PROVIDENCE—Providence Mayor David Cicilline’s free parking for shopping during the holidays is not working so well for some city merchants.
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Since there’s free parking all day at metered spaces, employees from the nearby courthouse and some from other government offices are taking parking spots early and are staying all day.
I know drivers think people like me are trying to punish them by increasing parking meter rates, but really we want to increase rates to make your lives better. Moving from the infinite parking world of big box suburbia to the rationed parking world of the urban hellhole requires some rationing mechanism. That can be time wasted driving around and around until you find a spot, or it can be higher prices and more available spots.
(Via ggw)