Downtown Fears

[iwasthere]

mcnally might be charge for lying under oath but there was a leader that did lie about his personal affairs then had eight yrs in the  white house. ytown dt is safe and convenient to anyone that makes an effort to plan a morning afternoon night in ytown dt.

[Peggy Gurney]

I don't want McNally going anywhere. He's doing a fine job, imo.

[Towntalk]

You're right, at least so far as Youngstown's concerned, but hopefully once all this Oakhill business is done and all the folks that were involved are out of the picture, maby we can get folks into high offices that will run this city correctly.

[stewie]

If you are going downtown and you are not willing to walk a few blocks you should probably stay home or hangout in the burbs. If you cannot walk a few blocks you should have a backup plan such as a chair or scooter. Most of dt is handicap friendly ie ramps and such. It could be better in that regard though. Either way. It isn't the City's responsibility to get you where you need to go.

[Peggy Gurney]

When I ride the bus I don't wait to get off at the WRTA terminal I hit the button and get let off closer to downtown....also I pick the bus up after it leaves the terminal as it heads past 20 Federal Place....you've got to be smarter than the bus....

I wonder how many people honestly don't know that they don't have to walk all the way to the terminal to get the bus? 
Seriously, are there bus stops other than the terminal on Federal? 

I still think that a small downtown shuttle bus would be a worthwhile investment.

[Towntalk]

Shoot, the WRTA drivers are quite accomadating in picking up passangers  If you nicely wave them down between bus stops they will stop to let you on. Many a time when I was working  I was picked up right in front of my house if I was running late, and since I lived right on a bus route, the drivers would let me get off in front of my house. WRTA has a great group of drivers and I tip my wig to one and all.

[Irishbobcat]

When I ride the bus I don't wait to get off at the WRTA terminal I hit the button and get let off closer to downtown....also I pick the bus up after it leaves the terminal as it heads past 20 Federal Place....you've got to be smarter than the bus....

[AllanY2525]

Today is Dump The Pump Day.  If a few more people used a WRTA bus to get to work downtown,  the parking situation might improve a little.

Jay - good point, but if these same folks can't even walk a few blocks to get from a parking deck,
etc and insist on parking so close to where they are that they can admire the paint job on their
vehicle while eating lunch, do you really think they're gonna walk several blocks to the nearest
bus stop to ride WRTA to work - knowing full well that they will also have to walk once they get
downtown, walk back to the bus stop at the end of the day, take WRTA back to their neighborhood
and then... GOD FORBID...THAT'S RIGHT....WALK SOME MORE FROM THE BUS STOP
BACK TO THEIR HOUSE?

Some of them would look at this as "cruel and inhuman punishment", I'm sure...

I guess the ultimate solution would be to simply flatten several square blocks right in the very
center of the 20 or so block downtown of the city and put one huge parking lot in, along with
moving sidewalks for those who are too lazy to walk anywhere.... (elderly persons and the
handicapped are excluded from my statement regarding laziness....)

As far as handicapped parking, does anyone know if there are any regulations that would apply
to the number and placement of handicap accessible parking spots downtown?  Maybe someone
could check into it?  Use their "5 minutes with the Mayor" to make a suggestion?

A few well-placed traffic cameras could address the problem of meter feeding.  If the same car is
shown on video in the same spot all day and the parking limit is 2 hours, it becomes pretty obvious,
pretty fast and the perpetrator would have little to no defense in court if the video were played
back (with timestamps, of course).  The camera would only have to record a couple frames a
minute.

[jay]

Today is Dump The Pump Day.  If a few more people used a WRTA bus to get to work downtown,  the parking situation might improve a little.

[AllanY2525]

It is well known that many people who work downtown will park on the street and either feed
the meters, or keep moving their cars.

I don't know of a solution for those who keep moving their cars, other than having a parking
enforcement officer who watches for these offenders and keeps track of them.

As far as meter feeders, we have parking meters here that can tell if the same vehicle is still
parked in the same spot when more coins are dropped in because the time is running out.
The meter will take their coins - and not give them any more time....pretty effective.

[joly1584]

The two parking decks on Champion Street are never full.   Surface lots vary, but many of them are designated for people working at or visiting specific buildings.


One thing not mentioned in Mr. Franko's article is the free and metered street parking is supposed to be for visitors to downtown.  It is well known that many people who work downtown will park on the street and either feed the meters, or keep moving their cars.  One attorney with an office downtown has had almost 75 parking tickets(they have all been PAID) over the past few years.  The city does not have a way to prevent the downtown employees from abusing the parking on the street. 

[AllanY2525]

I would be interested in hearing from those who travel downtown daily (work there, go to the
various business establishments, etc) on how often all the existing parking lots are filled to their
full capacity....

Just curious.

[Towntalk]

I quite agree with you Peggy for as a little ol' broad it's all I can do to walk a block without having to stop and rest, I just ain't as spry as I was when I was a youngster, but there is no excuse for the younger people unless they are handicapped. The elderly and the handicapped are excused, but I refuse to have any sympathy for most of the younger crowd 60 and under. So far as I'm concerned they are lazy shiftless bums that expect to be catered to. When downtown Youngstown was humming pre 1960, people thought nothing of having to walk a couple of blocks to do their shopping and half of them rode the bus loaded down with packages and were better off than today's people.

[Peggy Gurney]

Some of us can not walk more than 3 or so blocks due to physical impairments. 
There HAS to be some way to make downtown handicap friendly.

BTW thank you Allan for giving us your perspective. Certainly nothing for anyone to get angry about.

[Towntalk]

What screams Mama Bear, are you asking the people in this neck of the woods to actually put themselves out by having to actually walk two or three blocks. It will never happen. They'll bawl their lazy eyes out before they have to suffer such indignities.