Residents, visitors and students are all saddened that our downtown has lost its vitality. There has been virtually no progress with regard to parking and people still feel unsafe while downtown. We must acknowledge that – and act on it.
Although a number of initiatives have been implemented in the last couple of years, progress has been halting and slow. Downtown merchants, residents, visitors and students always cite two issues: insufficient parking and a feeling of being unsafe. Arguments are made that parking is available and that people should feel safe downtown – but they do not!
Safety Downtown
If the Council had taken meaningful steps eight years ago, we would be much further along. But we are where we are. I have twice tried to have the Council consider a broader anti-panhandling statute that has the prospect for eliminating panhandling downtown. The Council effectively buried my requests even though the model is based on the town of Burlington, Vermont – similar to Chapel Hill in many ways. As Mayor, I will focus on balancing the rights of citizens and downtown merchants with those who choose to panhandle essentially at will.
Poor lighting also contributes to feeling unsafe downtown. It is shocking that many streetlights downtown currently operate at only 25% of their efficiency. Although Duke Power is responsible for providing and maintaining the lighting, we must find ways to exert broad influence and ensure we have the lighting downtown that we need.
Students are particularly distressed by the darker areas on Rosemary and other side streets. This is a difficult issue, since the adjoining neighborhoods do not endorse significant changes in the current lighting. That is quite understandable – but we must find a solution that is acceptable to all.
Parking
The consultant who evaluated parking downtown concluded that Downtown Chapel Hill had a parking problem. The final report said we needed to increase our public parking spaces from 840 to 3000. He recommended simple steps for the short term such as improving signage to help lead people to the parking we do (not) have. Over a year later, we have not even done that. Why do simple steps like that have to take so long? As Mayor, I will do everything in my power to have effective signs installed as soon as possible.
In the medium term, we can make improvements in terms of how we manage the available spaces in town (including the private and leased spaces). We also need to seriously reconsider whether parking should be a direct revenue source for the town or not. Whether we continue with that approach or not, it is very clear that parking needs to be viewed as a service and not merely a revenue source. We also must immediately begin to look at how we can increase parking downtown.
The prevailing view on the Council has clearly been that we should limit parking in order to encourage (force) people to take the bus downtown. It has not worked! We all wish that it would – and perhaps one day it will – but all we have accomplished so far is to lose business to places where parking is available because Chapel Hill does not exist in a vacuum!
Vitality Downtown
In order to draw more people downtown we need to have reasons for them to come. We have made some progress in that regard, but we still have a long way to go. The most dynamic downtowns have something going on almost all the time. We can look to many models for creative ways to draw more people downtown. We must find ways for Downtown to not only become a place where people not only want to come to – but also indeed feel as though they will be missing something if they do not.
