The spiral begins
The Pittsburgh City Council announced a new 2004 budget that now includes substantial new parking taxes. While I regularly sneer at anyone who drives and parks downtown on a daily basis, I have mixed feelings about this action.
While I am no fan of free or subsidized parking, I don’t have a lot of faith in the average suburban commuter to make the switch from their private car to mass transit. Nor do I see Pittsburgh making a lot of capital improvements towards a more intelligent, transit-oriented, city plan.
But who knows? At the best, this could encourage commuters and city planners in these directions. I know it will further fan the flames of the especially nasty city-suburban split that’s so popular here. And at the worst (and always expect the worst in Pittsburgh), it could hasten the demise of the city and, inevitably, the entire region.
