By Tim Redmond
Actually, I’m not against the idea of charging for parking in the parks. Parks are free open space, for use by all, but cars have a clear and negative impact on the park (and I say this as someone who drives my kids there to ride bikes, since they’re not old enough yet to ride on the city streets). Paying a modest fee to put your dangerous, polluting vehicle in the middle of public green space shouldn’t be such a horrible burden.
And I’m all for making commuters who use city parks as parking lots pay.
But I’m not really sure how this would work. Parking meters are the only logical option, but since most people who drive to the park spend a fair amount of time there, the meters have to allow, say, four hours worth of time without requiring users to carry $20 in quarters.
And I wonder: If thieves can dig under the ground and rip up miles of copper wire, what will become of all those nice juicy meters filled with cash, deep in the park late at night?