Parking has always been a problem on the Downtown Plaza, especially for the elderly that go to visit some of the Doctors and Lawyers located there. Do YOU have any answers?
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
26 comments:
If it were closed off to traffic, wouldn't that make access that much worse? There IS ample parking, free for the first two hours, behind the plaza, but there is limited pass thru areas, and those that there are aren't marked. If you don't know, for instance, that you can cut-thru the IRS building or the building with Martin and Moore Real Estate, you would need to walk all the way around to get to the North side businesses. How about adding signs showing CLEARLY where those pass thru buildings are, to make it more "friendly". I would assume that pedestrians passing by those businesses located within those "access" buildings would be welcome by the merchants. Wouldn't you think?
Use the parking garage or the big lot that's never full!
PS. How many doctors offices are there on the plaza
At least two.
Put the street back in both ways...let commerce do its thing. The current state of the "plaza" is as close to the definition of "half pregnant" as one could hope for. When I have taken quest through this area the most common question is " what's this supposed to be?"
I'm downtown everyday. Never had a problem with parking.
easy... move the buildings somewhere else
I've only seen a shrink and a dentist office.
anon 11:25 At least you admit you're seeing shrink...most people wouldn't display your honesty.
GOOD POINT 10:46
Anonymous said...
I've only seen a shrink and a dentist office.
11:25 AM
That's at least two like Joe said... Duh!
Anonymous said...
anon 11:25 At least you admit you're seeing shrink...most people wouldn't display your honesty.
11:32 AM
LMAO... that was quite witty...
Big Daddy is absolutely right. Put it back to the way it used to be, and take out the stupid planters that make it look like a 'pretend downtown'.
Diagonal parking spaces could be placed on one side allowing for more than double the amount of cars that can park there now.
The downtown is failing because of the inconvenience for the elderly and the handicapped. If you don't know the short cuts you have to walk all the way around, and that is why business don't locate there.
It would be a good problem to have traffic congestion on that street, all successful cities do.
This is the stupidest design I have ever seen. It looks like bad theme parks version of what downtown should look like.
Make it all Handicapped! Let the elderly have it that need it, and let all the healthy people walk!
Big Daddys got it right. Oh, and while your at it, the price of scrap metal is up so that monument commemorating "what the f@#k" could be taken to the scrap heap.
Remember how big a deal it was when they decided to re-open it to cars? It was supposed to be the cure-all for the ills of the downtown plaza. So much for THAT idea.
Listen, you want business on the plaza? PUT A BAR THERE. Not a dive, not something swanky with linens but something in-between. With delicious beers on tap. That'll draw folks for sure, esp for happy hour. A bar for the people, not for the govt building employees.
PS: And what's more, please ixnay on the oral-may udgment-jay of having another alcoholic beverage establishment in town (frankly, we could use a few more).
Two words--valet parking.
I'm currently in the market to open a store. I was very seriously considering downtown because I think it is such a quaint area and it would be a great fit for the image I want. The thing that's ultimately making the choice for me, though, is parking. My store will be for a very specific demographic that, in the dead heat of summer, will not want to be walking around searching for a way to get from the parking lot to my store without walking a block out of their way to find a building to walk through. After looking into the parking situation, it REALLY doesn't surprise me that there are so many vacant spots. Its a shame too. If there were some nice cafes, stores and better parking, that downtown area could be something special in Salisbury.
"The downtown is failing because of the inconvenience for the elderly and the handicapped."
Ummm, would you please explain how you could possible mean this?
Maybe they could get some "Wal-Mart" scooters for the folks that need them.
About three years ago when I worked for some of those people who make the decisions for the “revitalization” of the downtown plaza I made a great suggestion:
Keep the street one way to minimize commotion, remove half of the planters (to make the street straighter) while creating more parking spaces, trim back the trees to reduce the "wooded" feel of the cluttered trees, and offer incentives for businesses to invest in the area, and fine the owners of empty properties for being empty.
The plaza is a dead zone and they were curious why college students didn’t flock to the area; my response: why would they come here?
It’s almost like they wanted the plaza to fail.
You have to have automobile traffic so "action" is being created by movement and then by word of mouth. Its not a park... its DOWNTOWN. Put it back so its about business and they will come. You attract what you get by the message that's being put out. It looks like a basket full of unfinished thoughts!
If it was a two way street the elderly could be ferryed right to the front door of the offices they seek or of coarse have the appropiate parking spaces nearby.
Anonymous said...
About three years ago when I worked for some of those people who make the decisions for the “revitalization” of the downtown plaza I made a great suggestion:
Keep the street one way to minimize commotion, remove half of the planters (to make the street straighter) while creating more parking spaces, trim back the trees to reduce the "wooded" feel of the cluttered trees, and offer incentives for businesses to invest in the area, and fine the owners of empty properties for being empty.
The plaza is a dead zone and they were curious why college students didn’t flock to the area; my response: why would they come here?
It’s almost like they wanted the plaza to fail.
8:22 PM
Excellent idea, but don't think you have to cater to the college student. That stupid, moronic idea of putting college housing on the waterfront to save downtown was a pathetic idea. Open the streets and allow two way traffic. You need "traffic" for the businesses to flourish. I can tell you numerous successful cities that don't have indoor shopping malls.
"It looks like a basket full of unfinished thoughts!" - I like that.
I too agree with big daddy.
I also like 8:22 PM
i say just put sugar in the gas tanks if they park there.
Anon. 2:09 said: "Remember how big a deal it was when they decided to re-open it to cars? It was supposed to be the cure-all for the ills of the downtown plaza. So much for THAT idea."
It cost $80,000 just to come to that conclusion. One of my urban planning classes came up with that idea in about 5 minutes and for free. I even wrote about it in a letter to the editor a few years back. The planning in this town sucks.
And for anon. 8:22 and 11:31..... it would be a great idea to put an upper class dorm downtown, just not waterfront. Split the large empty parking lot in half and put a parking garage on one side while the other half is occupied by students.
INSTANT relief from their spending dollars. Problem is that there is no propper "town & gown" policy b/w the city and the college.
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