file photo by Boyd Loving
The “demand for parking” in Ridgewood is a myth put forward by the previous Council majority. I drove past the site where they wanted to build a 5 story parking garage at 8:00 pm on a Saturday night and the lot was about 75% full. Plenty of parking available. For those of us that work in the CBD, we know that there are certain hours of the WEEK that are difficult to find parking but overall there are plenty of spots available.
I always manage to find parking in town when going out for dinner, so i do not feel the need for a garage.
Suburban residents are accustomed to pulling up in front of any destination and parking the car. Ridgewood is more of a city and you may need to park a few blocks away.
I have a friend from Demerest who mentioned how hard it is to lark in Ridgewood. She lives in a town where you can park pretty much anywhere. She comes to Ridgewood occasionally for dinner. You don’t see many people from Ridgewood driving to Demerest for dinner or to shop.
You have to take the parking complaints in context. Ridgewood is a city. Accept that and parking makes sense.
Ridgewood is not a city, it is a village. And if you are willing to walk a couple of blocks you can park. I remember how Roberta used to whine that she had to go around the block a couple of times. Just park on cottage place and walk to you restaurant. The walk will do you good.
Big Al the Developer’s Pal
Well said @ 7:16.
The first priority is repaving the parking lots that we have now they are in major need of reconstruction card so I walks repaving they have not been done in 30 years take a look at cottage Hutson
ha ha ha… Ridgewood is a village. ha ha ha
good one.
I suppose Elmwood Park (formerly known as East Patterson) is a “park”
What is so bad about a parking garage and having ample parking spaces in town? We have dilapidated rundown buildings that are eyesores and could be converted into usable space. By looking at most of the posts on this blog it looks like people like to complain about anything and are afraid of change.
There may be parking in the summer but it is scarce on nice evenings. That doesn’t mean we need a garage but we do need repaving and restriping. After that is done we will be able to see if there is a real need for a garage or not. And I’m pretty positive that people may pay for parking during the daytime, but not to go out to eat. There are way to many excellent restaurants in nearby town with adequate free parking.
Open your eyes. You can call Ridgewood a village but it is a village in name only.
We are a transportation hub, we have city services (public sanitation service, fire dept and water) and we have a congested downtown.