This article in the Meadville (PA) Tribune and its associated comments say it all. First the Mayor notes that people who drive to other towns or to the mall just outside of town spend much more on gas than they would on parking if the shoopped downtown. He goes through much the same gyrations that I did in my "The experts are full of it" post on November 20. No matter how you cut it, people spend more to drive to the mall than they do to park downtown. So why don’t they come downtown to park?
Read the comments under the article. 90% of them say that they don’t shop downtown because there is no reason for them to come down there. Shops are poor, and as one said, the shops close at 5 PM, and most people get off work then and shop after work on week days. The good ole days of mom staying home and going shopping during the day simply are just that. Good Ole Days.
There is even a comment of a worker in a downtown store complaining that he has to go out and "feed the meter" every two hours. Of course it never occurred to him that he is taking a space that a potential customer could use. (Note: There is monthly parking available all over the place.)
Meadville merchants, and those from other downtowns where the business is waning should read this article and its comments. There people hit it right on the head.
Remember my mantra — if you build it they will come.
JVH
