digress.The quick answer is no, we do not need a parking structure. Unless of course, we implement David's idea.

Great examples of why we don't need a parking structure can be summed up in these two videos.

The first one is from a documentary called “Contested Streets”, and this part discusses what the people of Copenhagen, Sweden did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moyYseqQNCM
I love the part in the documentary where they say that there was tremendous resistance from the residents and businesses stating that by removing traffic and parking to make the area more walkable and to introduce bikes will never work and that the businesses will fail due to lack of sales. Of course, none of that happened. If you don't watch this whole video, at least watch the part starting at 6:05, a perfect example of what happens when you remove parking and make it a people space. Also at 8:05, some great advice from the urban planners.

The second video is a year long study of downtown Ann Arbor and they even touch a bit on parking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsrqBHEOT0k

Now I know that Rochester is no where close to the size of Ann Arbor or even Copenhagen, but why can't we implement some of their ideas but on a smaller scale. For it seems that these ideas do not deter people from coming downtown, rather they bring in double if not triple the amount of people on a daily basis, not just on a certain day because of an event. And isn't that what the businesses want?

I say a big fat NO to the parking structure and to anymore parking studies! Instead let's think of ways to limit the amount of cars downtown yet increase the amount of people!

I think the question also needs to be asked about the vision of Rochester. What do we want Rochester to look like in 5, 10 or 20 years? Do we want to see families strolling around downtown, or more cars, parking structures, and of course with more cars come wider roads.

I do understand that we are a car culture, but why can't we live in harmony with bikes and pedestrians?

I'm also aware that our generation and even the generation before ours barely has any experience with reliable and efficient public transportation or even a walkable community with a real functioning downtown. Unless of course you traveled outside of Michigan. We drive everywhere, we go from A to B. We don't get out of our car to stroll around the strip mall, why would we, it's depressing! I just want to park, go into the store and leave, there is nothing inviting about a strip mall! Is that what we want downtown to be like? Our generation has grown up in the car culture, its hard for us to fathom any other mode of transportation. We walk or ride a bike, but only for exercise, it's not an actual mode of transportation.

However, there is a shift happening among the Millennials. Many of them are moving back into urban areas and out of the suburbs. But why? This article shows some stats as well as a quick explanation as to why “..Environmentalists would likely point to the fact that many people are reducing the number of cars they own, in fact, it was recently speculated that an entire generation (Millennials) may not buy cars in the future, making walkability one of the highest priorities as the badge of honor is earned by people who brag that they don’t have to have a car because they live across the street from a park, a grocery store, and a famous music theater.”

http://agbeat.com/housing-news/americans-favoring-city-life-moving-out-of-suburbs/

Why can't we at least try some kind of pilot program this summer? What if we completely removed parking on the west side of Main Street and put up some kind of barricades. The restaurants could then put outdoor seating and see if this is something that would actually bring in more customers. I understand that this might be easier said then done, since I'm sure that the restaurants will not want to pay for additional seating to be used outside, and I'm sure that there are other things to consider that I probably have not thought of, but why not at least give it a try?

Ok, that's it. Thanks for listening :)

Correction! Copenhagen is not in Sweden, its Denmark. Sorry!