Mass Ave parking issues haven’t turned into crisis

Based on the only evidence supplied by IBJ—the relocation of the Phoenix Theater from Mass Ave—there’s a parking shortage of several dozen spaces near the intersection of Park and St Clair [Editorial: City can solve parking crunch, April 4].

The obvious solution: a city subsidy of a multimillion-dollar parking garage several blocks away!

IBJ ignores obvious counter-evidence of the “parking problem”: new storefront businesses and restaurants continue to regularly open on Mass Ave and sufficient customers are apparently able to get to them and keep them in business (however they get there). When customers can’t get to businesses in sufficient numbers to keep them open, then there will be a real problem.

The Phoenix Theatre’s relocation is simply evidence of a group that was overly dependent on abundant free or cheap parking. Their relocation is better taken as a sign of health and vibrancy of the Mass Ave corridor, not evidence of a pervasive problem that needs to be solved with million dollar parking subsidies.

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Chris Corr