WORDS Brent Rosen
Lately, I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about parking in Montgomery. All races, all creeds, all ages, united on this single issue. No parking downtown near the Alley. No parking around Derk’s and the A&P. No parking on Dexter Avenue. No parking along Fairview in the Cloverdale Corridor. Everywhere inside the boulevards, a constant refrain: “parking, parking, parking.”
Some facts. The city has over 1,000 parking spots in three garages around downtown, all of which are within a quarter mile of Dexter Avenue and/or the Alley. All of those garages are free after 5:00 p.m, and during the day parking is fairly inexpensive. You can park in downtown Montgomery, you just have to be willing to park in a garage and take a short walk to your final destination.
Around the A&P, you have Pure Barre, Pine Bar, Derk's, True, Chop House and the various antique and home and ladies stores in the area, all of which draw large numbers of people throughout the day and night. Although parking in front of those places can fill up, there is always parking along Graham Street and along Felder. The walk is never longer than a block or two.
In the Cloverdale Corridor, parking along Fairview, like that around the A&P, fills up quickly. But the streets surrounding Fairview, including Cloverdale Road on both sides of Fairview, Agnew, and Boultier always have open spots for off-street parking. I used a stopwatch to time the walk from my house on Cloverdale Road in Cloverdale Idlewild to the corner of Fairview and Cloverdale, and then timed how long it took to walk into Target at Eastchase after I parked my car. My walk from home to Fairview was only about 40 seconds longer than the walk from my car to the front door of Target. Not a huge difference, but there is never anyone parked in front of my house on even the busiest Cloverdale weekend.
Those are the facts. Now, I understand that some people cannot walk a block or two due to age or infirmity, but those people can always be dropped off before the car is parked. But for everyone else, a short walk should be no big deal. So why is parking such a talking point in Montgomery conversations?
A friend of mine likes to say Montgomery can’t decide if it wants to be Birmingham or Monroeville. The Monroeville faction will always see lack of parking as the intrusion of city living on their small town, and growth as something to fear rather than to embrace. The Birmingham faction will always see lack of parking as a good sign -- there was no real problem finding parking on Fairview until Leroy and the Cloverdale Playhouse opened, and those places have made Cloverdale immeasurably better.
It’s the same downtown. Without the Alley, The Biscuits, or the large conventions and events at the Renaissance and along the Riverfront (and the paying visitors they bring), you could park anywhere you wanted. A growing vibrant city means more people want to be there, which means easy and free parking becomes a thing of the past. That is a good thing -- Selma has ample downtown parking.
Parking is but one of the growing pains Montgomery will have to work through as it transitions into the future. Development is disruptive to existing business, existing patterns, and the existing way of life for some in Montgomery. Development, however, has reached a tipping point, and after many false starts, it looks like Montgomery is in for lasting change. Eventually, growth will normalize and parking will no longer be a code word or a dog whistle in the battle between the Old and New Montgomery. Until then, expect to hear lots of complaints from people looking to park in front of Sinclair’s on the same Thursday the Capri is showing the Big Lebowski.
In the meantime, those of us interested in Montgomery’s continued growth can do our part. We need to start living like Montgomery is a major city. Instead of just talking the talk, we need to walk the walk. Literally. Walking to lunch around downtown instead of driving a few blocks. Parking in parking garages rather than circling around for 20 minutes looking for on-street parking. If you live within walking distance to dinner, drinks, movies, or shows, walk. This is not just a challenge to you, but also to myself.
When I moved to Montgomery from Tuscaloosa, I gained 10 pounds within a month. In Tuscaloosa, I used to ride my bike and walk for days at a time. I would leave my car in its parking spot, and forget about it. When I lived in D.C., I walked the mile and half home from work on any day it wasn’t the height of summer, the dead of winter, or raining. That was 30 pounds ago. Now, I drive everywhere, even distances as short as half a mile. Montgomery has made me fat and lazy.
Attitudes, not parking, are the problem. I’m ready to change my attitude and start walking and biking more, ready to feel like I live in a young, growing, dynamic city. I hope many of you will join me. And if that means there are more prime parking spots for those not yet adjusted to the New Montgomery, I’m happy to help ease the transition.