Parking Pet Peeves

Is it possible to be anti-parking? If so, I think am. While others lament a lack of parking downtown, I dream of pushing cars off of Main Street and creating a pedestrian haven. Since no one is making me parking czar anytime soon, though, I think it's high time we talk a bit about this pesky issue.

Since Main Street's overhaul, it seems an already hairy parking situation has gotten worse. I've lost count of the times I've seen massive pick-up trucks parked over the lines and in the travel lane, but that's the kind of thing you learn to live with in a small town. Meanwhile, people seem to constantly lament their missing side view mirrors in the local Facebook forums.

However, a couple of no parking signs have gone up in front of the old Stafford Coffee Company and future home of LuAnn's Bakery & Cafe. In fact, those signs include the dance studio as well. As locals, we know there's a no enforcement zone down there, and that if you're going to brave those spots, you better pull your sideview mirrors in before you walk away from the car. Outsiders, like those who might come to town to visit LuAnn's won't know that, and it's raised some concerns. Can a bakery survive if its prime parking spots are gone?

Listen, I prefer to park where there is a reasonably sized shoulder (like near Ice Cream Depot) and let the rest of you fight it out for the tight spaces closer to the action. Frankly, parking over at Eagle Mart isn't any more of a walk than most people will make in the Big Y parking lot. If you have mobility issues I get that it might be a struggle, but Main Street and its building entrances will pose much bigger problems than parking.

Still, I understand the psychological need to score a primo parking spot, run in and get your coffee, and zip out of there with haste. And those signs aren't doing any businesses any good. It's a liability issue; I get that, but maybe someone can volunteer to stand out there dressed up like a cupcake and wave people into those parking spaces to ensure LuAnn's gets off to a good start, whenever it finally opens.

Further up Route 190, there's a parking issue of a different sort. When I drive through Stafford's commercial corridor, I cringe a little at the sea of parking. It's not limited to 190, nearly every town in every state has one of these hideous areas. Nothing is less inviting to me than a long strip of road with big ugly buildings set back behind a huge (and usually mostly empty) parking lot.

When I picture charming places I want to visit, they usually look more like Stafford's downtown area. Think: old buildings that sit directly on the sidewalk, with parking either on the street or, increasingly, hidden behind buildings or in garages. West Hartford. Northampton. Brattleboro. Putnam. Heck, Burlington, VT, went full pedestrian walk at the Church Street Marketplace. These are the kinds of walkable places people like to spend time.

Now, I get that most people don't want to walk to Aubuchon or Tractor Supply, dragging their bag of pet food or garden soil behind them, and that the communities I mentioned have their own big ugly buildings with a sea of parking out front. But what I've never really understood is why zoning regulations require building setbacks that put parking lots front and center. If we're going to quibble about the details of design (and, to be clear, I think we should), can't we hide the parking out back?

When I lived in Brattleboro, there was a lot tucked in behind many of Main Street's buildings. The businesses had front and back entrances, and I did all of my Christmas shopping on foot that year (though I did have to wear Yaktrax) Malls like Evergreen Walk are built to mimic old main streets, and are increasingly being turned into "lifestyle hubs" where people can live, work, shop, eat, and exercise. Maybe it's time we think about how other types of retail impact our streetscapes, and build more walkable places by hiding the parking.

But also, someone get on finding that cupcake suit!