I suppose that nobody can call me a newly hatched critic of the Parking Authority. I have been on their case since before I started this blog in 2007. In 2005, as an independent candidate for mayor, I held two press conferences about that monster's appetite, even back then.
The first conference was at 10th and Chew Streets. I wondered why the Authority still had parking meters out there, when the business district had shrunk to a couple blocks of Hamilton Street decades earlier. The Morning Call was actively suppressing my candidacy, and did not cover my conferences. For my second conference in front of the Authority's office, the paper instead interviewed the APA director at the time, promoting her policies.
There is a long back story between the Morning Call and The Allentown Parking Authority. The Authority was started to bail out Park & Shop, when their lots became less profitable. One of the three Park & Shop owners was Donald Miller, owner of the Morning Call. The Parking Authority started as the handmaiden of the connected in Allentown, and has remained so to this day.
During the following decades those parking lots have been sold off to a few connected developers, giving them already cleared, inexpensive, ideally located building sites. The Authority then proceeded to build expensive parking decks, creating a massive debt service. Divide that debt service by the average fine of a parking ticket, and you'll know how many people a month that monster must eat to survive.
In addition to being a critic of the Parking Authority, I have become a critic of the NIZ. While the NIZ uses our diverted state taxes to finance a few privately owned real estate empires, the APA provides the parking for those NIZ tenants. The APA is financed by tickets placed on the windshields and backs of the citizens.
The Parking Authority in Allentown can certainly be an appropriate asset, with the current parking congestion and violations. However, a more equitable funding source, rather than overly aggressive ticketing, must be employed.
shown above Park&Shop postcard, showing the former parking lots
I wish I lived in Allentown. You would have my support.
ReplyDeleteMike, missed this yesterday, thanks for bringing this to light.
ReplyDeleteMike, I count 29 lots in that picture... is that correct???
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, we never paid for parking in a Park & Shop lot EVER... the store(s) always validated your ticket!!! SO, I may be dumb, but I can't comprehend how they were losing money on the P&S lots that most folks were validated, for free, just because the stores were so pleased you came and shopped!!!
Maybe you could 'splain it to me!!!