Tuesday, July 13, 2004
How Original
Yawn...
From the name of this event, Picnic for a Park, it looks like these rabble-rousers want a public park at First and William, where the Downtown Development Authority has proposed a parking structure that will consolidate parking currently located at that site, First and Washington, and South Ashley. The plan is to free-up the other two sites for residential and commercial development without losing parking capacity downtown. This seems sensible enough, and from the vague language, I am not convinced the plan is to greatly increase total downtown parking through this scheme. However, I'd like to see retail on the ground floor of the parking structure as well. I'd argue that yes, Ann Arbor has enough downtown parking, but it also has enough parks. In a time where we need all the infill we can get, moreover, using such prime downtown space for a park that will likely get only minor use seems wasteful. I have a feeling that Goldstein and Wong are just Old West Side residents who don't want anything built on the edge of their neighborhood and are using environmental arguments to support NIMBY attitudes.
Opponents of a new parking structure at First and William streets have scheduled Picnic for a Park from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Nancy Goldstein and Margaret Wong mobilized when the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority began considering a multistory parking structure.
They and other opponents say Ann Arbor has enough downtown parking, a structure in the Allen Creek floodway poses environmental problems and the project conflicts with the Downtown Master Plan.
From the name of this event, Picnic for a Park, it looks like these rabble-rousers want a public park at First and William, where the Downtown Development Authority has proposed a parking structure that will consolidate parking currently located at that site, First and Washington, and South Ashley. The plan is to free-up the other two sites for residential and commercial development without losing parking capacity downtown. This seems sensible enough, and from the vague language, I am not convinced the plan is to greatly increase total downtown parking through this scheme. However, I'd like to see retail on the ground floor of the parking structure as well. I'd argue that yes, Ann Arbor has enough downtown parking, but it also has enough parks. In a time where we need all the infill we can get, moreover, using such prime downtown space for a park that will likely get only minor use seems wasteful. I have a feeling that Goldstein and Wong are just Old West Side residents who don't want anything built on the edge of their neighborhood and are using environmental arguments to support NIMBY attitudes.
