To the editor:

Parking in downtown Lawrence is better than parking in downtown Tempe, Ariz.? A poke in the eye must be better than losing a tooth. Ask most downtown retailers: Anything that can be done, should be done to cater to shoppers and visitors of downtown Lawrence.

Since property taxes and insurance rates aren’t going anywhere but sky higher, it is naÃive to expect parking to suddenly become free. If the city cannot bring free parking to downtown, it could bring people into downtown from free parking.

There are 53 little-used spaces north-of-the-river at the visitors center. Right across Second Street (west) on the greenspace under the high-power transmission lines behind the stone storefronts is a parking lot-in-waiting big enough for maybe 100. We get the T to put several cutesy slow-mo trolley shuttles up and down Massachusetts Street from the courthouse back to the visitors center, and voila! (What about little-used Constant Park becoming more parking and less greenspace?)

How to pay for free trolley rides? Go ahead and make your tickets $5. Make all the meters on Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and cross-streets 25 cents per 30 minutes, with a six-hour maximum. Most people will pay for parking without grumbling. What they dislike the most is paying for 90 minutes and having to pay attention to the time and then rush back. For many visitors to downtown, 90 minutes is hardly enough time. The last thing a friendly shopper should be worried about is a stupid parking ticket!

Rudy Conrad,

Lawrence