Disagree with both. There’s no disconnect. You need metered parking because we have so much demand for parking. Without limits and enforcement, the businesses will suffer. Might seem counterintuitive but it’s a matter of supply and demand. We can’t find parking today with 3 hour limits and meter rates….imagine how much parking you’ll find if it was free! Glen Rock has like two delis and a couple of shops. They don’t have nearly the same amount of retail stores or restaurants that we have. Same goes for Midland Park, HoHoKus, Waldwick, Wyckoff, Allendale. Should I go on? So no, we don’t have any competition. Route 17 and Garden State Plaza are not substitutes for a Downtown like ours.
And to suggest that people here live in a bubble, and that they don’t know what else is out there, is simply ridiculous. We have a very educated consumer who chooses to live here for the very reasons people trip over themselves to come here. And by the way, taxes in Glen Rock are actually higher than in Ridgewood. But somehow, people in Ridgewood think that their taxes are higher than any other place on earth. It’s just a high class brag that gives some people the justification for being an asshole. So stay home, order from Amazon, home-school your children and become a hermit. Just make sure to Amazon Prime some Vitamin D supplements.