HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/7/2023 Item 6a, J C
J C <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Parking and Problems with SLO
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To the City of SLO,
To start, I would just like to say that I am disappointed, very disappointed! Maybe I shouldn’t be, maybe I
should have expected things to be like they are now based on the decade+ of my own experience living here
and the many experiences of family and friends that have lived most of their lives here. It has always been on a
negative trajectory so why am I surprised or even disappointed? I don’t know, I was always hopeful, but I am
not anymore.
I am a downtown small business owner, husband and father, and a former resident of SLO. I now reside in Los
Osos and am so thankful that I do. I moved to SLO excited about the town and the opportunities and
possibilities it had to offer. However, in early 2022 my family and I finally decided to get out of SLO because we
no longer felt the same way about the city. I know there are many factors that have contributed to its decline
but I can confidently say that the major force behind its decline has been the city itself, the local city
government.
I am in contact with fellow business owners, people who work downtown, locals, other residents from around
the county, patrons, tourists, etc. on a very regular basis. We all share a common question and concern about
the state of downtown SLO, “How has it gotten so BAD?” I can’t think of a single good thing to happen to
downtown in a long time. Even the seemingly good things, like the parklets during covid, have now become a
burden on businesses and a cash cow for the city. If you think the strung lights across Higuera or the art that is
in the Plaza are good things, think again. My wife, who graduated from Cal Poly in 2010, who used to love
downtown now avoids it at all costs. She will not walk through the Plaza by herself or with our daughter. She is
quite literally afraid for their safety. And this is not uncommon or without reason. I haven’t even touched on the
pure financial cost of just going downtown.
The City says it cares about the health of downtown and says that it is doing so many things to support it, but
in actuality every decision and action that the City has made is killing downtown. There is either a complete
ineptitude, naivety, misunderstanding of the real world, lack of any kind of sense or there is a blatant attack on
downtown, the businesses there, patrons and locals alike, or all of the above. The projects that have been
completed and those that are currently underway and those that have been accepted by the City are all
questionable to say the least and a huge misappropriation of funds and resources. The decisions of the City
have injured the very thing it is there to support.
The parking situation is an absolute atrocity. The narrow mindedness and selfishness of the City is on full
display here. The world is in trouble right now, in many ways, but the financial burden is real for each and
every business and citizen. It seems like the city has taken a clear and punitive approach to those who drive
automobiles. This utopian idea that downtown is accessible by bike or bus is so misguided. Most people can
no longer afford to live downtown or even in the City of SLO at all because of the prohibitive cost. This is a city
and county of commuters and to punish those people by charging them outrageous fees to just park is a crime
to me. It is also killing small business! Before you look at tax revenue by the City and say, “Downtown is doing
just fine,” please understand the situation. In the current environment, businesses would need to be
doubling/tripling their revenue to just stay afloat. Inflation and the absolute demolition of margins has put an
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almost unconquerable obstacle in our way and yet the City has made decision after decision to keep patrons
away and to add more financial burden to businesses and those who work downtown.
I haven’t even talked about the appalling institution of the parking policies. The reckless and negligent
implementation of these already atrocious policies should be criminal. The City has benefited from the
confusion, lack of communication and signage, unrealistic and damaging time and zone constraints, poor aps
and pay stations, etc. at the cost of businesses and patrons of downtown. The City has greatly increased the
number of parking “meter maids” to enforce these regulations. Budgets have been cut in other areas that might
actually serve the residents and businesses of SLO, but the City is employing and paying more people with
OUR tax dollars to punish and take more money from us, the citizens.
Even more, the parking regulations have significantly decreased the safety of patrons and employees of
downtown. If you cannot understand how safety has been compromised, you are too naive for an explanation.
This brings me to another huge problem with downtown, the ever growing vagrant problem. Drug abuse and
mental health have been a problem for this growing population for a long time. The City has done little to
nothing to address this issue. This city does not feel safe or welcoming anymore! Wake up!
The City of SLO is not what it used to be or what it SHOULD be! It should be better than it used to be, however
it is far from that. I don’t expect the City to really “do” anything about all these problems, or the other numerous
problems that I didn’t even touch on, I hope that the businesses and citizens of this city and county can come
together and pull us out from the trenches that, you, the City, has pushed us into.
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