Mayor Elorza: Garden City, Main St. in East Greenwich and…Want to Thank You
Friday, May 13, 2016
Parking meter strategy is backfiring on Providence's businesses. It seems like each week GoLocal’s newsroom gets another announcement from the developer of Garden City announcing a new retailer — L.L. Bean, Ethan Allen, Crate and Barrel, New Balance, Barrington Books and the Container Store have all been added in the past couple of years.
Why do top retailers go to Garden City? Because that is where the shoppers want to go. Why do shoppers want to walk around a planned faux streetscape shopping center? Because they can drive up to the store they want to shop in and park for free.
Providence’s strategy is to make every city street as impassable as possible, add crime, and then douse it with parking meters — complete with two hour limits. Tough to see a movie and have dinner with a two hour limit. Difficult to go out for an anniversary dinner with a two hour limit.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTProvidence’s anti-visitor strategy is causing more and more decay. Landlords and retailers on Hope, Thayer, and Wickenden streets have all cried foul - business is down and leasing has declined.
Now, business owners who generally shy away from politics and the press are writing opinion pieces and starting online petitions to stop Mayor Jorge Elorza’s perpetuation of parking meters, but the City of Providence ignores them. Small business owners, restaurateurs and property owners along Hope Street in Bristol and Main Street in East Greenwich say thank you. As Federal Hill declines, Main Street in East Greenwich becomes a stress free, crime free, parking meter-less restaurant hub.
Back in Cranston, the city enjoys a retail revolution at the expense of Providence. Chapel View and Garden City’s success comes in part due to the failed revenue policies of Providence. Taxing a shopper before they buy something is not a great strategy.
"Our vision for Garden City Center was to re-energize the center with a merchandise mix that is unique to Rhode Island. Our plan has been to create a one-stop lifestyle center for today’s busy consumer," said Joe Koechel, General Manager from The Wilder Companies, Garden City Center's management company in an interview with GoLocal a few months ago.
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