Downtown Parking Management Updates

I oppose paid parking in downtown Ft. Collins. If it is implemented I will likely not shop there in the future. These parking charges will not make up for the lost sales tax revenue that will occur if this policy is implemented.

Now a Ft Collins resident, we had lived in Columbia, Missouri for more than 40 years. The street parking in downtown Columbia has made the downtown experience less open and friendly, creating a very uninviting feeling. Based on our experience, we strongly suggest you reconsider. Leave the parking as it is!

I visit Fort Collins because of the variety of Downton shops, and the fact that it is easy to find parking near these shops and restaurants. With paid parking I am more likely to forego Fort Collins in favor of Centerra as a go to shopping center.

Removed by moderator.

I oppose paid parking. As a local, I feel small businesses would be negatively impacted by a change from the current system. There would be less walk-in business. No to paid parking!

Keep 2 hour parking free! This is one of a few things that continue to be free of charge. This benefits everybody and encourages low income people to visit downtown. This will be a detriment for all people to enjoy the city.

Putting in paid parking would make me, as a customer, far less likely to want to visit the downtown to shop or get errands done. The current parking model works and is better for businesses. People with disposable income will fill those spots all day and leave the rest of us scrambling for spots.

Please leave free street parking for Old Town.

Please maintain free street parking in Old Town! A tradition that sets our town apart, it serves all visitors and residents alike, makes patronizing the local businesses easy and affordable for everyone and encourages investment in our local economy. There are many other ways to increase revenue including resuming enforcement of the parking garage fees and serving tickets to those that abuse the free parking.
Please keep Fort Collins inclusive and community-oriented, it’s why we all love it here.

I believe paid parking in Old Town will give a less welcoming feel to residents and visitors, I know I will feel less welcome. I frequently just stop in Old Town quickly to visit a business or two and rely on free, easy street parking. If I want to stay longer I know there are garages available and I'm happy to park there. Please don't take away the ease of use and welcoming feel of our downtown by taking away our free two-hour parking.

I oppose paid parking meters in Old Town Fort Collins.

I love all the creative solutions to help with parking downtown that don’t involve adding metered parking! This is part of what makes Fort Collins a great and accessible town! We are not Boulder and we don’t want to be like Boulder. I also run a business downtown and this would deeply impact my customer base as a private practice psychotherapist. My landlord shared with me the other day that Fort Collins used to have metered parking and it drove a lot of businesses out of the downtown. Why would we replicate what didn’t work in the past!

Sometimes I ride my bike downtown, sometimes I drive. Free 2 hour parking is both tourist and community-minded, presenting a sweet history of when it wasn't always about money grubbing. For me it is an encouragement to explore dining options or simply walk around browsing without a singular purpose. We have splash pads, music, a beautiful library, outdoor eating-- it is very compelling. Charging me to park is off-putting and reminds me of how community charm is rapidly evaporating in exchange for worshipping the almighty dollar. Want a comparison? Charging me to park is the equivalent of the new CSU digital signs- they scream at you about wanting money. Ugh. I'll go somewhere else.

I'm in support of paid parking downtown. Most of these comments amount to people willing to sell out to Starbuck's and Centerra for $2, which I think reflects very badly on our city and I hope isn't the prevailing way of thinking. Many of the Free Parking campaign's talking points site non-existent resources, and also point out that free parking is a 'tradition', so I suppose it's up there with Tour de Fat and trick or treating on Mountain Ave and seeing the Old Town lights every November? That's rich. Free parking is not a part of a city's charm. Old Town itself is, and in fact, would be more *even* charming with fewer or no cars. You don't look at Harmony road and think, oh, how charming! I'm baffled. Please, have car drivers pay their fair share and support the city. I just want our city to remain beautiful and not have to cut services to put money towards car infrastructure maintenance.

I oppose the addition of paid street parking to downtown Fort Collins. It limits easy short term access to businesses downtown and the garages already provide ample, low cost long term options. If revenue is an issue, increase the fees on parking violations and begin enforcing violations on the first infraction rather than leaving warnings. This may have a negative effect on business downtown but I also believe it will impact the friendly, laid back atmosphere old town Fort Collins does such a great job maintaining.

Please, please leave the 2 hour parking in old town. Small businesses depend on the traffic they receive. It also creates so many barriers for people. For 4 years, I did therapy in old town every week. I would not have been able to afford that if I had to pay for parking every time I went. There is no need to update a system that is not broken - keep the two hour limit!! No paid parking.

The more unfriendly you make a downtown to local residents and visitors, the more it will decline. Watched this in Santa Barbara for 47 years, where the local main street is a horrific shell of what it used to be. The strategy should be to support local businesses, not a misguided revenue grab that will backfire. Downtown Fort Collins is lovely, and parking is NOT an issue, except on weekend evenings, which is natural, and can still be navigated with a little planning. Please do not wreck a good thing!!!

I think having paid parking downtown is not the most effective way to deal with the issues the city is facing. The main problem is the cost to lower income folks who don’t have dollars to spare just to do business downtown. The other major issue is the significant detrimental effect it will have on small businesses downtown. Thirdly, these app based parking systems are always a pain in the neck and they dump money out of the community to tech companies that manage the systems. Downtown Fort Collins is a unique downtown for a city of this size because it isn’t a tourist trap, it’s an accessible place for middle and lower class folks to do business. That’s incredibly important to our local culture and should not be overlooked. Take every necessary step to keep lower and middle class folks doing business downtown or we will lose the genuine aspect of downtown, it just becomes another contrived facade if it doesn’t serve the common folks who live here.

Leave the DT/OT 2 hour free parking policy tradition alone-- leave it in place!

Our options for getting downtown are walking, which is free, taking transit, which is free, biking, which is very inexpensive, taking a ride share, which is a decent amount of money every time you go, or the premium fancy schmancy option of driving yourself in your own car. I just don't understand the people who are here using the most expensive, premium form of transportation complaining about a couple bucks to park in Old Town. Free car storage is eating into other parts of the city's budget and taking away from other programs. Car drivers cannot take one ounce of inconvenience!