Experts say doing away with some city parking may help
MARQUETTE -- Tuesday, consultant Bryan Crough took a critical look at downtown Marquette, and what he came away with might surprise you. He believes there is too much free parking.
After a walk-through of downtown Marquette Tuesday, the D.D.A., city merchants, and the general public were invited to Marquette Commons to discuss the future of downtown Marquette in work sessions. The goal of these meetings was to collect new ideas for the Tax Increment and Downtown Development plan that expires in 2012.
Parking was a hot topic. Crough pushed for less space for parking and less free parking available to motorists.
"If you look at Marquette from the air 80 years ago, it's not nearly as dense now because of surface parking," said Crough.
And D.D.A. members agree--less parking means more activity downtown and fewer people walking by empty lots. The goal is to get people parking and walking to their destination through downtown.
"We have so many surface lots in our downtown that we're not really as probably pedestrian friendly as we could be,” said Mona Lang, Executive Director of the Marquette Downtown Development Authority. “And I don't think anyone's ever come to a downtown because you've got nice parking lots."
To target bigger business, Crough recommended using some parking lots for building, distributing free coupons to downtown stores, and making gift certificates encompassing all stores downtown available to purchase.
A final planning document will likely be presented to the City Commission late this year.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC