Paid Parking in the Plans For Downtown Saratoga
What do you do when you have a lack of parking issue? Well, start planning to charge people to park of course.
According to The Saratogian, city officials are looking to address the lack of parking issues in Spa City by implementing a paid parking system. The lack of parking is something that has been an issue for residents and tourists for years. Michele Madigan, commissioner of finance, calls the the plan for paid parking a parking management solution, saying "We're going to have a company come in here, evaluate our streets, evaluate the logistics of the community, evaluate all the locations of our different parking garages, and offer us some technology that get's people into our city, around our city and parked smoothly. It's an efficiency," Madigan said.
What are your thoughts on paid parking for downtown Saratoga? Do you see it helping the parking situation or just another annoying expense to deal with when you visit downtown? Both sides have a point. On the one hand, Saratoga does need a solution that allows for a better parking solution and if paid parking is the way to do it, then it is what it is. On the other hand, any time someone starts charging for something that used to be free, it just feels bad and hurts the wallet.