Friday, July 30, 1999
Evening, weekend parking rates fall
City aims for more downtown shoppers
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Starting Sunday, shoppers who make their way downtown in the evenings or on weekends will find parking bargains at the city-owned Fountain Square garages.
Parking rates there will change to $1 for the whole day on Saturdays and Sundays and $1 for weekday evenings after 5 p.m., said Chuck Cullen, city superintendent of parking.
Meters are up
The rate changes will be coupled with higher weekday rates to try to discourage downtown workers from keeping the busy garages filled during the day. The city already has increased rates at downtown parking meters.
The changes are part of a strategy promoted by the advocacy group Downtown Cincinnati Inc. to free more spaces for shoppers and visitors during weekdays and make it more attractive for people to come downtown in the evenings and on weekends.
“I think it's a great idea because what it will hopefully do is adjust some of the traffic patterns downtown,” said Susanne Halmi, store director of Tiffany & Co., across from Fountain Square.
Mrs. Halmi said her store is swamped at lunchtime during the week when downtown workers take a break from the office to shop. But it's not nearly as busy on weekends or in the evening. (The store is open until 8 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.)
The new parking rates, she said, could encourage more shoppers to visit downtown during those times when parking is plentiful and store clerks have more time to assist customers.
Not enough?
But some remain skeptical about the state of downtown parking.
Don Sparks of Hyde Park said he likes to shop downtown, but he prefers to do his shopping during the week. He doesn't understand why Cincinnati can't have cheaper weekday rates, he said.
And Amanda Richards, who works downtown, said the cheap weekend and evening rates won't tempt her to drive back downtown from Hamilton, where she lives.
“That's all good that it's cheap,” she said. “But the main thing that we need is parking during the day.”
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