Parking meters spark mixed reaction
Parking authority says Albany Avenue pilot project is meant to help local businesses, but residents say it’s a move toward gentrification
HARTFORD — Rosaline Mitchell was walking down Albany Avenue when she noticed something new on the sidewalk: parking meters. Surprised and unsettled by the change, she shared her discovery on Facebook, igniting a flurry of reactions from those in the community.
The parking meters are a pilot project installed by the Hartford Parking Authority; the meters are intended to create space in popular areas on Albany Avenue, thus allowing for increased business for merchants.
Meters will be located on one block on the corner of Garden Street for three months and two blocks west of Woodland Street for six months. Like other meters throughout Hartford, the Albany Avenue meters will offer two-hour time slots from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with free parking on weekends and most holidays.
According to Armindo “Mingo” Gomes, CEO of the parking authority, the installation came at the request of the Upper Albany Merchant Association. Members of the Upper Albany Merchant Association did not return requests for comment.
“If you look at all these merchants, storefronts, parking in very congested areas becomes a bottleneck. Everybody parks, they stay there because parking is free. And it limits the amount of people that can come and patronize one these restaurants and businesses,” Gomes said.
“The theory is that if we get people to change behavior, it says that we are going to park where we need to park and if we don’t need to park on the avenue, we can move our cars so that the business can get a little bit of breathing room,” he said.
However, Mitchell, a Hartford native, argues that the city of Hartford is taking purposeful moves toward gentrification with the pilot project. After Mitchell posted an image of one of the parking meters on Facebook, dozens of other members in the community agreed.
“When I first discovered the parking meters, the first thing I thought about was the gentrification that’s clearly taking place in that area,” Mitchell said. “I feel that in years to come, individuals that are living in that area now will not be able to afford to live in those areas due to the gentrification that’s taking place.”
“It’s going to be a negative impact because [residents] are not going to have the place to park. It’s already a low-income area, basically all of us are living paycheck to paycheck. Then for you to have to squeeze additional money out of your current income to pay to park. I think it’s ridiculous.”
Kamora Herrington, founder of Kamora’s Cultural Corner, is one of many organizations on Albany Avenue. She believes that the pilot project will further destabilize the community rather than support it. “It is 100% gentrification,” she said.
“I love my city, it hurts my soul,” Herrington said on the parking meters. “Everything that’s done in my city is what you do to destabilize a neighborhood. Renaming neighborhoods, changing traffic patterns and then adding parking meters in low-income communities, that’s destabilizing a community. There’s going to be people that live here who are going to lose their cars, then lose their apartments. They’re not going to be able to move in anywhere else, they’re going to move out.”
Herrington counters the pilot project will likely be ineffective for merchants.
“Why the hell are we playing 1956 parking s—- in 2021?” Herrington said. “If these people think supporting the merchants on Albany Avenue is about getting more foot traffic and not a digital imprint, what are we doing?”
While some individuals argue that the project is a step towards gentrification, Gomes says, “it’s really isn’t. The individuals that asked [the HPA] to come in live in this neighborhood. They own businesses in this neighborhood. So, I think it’s a lack of information that people jump to conclusion.”
Gomes believes that in the coming months, merchants will begin to witness a positive trend in business with the parking changes. With that in mind, he says that if the pilot project presents a negative effect for merchants’ business, the parking meters will be removed.
“The whole venture isn’t to give a citation. The whole initiative is how can we make open space on a regular basis so that people can come and do the business they want to do with local merchants,” Gomes said. “This isn’t about putting meters everywhere, this is about strategically using meters to assist the merchants in major, thorough ways.”
Throughout the pilot period, businesses on the avenue will be asked to monitor the foot traffic within their stores and flow of customers on their own to interpret trends with the parking meters. This information and discussions with local associations will be used to decide to if the parking meters will be removed or become permanent installations.
As of now, the meters will remain dormant until activation systems are in place. Plans for residents on Albany Avenue currently utilizing on-street parking are still in progress. The HPA plans to work with the Merchants Association and the local Neighborhood Revitalization Zone to inform the residents on the parking meters prior to enforcement.