The best way to park in Asheville is by using a parking deck. Trolling for spots in the downtown area is time-consuming, blocks traffic and slows the ability for deliveries. People are walking all over the place using sidewalks, jaywalking and crossing streets at random times and places. It’s chaos. Parking on the periphery and using parking decks would make downtown easier to navigate for everyone.
People who come downtown want to shop, eat, have drinks on a rooftop, have dessert on the square, hear music at Rabbit Rabbit and then Uber home. They don’t drive in, park in front of the restaurant and then leave. They tour the entire city. Creating bike lanes is not going to hinder that. Nobody is driving from dinner at Cúrate to hear music on the South Slope, then driving over to the AC Hotel for rooftop drinks. They are walking. If they have bikes, they will ride from place to place.
It’s nice to say that bike lanes would allow access for people who can’t afford to drive and park, but there are a lot of people with money who have turned to bikes, Onewheels, skateboards, scooters and e-bikes as their mode of transportation. These vehicles are so much quicker and easier to navigate. Bike parking would accommodate way more people than current metered spots.
Creating bike lanes would bring more people downtown. It’s not like traffic would be slowed any further. This would also allow for bicycle taxis, which people would definitely catch while trying to cruise across town from say, Patton Avenue to the South Slope.
If you own a business, your income is not reliant on that one parking spot out in front of your establishment.
— Bettina Freese
Asheville
