Dear City Officials,
I own a business in Carytown. I constantly promote the shopping district in my work with the Retail Merchants Association and the Carytown Merchants Association, as well as in my media production company. One of the resounding objections raised by shoppers and potential customers alike is the lack of parking. Now, in addition to the limited parking in the city’s premiere shopping district, the city has decided to aggressively enforce the “2 Hour Parking” policy by marking tires and ticketing shoppers.
I’m sure that city officials read the news and have noticed the distinct LACK of retail traffic in general with the current economic state of the nation. We have vacancies in the district, with several businesses closing their doors in the past month alone. Why would the city choose THIS summer to enforce this parking restriction? Moreover, why is the shopping district subject to this policy to begin with? Shoppers can’t possibly park, shop, and grab a sandwich without exceeding this limit, much less browse stores and truly enjoy the ambiance of the shopping area. Why do we constantly strive to promote the city’s benefits if the city rewards shoppers by ticketing them, therefore driving them out to Henrico to shop in Short Pump?
Please suspend ticketing in Carytown for the sake of merchants and the shoppers that we’re working so hard to attract. It will be in our collective best interest.
Thank you for your time.

–Scott

Hey Scott,
I hear you, and I hope the city does, too. I also just found out about Paul Goldman’s cockamamie plan to block buses, cars and bikes from Carytown and turn it into a walking mall. What a cluster-fuck that would be!
     
–Tod C. Parkhill

I think the Downtown Mall option sounds interesting.  I haven’t read enough about it specifically to write it off as a bad idea or call it a good one.  Obviously some issues would arise over it and have to be addressed such as residential parking and travel.  On the other hand it may have the potential to draw customers to those businesses from further away just like Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall.  Burlington Vermont has somethng similar too which seems to work well.

It’s a great idea… Maybe it will be easier to park on the street now.  Why are these business owners acting so surprised that the city is enforcing street signs that have been there for years?  I’m sure the same people would be upset if the City arbitrarily decided not to enforce shoplifting laws.

As a resident of carytown myself as well I agree with you guys- making carytown a walking mall is a really really bad idea. Considering half the streets in the fan are 1 way..what a great way to make it nearly impossible for residents to get to and from their homes! This Paul Goldman is not very smart…I’d like to see him try to get to and from if he had only 1 way in.

Hey, maybe we can just turn the powhite pkwy/downtown expressway into a ‘walking freeway’ then we can park and walk from there cuz lord knows the Cary court parking lot and the lone “parking deck” carytown has - are not going to be enough to handle any decent amount of shoppers’ vehicles.

Seriously, tho, I agree wholeheartedly with you, Scott, as a carytown resident and patron. I hope you passed this letter along to the city and I hope someone with a brain (and maybe half a heart) takes heed to your concerns. We’ve got a lot to offer if given the means to do so!