I don't think you realize what you are doing to the downtown retail businesses by parking in the spaces in front of them. I recently had to close my business, and most of the others are barely hanging on by a thread, mostly because they are losing business from potential customers who can't find a place to park. I know this for fact because I polled my customers.
Decatur has a beautiful historic courthouse that is the most wonderful attraction of the city. The Main Street revitalization projects have added a special touch to the downtown area, making it an attractive business district. And there are unique, quaint businesses around the square that you won't find just anywhere. But when visitors or customers drive up to the square, they are really lucky if they even find a parking space. Visitors, and locals who rarely frequent the square, aren't aware of the off-square parking. There is no signage to tell them where to park (signage is another issue).
This has been an ongoing issue (fight, so to speak) for the past 18 years that I know of. I have worked for several downtown businesses over those years, and the No.1 complaint of all of the business owners is always the customer parking issue. There are several nice parking lots within a block of the square where courthouse employees and attorneys can park, but I guess that's too much trouble, isn't it? A few years back, two-hour parking was actually enforced (only for a short time). That resulted in many courthouse employees playing musical parking spots every two hours to avoid getting fined. Maybe employers could provide some incentive for their employees to park in the off-square parking lots. And all of the attorneys' offices have parking spaces behind, yet they choose to park in the front for their own convenience.
Come on people, why be so selfish and stubborn? How about doing the right thing and being considerate of your business neighbors who are trying to make a decent living just like you. Does it matter to you if all of the downtown businesses dry up and go away? It should. We all need to work together for the betterment of our community.
I would really like to see our city leaders take some initiative and reinstate enforcement of the parking rules. Who will be the first to step up and do the right thing?
By the way, if you haven't shopped the downtown square recently, you don't know what you are missing. I hope you can find a parking space.
