I see where the city has now extended its on-street parking restrictions from the Williamsville and Sydenham district areas to the neighbourhoods north of Princess Street. Areas north of Princess Street are the latest to be targeted. My family has lived in the Inner Harbour area for almost a century, and never has on-street parking been an issue of concern. Yet now, suddenly, the city deems there’s a problem that needs to be fixed. As Homer Simpson would say, "D’oh!"

What originally was a laudable idea — discouraging commuters from parking on residential streets all day while they went to work at Queen’s University, Kingston General Hospital and downtown — has morphed into just another cash grab that’s an aggravating inconvenience for anyone who lives in the city’s core area.

Nowhere else in Kingston do residents (and taxpayers) face the same prohibitions — or financial penalties — to park in front of their own homes from 9 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. on weekdays. Sure, downtown residents can purchase a monthly parking pass that allows them to park on the street. But why aren’t these permits free for any resident who applies for one?

Is it too much to ask that those of us who live downtown be treated the same as other city residents are? It would be a simple matter for the city to issue to full-time residents parking permits that could be tied to the licence plate on the applicant’s vehicle. Not everyone on a street owns a car, and so not everyone would apply for a permit. The limited number of on-street parking spaces wouldn’t be a problem.

When I wrote to the city to suggest this, I received a form reply that when translated from pooh bah bafflegab said, "Thanks for expressing your opinion. Now go away, and stop bothering us." The note didn’t explain why residents have to pay (anywhere from $12 to $30 per month) for "the privilege" of parking on the street in front of their own homes during the restricted hours — or why out-of-town house guests or service people are obliged to apply for a short-term exemption to do so — while city residents who live outside the core area can park gratis.

The city’s ham-handed parking policies only serve to discourage families with children, working people, couples and seniors from living "downtown." Queen’s, KGH and downtown business commuters still park on residential streets. They now do so just beyond the limits of the "No Parking" zone, and they’ll continue to do so. I know several who do this, and they tell me that they happily park, get their daily exercise by walking to work, and they save the monthly permit fee. And so it goes.

The quality-of-life issues — the proliferation of student housing, noise, litter, vandalism and petty crime — that have chased and are chasing people out of downtown neighbourhoods, in recent years inevitably have reduced the population of school-aged children in Williamsville, Sydenham districts and in the area around the Inner Harbour. As a result, one school after another has closed. And because there now are few schools, families no longer want to live in the city’s core. It’s the classic chicken-and-egg scenario. The downtown is at a tipping point in terms of its livability. As a proud native Kingstonian, I watch, wonder and worry about the future of the city’s core area.

Although my wife and I have raised three children (all of whom attended the now-doomed Kingston Collegiate and have now flown the nest) and I’m retired, we continue to live downtown. We dine, shop and spend our entertainment dollars here. How much longer we’ll continue doing so is a question we wrestle with daily. Most of our friends and neighbours have long since thrown in the towel and moved away. The city’s inane, discriminatory parking regulations are just one more nail in the proverbial coffin, another aggravation for those of us longtime residents who are stubbornly hanging in there. For now anyway. It’s sad. And also very shortsighted on the city’s part.

Ken Cuthbertson lives in Kingston.

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