Does anyone see the irony in this paragraph:
PHILADELPHIA While it may be difficult to find a parking space
in the City of Philadelphia, for one day only it will not cost you a
thing. Philadelphia Magazine is sponsoring a Free Parking Celebration
in the Best of Philly Day.
You get a free space, if you can find one. So the "Best of Philly" folks are promoting their event with "free" parking. Assuming that this ploy works, and I’m not convinced that people don’t go to events because the parking costs, it means that tons of people will flock to a limited number of spaces and be angry because there is no place to park. Most of the spaces will be taken by those who are there to set up and staff the event, making it even more difficult to find a space.
This falls in my "if you build it they will come" department. If the event attracts people (like "Taste of Chicago" or "Concert in the Park" or ‘Dodgers vs the Angels" — people will come. The cost of parking is not an issue — they will find a way to get there. However if the event requires such ploys as "free" parking, then the event itself has problems and needs help.
Maybe we need a "Field of dreams" award to compliment our already popular "City by the Bay" award.
HMMMMMMMMM…
OH, I also noticed this article about charging for a parking facility in the UK. The local paper is running a survey but as always they scew the question in the survey to get the answer they want. Here’s the question:
Will you mind paying car parking charges at the former free Barker’s Well car park in Denbigh?
Who would rather pay than get something for free? Duh…Wouldn’t a more appropriate question be this:
Will the one dollar a day charge for parking in the Barker’s Well car park keep you from shopping in the town center?
Of course, that may not elicit the answer the paper wanted. Sigh
JVH
