Survey Indicates Most Oppose Parking Garage Rezoning

Results of Speak Up! Should North Prospect Lot Be Rezoned To Permit Parking Garage? Survey

We have decided to publish results of the week-old Speak Up! parking garage poll a couple days before the survey’s closing date of December 19. We are doing this for two reasons.

First, this survey has generated quite a bit of activity – more than 50 responses in less than a week – making it the second most completed Speak Up! survey since the feature was begun.  These responses were accompanied by dozens of well-reasoned comments, plenty for our readers to digest.

More importantly, the Amherst Town Council will vote on the proposed zoning amendment on Monday night, December 20.  We offer these preliminary results with the hope that the data and opinions that respondents have provided may help inform the Council’s vote.

Results, as can be seen, are skewed toward participants opposing the zoning change.

Few who completed the survey appear to be on the fence about the garage issue. Only 5 of 53 responses were in the middle ground of “somewhat in support,” “neutral,” or “somewhat in opposition” to the rezoning.

Respondents were also asked how frequently they visit Downtown Amherst.  Most visit the business district weekly or more.

Comments explaining respondents’ rationale for their positions, reasons they visit downtown, and parking habits are listed below, ordered by strength of support for the rezoning.

Strongly Supports Rezoning

1.

Explain your position	Parking is abysmal in downtown Amherst. It keeps me from going there to shop even though I live in town.
How often do you visit Downtown?	Less than once per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	Library. Toy Box.
Where do you park?	Across from the library. Behind the Toy Box.

2.

Explain your position
How often do you visit Downtown?	Less than once per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	I refuse to try to go downtown 9-10 months a year, because of traffic caused by lack of parking and no available parking. Why is the administration of the town building high-rise apartment complexes with no parking other than what’s available to the general public? My rental property is limited to less spaces than occupants by 1/3. I’m about done with this
Where do you park?	good luck

3.

Explain your position
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?
Where do you park?

4.

Explain your position	It is already a parking lot! Uses the same footprint. Easy parking equals easy access to downtown businesses and restaurants. Duh!
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Amherst cinema, the library, the post office, and a few restaurants if I feel like trying to find parking!
Where do you park?	Main Street or the Boltwood parking lot or the post office lot.

5.

Explain your position	The garage will give dense efficient access to downtown. This is especially important for older residents with reduced mobility. Parking lots are a blight.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Everything — cafés, restaurants, bookstore, Amherst Cinema, CVS, Library, hanging out outdoors on the Common or in Sweetser Park.
Where do you park?	At home; I walk or bike. As I age and expect  reduced mobility, car access to downtown will be very important to my family and me.

6.

Explain your position	Simple. We need more parking in town if we want to bring in more business. We need to make it as easy as possible for people to come into town and spend their money in our town. This is a necessity for Amherst.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Restaurants and work at 1EP, Kendrick, AW.
Where do you park?	Anywhere we can find a free space. Sometimes it’s very hard to find a space. A garage would help solve that issue for many!

7.

Explain your position	Need an easy place to find and park- one that’s central in downtown.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Movies, library, restaurants, CVS
Where do you park?	Bank lot on Prospect St.

Somewhat Supports Rezoning

8.

Explain your position	I think it makes sense. The town can’t request a survey be done of the area to see if it’s viable unless it’s zoned to allow it. This site was discussed in town meeting as the best location.  Also, many folks don’t like that the multi-unit buildings don’t have parking. If a garage is built, then some spots could be rented full time. Win/win.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Coffee, park, restaurants.
Where do you park?	Street or lot by Amherst coffee

9.

Explain your position
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Work
Where do you park?	Our building parking lot

Neutral About Rezoning

10.

Explain your position	Seems a bit cart before horse. Amherst is a dying town; businesses are leaving and all we have are bubble tea places and crappy restaurants.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	I love downtown.
Where do you park?	Street or Boltwood or behind CVS.

Somewhat Oppose Rezoning

11.

Explain your position
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Bruegger’s Bagels for the most part. Occasionally The Toy Box, CVS, the library, or to pick up takeout from The Taste or Johnny’s Tavern.
Where do you park?	On the street as close to the destination as possible, or in the free CVS lot.

12.

Explain your position	I’m not sure this should be a priority right now.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Brueggers, Amherst books, library, post office. Amherst cinema and restaurants before the pandemic.
Where do you park?	On the street at meters.

Strongly Oppose Rezoning

13.

Explain your position	The town owned lot behind CVS is on a very narrow street in a historic district and for those two reasons alone is a poor choice for a parking garage. Other possible locations for a parking garage appear to not have even been considered. References to the Boltwood parking lot suggest it was originally engineered so that other parking levels could be added later. If this is the case, why is the Boltwood location not being discussed? Further, two studies paid for by the town indicated there is not a parking shortage downtown. If this is true, why is rezoning the CVS location being pushed right now? There appear to be hidden elements in the proposed parking garage project, which raises the larger question of why Amherst is not walking the talk on open government to the max?
How often do you visit Downtown?	Less than once per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	Before Covid-19, we visited downtown 1 to 3 times per week. Amherst Cinema and a few downtown restaurants were the main draw.  We would often walk into downtown from the rail trail for lunch or to meet up with friends for Art Night Plus, the Emily Dickinson Museum and Amherst History Museum events.
Where do you park?	We usually parked in the lot behind Amherst Cinema, or the South Common or Amherst College parking lots.

14.

Explain your position	No, no, no! It is an unnecessary and extravagant expense. The size and scale will damage (and darken) the historic neighborhood on North Prospect Street. It will  an endanger drivers and pedestrians alike.  It will cause traffic issues on both North Prospect and North Pleasant Streets.  And, first and foremost, the process has been woefully flawed, perhaps bordering on illegal, but certainly carried out in a surreptitious manner in opposition to what “residents” desire.
How often do you visit Downtown?	Less than once per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	I used to live there, then moved away from the downtown which was changing too dramatically. Now I rarely go downtown as I find it unattractive and many of college age are less than civil in their  speech and behavior. The students should cater to the town, not the other was around, as was the case before the tail began to wag the dog.
Where do you park?	Boltwood Lot, Amity Street lot or at a meter on Amity Street.

15.

Explain your position	Studies (paid for by tax dollars) show that Amherst’s does not have a “parking” problem in terms of the numbers of spaces. It does have a signage problem, and one has to wonder why resolving that (as recommended years ago) has not been done. I believe that our society has an unhealthy problem with drivers not wanting walk more than a few feet from their destination. Perhaps having to do so would be of more benefit than spending tax dollars to accommodate convenience.  Of course business’ want more parking as close to their establishments as possible, but residential neighborhoods should be protected from the impacts of out of scale, out of character structures that cater to commercial and environmentally damaging interests over the lives of its people. The painfully obvious conflict of interest inherent in the motives of Town Councilors arguing for this garage are reason enough to prevent is construction.
How often do you visit Downtown?	Less than once per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	We used to live downtown but found it becoming more and more hostile to year-round residents and their children.  We moved to a neighborhood at the edge of the town where we could better avoid off-campus, college student behavior and the town’s impotence, or lack of interest, to ameliorate its impact on so many like us.  As time passed we had less and less desire to be downtown as its trajectory continued to spiral downward. We rarely even have to go through downtown.  We stopped using the library in person, and grab and go from our favorite restaurant and, until recently, Henion Bakery.  If we are downtown otherwise, it is in summer, for a bite to eat and a movie, when we often find other long-time residents enjoying “the quiet” of civility.
Where do you park?	First, we have never had a problem finding a parking place. At times it might have been a ways from our destination, but that has never been an issue.  Most often we have parked on the street at a meter, in the Amity Street lot or in the “garage” on Boltwood Place.

16.

Explain your position	a. Super expensive, virtually impossible proceeds will pay it back. b. We don’t need the parking. Create an app that helps people find parking, by price. (Consider a system that gives people over 65 or who otherwise need it a tag or ID for discounted parking in the town center.) c. Eyesore and traffic complications, esp in that tight space. d. We are trying to move Amherst toward a more sustainable, less car-centric community. Invest instead in excellent bike infrastructure and transit. e. If the problem is student parkers taking up parking spaces, work to address that issue directly.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	Farmer’s market, bookstore, bike store, restaurant.
Where do you park?	Often I bike and park wherever I want. Occasionally I walk or bus and don’t need to park at all! Otherwise often on S. Prospect St on Saturdays.

17.

Explain your position	To me, zoning is more than just a control over what can be built in a given location, it’s also a promise.  When people do their due diligence ahead of what is likely the biggest investment of their lives, there is a reasonable expectation that the rules they are required to abide by cannot be unilaterally changed easily.  Town Meeting set a high bar of a two thirds majority to pass a zoning change to ensure that such a change was strongly needed in the public interest before value was sucked from abutters and redistributed to another interest. Such a super-majority seems much easier to attain with the Council.  For those who can only gauge value in terms of dollars and cents,  when there’s a buck to be had, little concern should be paid to residents along Prospect Street who can kiss their sunrises goodbye to the shadow of a highrise garage.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	… to walk the dog, church, and rarely, to get takeout.
Where do you park?	I usually walk, but I have never had a problem finding a space if I drive.

18.

Explain your position	The sketches in today’s Indy confirm the impact a proposed parking structure would have on the neighborhood and on the aesthetic of the town as a whole.  The original Boltwood garage was sold to the public in part because it was designed to allow an additional parking level to be added if and when necessary.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	Age and COVID have reduced my trips downtown.  So has the devastation of downtown by Kendrick Place, One East Pleasant Street, Boltwood Place and soon the new oversized library.  My trips downtown were primarily to use retail establishments, particularly the nine bookstores, that truly made Amherst a destination.  The BID’s sudden support of the arts at the expense of retail would mean Amherst Center would be a ghost town during daylight hours.
Where do you park?	I have always found a spot in the Boltwood Garage or the adjacent lot.  I have almost always found a spot across from the library in the daytime.

19.

Explain your position	The garage we have seems to be very underutilized. I understand that a second story could be added there if needed. I don’t want to see more building, especially near the older part of town. Finally, a free trolley would be a better use of town money.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	Breugger’s bagels and the library. Sometimes the bank. Sometimes take-out pickup.
Where do you park?	Behind Breugger’s or the Bank of America lot.

20.

Explain your position	Well regarded N& N study said there was no need.   It would overwhelm an intact local historical district of single and multi-family historic homes including some on the National Register as well as the Strong house and museum on a narrow street with increased traffic and a monstrous 4 story building.  It does not conform to the Master plan but would continue the recent pattern of rezoning untethered from context, placemaking, planning or community involvement.  The net gain in (unneeded) parking would be small to consider such damaging impacts.  The parking lot is owned by the town.  We would be better off if they were to improve the lot and continued to charge for using it.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	library, movies, restaurants, CVS
Where do you park?	CVS, Amherst Cinema, or the restaurant I am patronizing.

21.

Explain your position	This is cart before the horse.  First, they must present the rationale for the need for a parking garage, which has been refuted by 2 parking studies; then, if such a need is clear, do a careful study of all locations downtown that could work to determine which is best; and if the N. Prospect St lot is chosen, do the appropriate rezoning.  Neither of those steps have been done. In my opinion, there are better locations, with N. Prospect being one of the worst possible.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	CVS, take out dining, visiting a resident, meetings at the common.   I used to have an office downtown and went 5 days/week + weekends for movies and dinner.    In my 40 years in Amherst, I think I had trouble finding a parking space 3 or 4 times total.
Where do you park?	On the street or in a parking lot – N. Prospect, Spring Street, or Anne Whalen

22.

Explain your position	Lack of recent study supporting real parking needs, no exploration of other locations, except this historical North Prospect location, ignoring abutters serious concerns, If indeed more parking needed, TC has ignored Neilson/Nygard Study, – no parking needs, suggesting lack of directional parking, signage, etc., parking overlay district requiring zero spaces and pushing inhabitants of new downtown dorms to apply for town parking permits at bargain rates, flooding Boltwood Garage spaces, often left unoccupied when most needed. Flooding residential streets. Ignoring Transportation Committee, biking, better bus access. Fundamental also to the discussion Ignored by TC? UMass responsibility? Encouraging more cars when we need to reach our carbon neutral Amherst environment:  Encouraging an attitude and perception that has tourists and residents convinced inadequate parking in Amherst. to drive around, wasting gas, polluting the environment round and around until they can find a spot right in front of their Destination! Destination Amherst: a concept without much planning. What is the Town’s and our responsibility as citizens in a climate emergency and of the global glut in our selfish pursuits?  I see a huge need for good sound study and planning first before any further action on another parking garage.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	Not much these days.
Where do you park?	Usually no problem! But as a resident, I know where the spaces are, at any day, time if the week.

23.

Explain your position	Let’s STOP destroying the character of a neighborhood, respect historical structures.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per month
Why do you visit Downtown?	l like the town, the shops, the big common
Where do you park?	Usually there’s a spot open on one of the streets around the common

24.

Explain your position	I never have trouble parking in town. I’ve lived here 30 years so I know a lot of spots and can always find one that’s convenient. I don’t want a parking garage to address a problem that doesn’t exist in my opinion.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Errands, going to the Jones, going out to eat, grabbing takeout
Where do you park?	Behind CVS, across from Fresh Side, across from the Post Office, near the corner of Lincoln and Amity

25.

Explain your position	There has been no due diligence for this proposal; no data, no analysis, no comparison of alternate sites, and no demonstrated need for a garage.  Indeed, the three most recent studies of parking in Amherst all demonstrate that there is sufficient parking in town and a garage is not needed.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Mostly. meetings and a bit of shopping
Where do you park?	Behind Town Hall,  the lots on the common and the Amity street lot.   I never have any problem finding a parking space downtown.

26.

Explain your position	The lot is mostly empty, because it is not very convenient to enter or exit. Those businesses advocating for a garage should inform their patrons of this existing lot.  A few prominent signs would help, not an imposing garage.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	It used to be restaurants and the cinema before COVID. Now take out and the Toy Box–also bagels, donuts, the Black Sheep and (sigh) Henion.
Where do you park?	On the street, behind the Toy Box, Spring Street lot, behind CVS or the lower level of the Boltwood garage (almost always spaces there and no charge after 6 p.m. It depends where I am going. Behind Town Hall is another good after-hours place.

27.

Explain your position	We have enough parking, and not enough alternative and public transportation.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Food, drugstore, banking, town hall.
Where do you park?	Nowhere (or on the rare occasions that I drive) on the edge of Amherst Center, and then walk the rest of the way

28.

Explain your position	Do fish need bicycles?!
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	My bicycle.
Where do you park?	Wherever a bicycle can be safely locked.

29.

Explain your position	Garage is not needed and would destroy a valuable neighborhood.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Used to be professional offices and bookstores but they’re mostly gone. Now it’s primarily Amherst Cinema and the restaurants.
Where do you park?	On the street or in the town lot adjacent to the CVS lot. I have lived in Amherst and visited Downtown Amherst, for 37 years. I have never – repeat NEVER – failed to find a parking space in that lot.

30.

Explain your position	There are other sites that are more suitable.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Meetings, library, shopping, appointments, events at town common, community gatherings, farmers market
Where do you park?	Varies depending on time and season, but I usually find a space

31.

Explain your position	See letter I submitted to town council.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Shop, restaurant, farmers market, town hall
Where do you park?	North common

32.

Explain your position	None of the parking studies support a garage. Amherst has been intent on getting rid of parking and allowing developers build student-style apartments dorms without accommodating their tenants’ cars, so maybe more parking is needed now but if so, where? Perhaps where Faces was or the parking lot that the town sold off to Amherst College…or expanding the Boltwood garage…or improving small surface lots scattered thru town (with signs) as other towns are doing or sharing spaces with businesses and churches when their lots are unused.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Amherst Books, Hastings, Black Sheep to meet with friends, Town Hall, eating out
Where do you park?	Webster Street

33.

Explain your position
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?
Where do you park?

34.

Explain your position	I am very much against this for several reasons: 1) the residential community abutting this area would be severely impacted by traffic, by the sight of a large garage amid residential homes, and by the transformation of their neighborhood into a more commercialized neighborhood; 2) North Prospect Street is a tiny street poorly designed to be the site of a garage that would draw many more cars; this poses safety concerns; 3) this may well be spot-zoning and the Town could be forced to pay tens of thousands in legal fees to defend against (and perhaps lose) a case in which a Court might well agree that this is spot-zoning; 4) we are losing sight of what a quaint New England downtown should look like; a garage will not draw more people to Amherst, rather it will detract from personality of our downtown; 5) climate change should be a top priority; creating parking garages to promote car culture is the wrong direction for our Town; 6) the private/public partnership concept of this parking garage is harmful economically for our Town’s fiscal sustainability.  We should keep as many parking spaces as possible Town owned so that the parking fees and parking tickets go to Town revenue. Transferring parking to a private entity will lose us tens of thousands every year. 7) Privatization of public resources is a poor idea in many respects. Private entities are more likely to raise rates to maximize profit, care less about safety and aesthetics, and may care little about public complaints. Whether we are talking about prisons or parking garages, privatization of public services is not the way to go; 8) we don’t need another garage. There was a study done 10 or so years ago (it was quoted by then Town Planner Jonathan Tucker on the floor of Town Meeting) that said there was adequate parking in Amherst’s downtown. Mr. Tucker used that study to say that Town Meeting should pass the Municipal Parking District overlay zone in our downtown that would lift the requirement that newly constructed buildings be required to provide parking in order to build. Town Meeting, voting in accordance with what Mr. Tucker and the Planning Department and Planning Board were urging, passed the new zoning for the Municipal Parking District which eliminated the parking requirement for new construction. This is what allowed the 5 story buildings to be constructed in the downtown. Town Meeting did not know, though certainly the Planning Department must have known, that eliminating the parking requirement would open the floodgates to the tall buildings. In any event, it is inappropriate for the Town to create a problem (i.e., not enough parking) through their poor planning policies (i.e., the Municipal Parking District that they designed and advocated for), then rush in with a claim that now there is a parking problem that must be solved by additional rezoning for a parking garage. Amherst residents are entitled to better planning than this and should not have been misled in the first place by Mr. Tucker’s bad advice that resulted in the tall buildings that many consider to be eye sores in our downtown.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	The post office, restaurants, the library, Town Hall, events on the common
Where do you park?	On the street. I’ve never had trouble parking in downtown Amherst. If I have to walk a couple blocks, that walk will make me healthier.

35.

Explain your position	I think we should use the current parking garage and do whatever infrastructure is necessary to allow building up from the ground level. That was what was intended originally. I know that the infrastructure does not exist currently to build up there, but we could still have a multi-level garage in that space.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	The library, restaurants.
Where do you park?	Wherever there’s a spot.

36.

Explain your position	Need not yet proven; there hasn’t been good public process regarding best location IF more parking is needed; the potential impacts on traffic and on the neighborhood haven’t been adequately reviewed; and there hasn’t been sufficient cost/benefit analysis of facilitating an investor-owned garage on public land relative to other options.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Work, post office, food (restaurants), library, a handful of businesses (esp Collective Copies & Hastings), and movies
Where do you park?	Streets, lots on Common, CVS lot, Amity lot,

37.

Explain your position	This is being done to provide parking for buildings where the developers are not required to provide parking. If we need a garage, which has not been established, the existing garage should be built upon.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Amherst Cinema. UUSA. Meetings. The Toy Box.  Restaurants.
Where do you park?	In the large town lot behind Formosa. Sometimes behind CVS or behind the Toy Box.

38.

Explain your position	I see that a developer would like this garage for their personal profit. I do not think this amount of work on behalf of the TC, PB and Planning Dept. is appropriate for a zoning change that only has one main beneficiary. Work of our government bodies should represent all of us and our opinions, not just the wealthy developers among us.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Unique Shops, Restaurants, Town Hall and the Farmer’s Market
Where do you park?	Main St or Boltwood Walk

39.

Explain your position	The center of Amherst is NOT designed to accommodate an increasing number of vehicles, nor is this site at all appropriate because of inadequate and inappropriate entrances and exits.  We should be doing everything possible to discourage more vehicular traffic and to encourage people arriving to town on foot.  Amherst can’t seem to make up its mind:  Turn N. Pleasant into a pedestrian space, but have a multi-story parking garage?  This is NOT logical, people.
How often do you visit Downtown?	1 to 3 times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Getting gas and getting to my place of employment.  But I also go to the downtown of foot when I can because it’s much easier.
Where do you park?	Outside of the town center, about a half mile away.

40.

Explain your position	Amherst doesn’t need another garage, plus it will be an eyesore to the aesthetics of our small downtown.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Dining and takeout mornings, evenings & weekends.
Where do you park?	Next to where I patron.

41.

Explain your position	Providing for more cars is the wrong direction.  We should be eliminating driving and making walking malls and green space instead.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	The library and the post office mainly. But after all the historic woodwork is removed from the Jones I will no longer go there.
Where do you park?	I walk, bike, or park just beyond Hastings at a meter. I do not park where payment requires my entering my licence plate number or returning to the car with a coupon.  I do not use parking garages ANYWHERE (including Northampton and NYC).  I also do not park where I only get 15 minutes per quarter. I especially like the 15 min free parking spots.

42.

Explain your position	It isn’t needed. It is obtrusive.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Work and errands
Where do you park?	CVS or a meter

43.

Explain your position	No proof for additional parking has been shown.  A garage would devastate one of the few remaining historic districts in Amherst. Any additional parking can easily be added to existing commercial/municipal parking lots.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Shop local
Where do you park?	I usually walk. If shopping at CVS, I sometimes park in their lot. I live in Amherst for 2 and a half years and never used the CVS/municipal lot

44.

Explain your position
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?
Where do you park?

45.

Explain your position	There are historical houses nearby, and a residential neighborhood will be overshadowed by the parking garage. ***Why not use the former parking garage site???***
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	CVS, Hastings, Amherst Books, People’s Bank, Bank of America, Collective Copies, coffee shops (pre-COVID), post office, restaurants (pre-COVID), office buildings, toy store, Clay’s, dog walking (parks), Amherst Dog Wash
Where do you park?	CVS parking lot, meters, parking lot by Town Hall, parking lot by town common, miniscule parking garage (above ground), post office parking lot, behind toy store, Amherst Dog Wash parking lot, People’s Bank parking lot.

46.

Explain your position	Zoning changes can seriously alter a neighborhood, devalue property, and have unanticipated consequences.  There is no evidence that another parking garage will revitalize downtown. Short circuiting the process is a political expedient and not good government.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Coffee, dining, bookstore, library, post office, town hall
Where do you park?	On the street near Emily Dickinson Museum or North Prospect St. I find parking garages cramped and unpleasant to drive in and have almost never used Boltwood Parking Garage.

47.

Explain your position	Amherst doesn’t need another garage, plus it will be an eyesore to the aesthetics of our small downtown.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Dining and takeout mornings, evenings & weekends.
Where do you park?	Next to where I patronize.

48.

Explain your position	I already don’t own a car because I feel they are one of the main causes for damaging the environment and giving our powers away to giant corporations. Amherst supporting this with TWO garages would be sad, especially at this time. We also are told by experts that we don’t even need more parking, just better signage. I believe we should instead invest in safer bicycle transportation and more public transportation solutions.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	I leave quite close to it, commute through it every day, and I buys almost everything I need locally.
Where do you park?	At the few decrepit bicycle racks here and there, or pretty much anywhere. I don’t have a car to park. But often I bike along Main Street, and on the Dickinson-stead side there is always a large amount of parking, so that’s where I see myself parking if I had a car.

49.

Explain your position	Poor location, unproven need.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Errands, meetings, volunteering
Where do you park?	At a meter or at a friend’s home

50.

Explain your position	The size and appearance of a 4-story garage would hurt the charm that attracts people to our town. Also, the process that it is being pushed through by is suspect.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Shopping, restaurants, coffee
Where do you park?	On the street usually right in front of my destination. I’ve never had trouble parking. Even at the Merry Maple I only had to walk two blocks despite arriving late.

51.

Explain your position	It is too close to homes and does not fit with the location.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Living in town, accessing stores and restaurants.
Where do you park?	Parking lots

52.

Explain your position	It is unwise to think that this location is the most feasible without further study.
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	My favorite stores which include Hastings and Amherst Books.  I also frequent several restaurants for takeout during the pandemic.
Where do you park?	I have no difficulty parking in the South Commons lot or on the street during the day.  I usually, including before the pandemic, have no problem finding a spot somewhere downtown.

53.

Explain your position	I feel it will dominate the North Prospect Street neighborhood and would prefer a different location
How often do you visit Downtown?	4 or more times per week
Why do you visit Downtown?	Visiting the library, coffee shops, restaurants, bookstores, post office.
Where do you park?	On the street, or in the Main Street or Amity Street lots.