Downtown Parking Management Updates

The weeekend is the only day of the week where you can park and walk around to enjoy all of old town without worrying about moving your car every 2 hours. Rent is already too expensive for business owners in old town and you all expect this hit to their business to help??? In what world does making parking paid by the hour where people with more money benefit and the people who can’t afford an extra 16$ to work a 8 hour shift down here help? It doesn’t. It’s going to impact our downtown negatively. Moreover maybe you should audit your job sites and see the inefficiencies going on in work crews. 6 guys standing around while 1 or 2 are working. Maybe less of our money would be wasted. You also hire contractors that leave our streets uneven and giant potholes where manholes are and mess up the alignment of our vehicles. This charge is purely greed so you can draw even more money out of residents already having a financially hard time.

Please leave 2-hour parking free to all. I would make far fewer trips downtown if I had to pay for parking each time. Some of us are not physically disabled but still have mobility issues, such as being pregnant or needing stroller access, and looking for free parking spots farther afield will mean that we are less able to access downtown. As it stands, I can usually find free parking downtown when I need it, within a couple blocks of my destination. If I have to pay to park in that radius, I will have less money to spend at local businesses.
If downtown congestion is an issue, I’d be delighted to take a bus if the routes and frequency were adequate. Currently buses from my area to downtown do not run often enough to allow for spontaneous Old Town trips.

I have worked in Old Town for the past 16 years and have witnessed its incredible revitalization. The City’s efforts to create a welcoming, vibrant, and beautiful downtown have made it a destination that residents and visitors genuinely enjoy. This success has benefited local businesses and increased economic activity and revenue for the City.

I believe implementing paid parking downtown would be short-sighted. Accessibility and convenience are major reasons people choose to visit Old Town. Paid parking could discourage visitors, reduce foot traffic, and negatively impact the businesses that rely on consistent customer volume.

While paid parking may generate short-term revenue, the long-term effects could hurt downtown businesses, reduce activity, and ultimately decrease City revenue. Old Town’s success has been built on being inviting and accessible, and I encourage the City to continue supporting that approach.

No city parking!

I will not frequent the Old Town area if I have to pay to park.
As an example, I used to enjoy stopping by Idaho Springs on the way home from skiing, but since they put in parking meters, I just skip it.

I have lived in fort collins for 23 years. I currently attend CSU. Downtown is a place i love to frequent, but if I have to pay for parking ill rarely if ever come to old town. It would ruin the community and would be a detriment to all the businesses that have made old town what it is.

As we tell our children, “ actions have consequences.” Paid parking is a poor plan for generating income. At what expense will this occur? I foresee further loss to downtown businesses which make up the lively character of Old Town. No one wants to see another bank or corporate business going up. How utterly boring for Old Town. Keep the restaurants, shops, boutiques, curio stores which make it desirable. Don’t make Amazon and big box stores more enticing for people; keep the foot traffic in downtown and keep the 2 hour free parking.

Please do not make this change! Old Town has always had free parking and it makes it more inviting to go there. If I have to pay for parking to go to a coffee shop downtown, I'm less likely to go downtown and more likely to choose a coffee shop elsewhere. Fort Collins is already a difficult place for small businesses to be financially, especially Old Town. Please don't add another tax on our people.

Please maintain free 2-hr parking in Old Town! I drive from Berthoud to shop in a couple specialty shops, but if I have to navigate parking kiosks every time I go, I will be motivated to find something closer to home.

Please let parking in Old Town remain free! I am far more likely to visit and shop in Old Town when I don’t also have to pay for parking. If paid parking is implemented, I will be much more likely to just shop and dine elsewhere in town.

Going downtown is getting so expensive already please leave it be as it is and keep it affordable. Since when have we aspired to be stuck up like Boulder? The units themselves are extremely expensive like what the hell is up with that …?!! And let’s face it technology only works when it works so what will happen when these insanely expensive units don’t work? Will there be people walking around to help ( who will need to get paid) or a kiosk somewhere we can go to for issues (again something else to have to pay for) no we will get a ticket which the city will love so they get even more money.

As a graduate student at CSU, cost of living in Fort Collins already makes things difficult. Although the costs may be “low,” the difference of a few dollars for parking will add up, especially when I want to run into Old Town for a quick lunch or to stop by one of the shops. I don’t live close enough to the MAX line to ride it into Old Town easily, and biking would turn a 30minute quick trip into over an hour trip. Paid parking would be enough of a barrier to send me somewhere else, where I can park for free, which is sad because that likely means I wouldn’t be going to the small businesses in old town as much.

As a city resident I do not want metered parking in Old Town. As a busy mom that frequently visits Old Town these changes will make my ability to get in and out of Old Town quickly and efficiently a complete nightmare. It will steer people away from Old Town making them take business elsewhere. We need to stand by small businesses and our community during these challenging financial times. This is a terrible idea all around. City Council, please reconsider. Our community, small businesses and families will all be affected negatively if you guys follow through with these plans.

Why don't you post that the 2 hour limit is strictly enforced and put up signs with maps that show where the parking garages. There is plenty of parking in the garages.

I do NOT want metered parking in Old Town. I live in a neighborhood surrounding Old Town. Paid parking will shift drivers into parking in our neighborhoods crowding our streets. Think about further consequences before acting city council.

Removed by moderator.

I’m a Fort Collins resident who shops and dines downtown regularly. I’m in favor of paid parking - pedestrianizing our streets and reducing traffic will benefit downtown business and people. Downtown is easy to access by bike or by parking a bit further away and walking or taking MAX. There will still be accessible parking for those who need it. And for those who want to pay to park, the rate will not be excessive and parking will become easier to find! Let’s build our cities for people, not for storage of 2-ton metal cages.

We frequent the downtown, small businesses, and totally oppose the "paid parking" proposal. This will make it inconvenient for elderly, such as me, to afford to support them. It will hurt locally owned and operated small businesses. You must understand that we know the way to Laramie and Cheyenne if Fort Collins City Council wants to lose our business.

Paid parking creates a barrier to the ease of visiting local spots quickly. It puts an unnecessary financial burden on services that need quick in out access like door dash and Uber eats.

Please do not change to paid on-street parking in downtown Fort Collins. Charging to park on-street is going to significantly burden our downtown businesses in the form of decreased visitor traffic. This will impair the downtown business district's viability, and with it, the overall quality of life in Fort Collins.