Let's review and take a look at the City's recent actions, including 1) eliminating parking in their temporary paseo on Curtis Street, 2) eliminating parking for the 6-7 restaurants now using the street for customers and 3) catering to the bicyclist by converting parking to a bike lane- a lane that may seldom be used.
Consider for a moment, if "warning signs" were issued to vehicles parking over the time limit within say 15 minutes. As they say, kindness may go further than punishment. There are a number of ways that the city could HELP consumers be mindful of parking limits, but unlike many of their neighboring cities, they've chosen NOT to do it. For instance, more signs reminding people of the time limit within the Parking Plazas may be helpful, vs. a single sign at the driveway entrance. Following through by building an attractive parking garage would help.
Parking MACHINES are hard to read, hard to understand, basically confusing to many. Can they be made to be more consumer friendly? Afterall, one can drive a short distance to Stanford Shopping Center or Town and Country Village and park for FREE.
Why are there so many types of parking areas indicating 1 hour, 90 minute, 2 hour and 3 hour parking areas? This too may be confusing to some drivers.
Bottom line, wanting to encourage (and not discourage) folks coming to Menlo Park ought to be the priority. What more can be done? Perhaps ask the shop keepers. Perhaps ask the consumers. It doesn't appear to me that the city alone has all the answers.
