Friday, December 16, 2011

Free no more


Spring Street Parking Lot eastern entry 12/16/11

The good news is the Spring Street parking lot in town center is now fully operational; the bad news is now--just in time for Christmas--we must render unto Caesar our hard earned quarters in order to park.

The lot had been mostly operational (if parking was your only concern) since the first week of November, so savvy visitors could park without giving The Man his due. But hey, at least we nickel and dimed them over the past six weeks to the tune of a few grand.


Spring Street Parking Lot Western entry 11/7/11

9 comments:

AlexKG said...

Hey Larry,

I only started following your blog recently, so I don't have a clear sense yet of when you're being coy and when serious. But I hope it's the former in this situation, as the modernization of Amherst's parking is a wonderful thing for our town. Amherst has long had a problem of difficult-to-find parking, and creating mechanisms to easily price parking at market rates will help to make the downtown more accessible.

Thanks for your passionate coverage of issues in Amherst! I hope your clear care for the town will encourage others to feel the same way.

Larry Kelley said...

Hey Alex,
That was my coy side (Friday is a slow news day).

Anonymous said...

Many people are having difficulty with the machines. Don't forget your reading glasses!

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah, I've heard that from a few sources.

I got used to the free parking, but next time I'm in town--shopping local of course--I'll give one a try.

Anonymous said...

It's already just wonderful at night when you can't read the buttons. It will soon be even better once it snows and you won't be able to see the white paint space numbers. Brilliant.

Anonymous said...

Snow will be a real problem. Are we supposed to guess the space number?

Larry Kelley said...

Maybe they should have left the meter poles standing and painted the numbers on them.

Well at least they will now have an incentive to quickly plow all the parking lots using the new system.

Anonymous said...

Used the new machine behind town hall the other night. My recommendation is bring a flashlight.

Anonymous said...

There is a number on the pole, but it may get covered by snow. Yes, lighting is a problem.