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Home My WebLink About11/7/2023 Item 6a, Cook, C. From:Cika Cook < To:E-mail Council Website Subject:Parking & Other Grievances This message is from an External Source. Use cau?on when deciding to open a?achments, click links, or respond. ________________________________ Hello, My name is Cika. I’ve been a SLO County na?ve for all 35 years of life. I have deep pride over this community and love suppor?ng local businesses/ sing SLO’s praises wherever people let me. I have only very recently begun to feel disappointed in where the city is headed. I’ve listed 3 reasons for that here. 1. Roadkill on both highways 1 and 101 have gone up dras?cally since the pandemic. This is most likely a byproduct from the work-from-home migra?on of people from larger ci?es to SLO and the extra traﬃc that brought. Given that we are a community that boasts great biodiversity, I’d like to see more educa?on on how to avoid exorbitant amounts of wildlife- vehicle collisions. Is it possible to implement more signs or opportuni?es for wildlife crossings? Could a geo-fence- marke?ng campaign be headed up by a Cal Poly student to help educate people when they enter this County? This kind of informa?on would create a safer driving environment for all. 2. “Aﬀordable housing” projects have not been the most aﬀordable. And where I was fortunate enough to inherit my home from a rela?ve, most SLO na?ves do not receive this kind of privilege. I would like to see more ini?a?ves that give housing (more speciﬁcally home-purchasing) priority to hard-working, ren?ng, home-seeking na?ves (with no currently owned proper?es) to preserve the culture and community we’re known for here. Wealthy transplants’ ability to increase market value isn’t enough reason to leave locals with no choice but to leave the area. Even if 10% of aﬀordable housing projects were given na?ve priority in the form of early applica?on (before opening it to all poten?al buyers) or really any other markers for accessibility, it would be greatly felt and appreciated by our inherently of-value locals. 3. Lastly and most recently, the parking situa?on in downtown SLO has go?en out of hand. I’ve frequently driven to SLO from each town I’ve lived in (Templeton, Los Osos, & Cambria) to shop local ar?sts like Sculptress at Black Water, eat at/ try the newest restaurant, get my fav coﬀee at Linnaea’s, watch ﬁlms at the Palm, play some games at the arcade, visit the library, take classes at The Center, and a?end concerts at the Mission Plaza and Fremont. I have memories of selling my mother’s handmade po?ery at the Mission Plaza cra? shows each summer. We’d park (along with many of the people coming to purchase the cra?s being sold) at the Palm Street/ Marsh Street garages and that ease of access made us want to spend addi?onal ?me, spend money, and hang out in SLO. Lately, I have avoided coming to downtown SLO altogether. And if I absolutely have to - I don’t take the extra ?me to go to the theaters, a?end classes or shows, or get meals or coﬀee. Instead it’s become a mad dash to get in and out as quickly as possible because of how convoluted, stressful, and expensive it’s go?en to come to downtown SLO at all. What’s worse is hearing friends and loved ones say the same thing. We are all overspending, mostly-childless millennials that get our joy and stress relief from ge?ng together and hanging out/shopping in SLO. But now the scales have ?pped into SLO being a stressful, less accessible place. Instead we’re preferring places like Atascadero because of the ease of access and comparable ac?vi?es. It is disappoin?ng to see the city of SLO (and heart of this county) nickel and dime it’s residents - and in the most convoluted way possible. The choice to subs?tute people for automa?on is is also avoidable and feels tacky. It doesn’t make sense to market the city as charming and laid back and then take the accessibility and personable touch out of the ﬁrst tangible 1 impression and experience of the city - the parking. SLO City doesn’t have to choose this route. Please hear us and remain the city we know and love. Charming, connec?on-driven, community oriented, and progressive trailblazer. I want to come back to SLO and spend my money. Please make it easier for me to do that. All my best, Cika 2