Parking troubles must be worked out

I was excited just like the rest of Snohomish County to finally not have to drive to Seattle to go to a major event. What they didn’t tell us is that the parking for these events would overflow into all the surrounding neighborhoods. Most of downtown Everett has designated 90-minute parking spots, even for residents, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and it’s first come, first served in the evening.

I can empathize with this as growth of the county is necessary. Those of us who live in north Everett, however, fight a constant battle to get a parking spot in front of our home during the daytime hours. To force us to also have to endure the complete absence of parking on the opening night of the events center makes me wonder how the people in charge ever got this event center approved. Is it really fair to force people to park four blocks from their home and walk with their children at night in the dark?

Maybe the city should take some pointers from the cities of Seattle and Tacoma on how to better manage parking instead of just assuming the residents of north Everett will just take it because we got a new event center. This event center seems to be more trouble than it is worth. The only fix I can see is either rezone the neighborhoods for residential parking only after 5 p.m. so we can tow away these squatters or provide parking for the people attending the events.

Everett