On parking in the Falls

A national survey about people’s perception of parking near tourist attractions rates Niagara Falls as awful.

The state parking lots are not overpriced. $10 weekdays, $15 weekends in the state lots is reasonable.

Private lots, like One Niagara are more defined by capitalism, with fees ranging from $10 to $25.

Reality for why people hate parking in the Falls is Parking Lot 1 is poorly marked and traffic is poorly regulated. Signs are confusing. Avoidable traffic jams and gridlock are mismanaged by the state.

There could be an entire engineering class at the University at Buffalo based on how to solve the problem. The State shares no parking revenue with Niagara Falls but how parking is handled reflects on the city.

It could charge $15 weekdays and $20 weekends and no one would bat an eye. Imagine if $5 of every parking fee went to the City of Niagara Falls to pay legal fees for Centennial Park. We wouldn’t have to worry about legal fees for eminent domain.

Seriously, regarding parking downtown, here’s a secret: If you see a spot on the street, take it. In 3 years working part-time as a tour guide, and as a resident who travels to the tourist district almost daily, I have never seen a car near the state park with a parking ticket on the windshield.

That only happens on my street when we absent-mindedly violate alternate side parking rules and some over-officious jerk sees it from Lewiston Road and deposits a $25 ticket on the windshield.

https://www.the-sun.com/travel/11717953/worst-attractions-parking-disne…