Downtown Fresno must improve parking problem
The put in the Fulton Mall to revitalize downtown Fresno. But customers flocked to shopping centers with acres of free parking and businesses followed the customers. Three large, expensive parking garages were built to house the revitalized town center, but then high parking fees were charged to pay for them.
The customers preferred free parking, and the city fathers could not wean themselves from parking fees and fines.
Now more construction contracts were awarded (and more political contributions received) to remove the mall and revitalize downtown. I have not heard of any plan to deal with expensive, inconvenient parking, just a call for investors to buy and refurbish seriously deteriorated real estate. Next thing you know, they will try to sell us a baseball team on the taxpayers’ dime. Oh! Wait!
Art Linkletter used to host a TV show called “People Are Funny.” Funny is not the word I would use.
Mark LaJoie, Fresno
This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Downtown Fresno must improve parking problem."