There are almost always vacant spaces downtown, in lots and on the street, but people do complain that parking is difficult here. To these people, we offer this map of convenient parking, ensuring you will easily find a space! 

Parking issues can elicit strong emotions and even bring out selfish and territorial behavior in people. (Oh My!)   

There is a prevailing belief that parking on city streets directly adjacent to our destination is an entitlement, rather than considering leaving closer spaces for those who might need them more.   

Interestingly, most of us don’t mind walking significant distances from our cars to the entrance, around the store and back, of stores like Meijer, Walmart or Cosco, which easily exceeds 1,400 feet total on average. For some reason, walking a shorter distance from the furthest lot, to the 100 & 200 blocks of Kent Street is just ‘too far’. So much about our community demonstrates this is so different than how we behave in other situations.   

Taking all this into consideration, we hope many will shift their perspective on parking. We should be willing to walk a reasonable distance and utilize available parking lots rather than insisting on parking directly adjacent to our destination. By doing so, we can support our local businesses going through months of construction and contribute to a more functional and harmonious parking system.