NEWS- Get neighborhood parking facts straight

On behalf of the North Downtown Neighborhood, I need to correct a misimpression in the article "Racial restrictions?" by Courteney Stuart in your May 24 issue. To compare parking in one part of the City to another and call it "racial restrictions" is irresponsible journalism.

The what or why of parking regulations in the area of Friendship Court/South First St., according to  Stuart's article, appears to be police and neighborhood safety issues.

This does not involve the North Downtown neighborhood any more than it does other neighborhoods. In fact, when Permit Parking ends at 5pm and on weekends, North Downtown residents return home and have nowhere to park either, due to the increased entertainment venues and restaurants in The Mall area.

Mall patrons use North Downtown residential streets as free parking spaces. Once Water street's two surface parking lots are gone, at least until new parking is established at that site, the North Downtown neighborhood will be a battle zone for parking space seekers. This parking may even spill over to the streets Eugene Williams mentioned in his neighborhood.

It would have been advisable for Stuart to discuss the facts with North Downtown before going to print.

 Colette Hall
President, North Downtown Residents Association)

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