Parking around Burlington, VT remains an emotional issue for residents, business owners and visitors alike. The time and money spent on procuring a parking spot near the central ‘hub’ of downtown was the premise of a .
A common misconception is that the Burlington area lacks places to park. But contrary to popular belief, the Queen City has approximately 8,500 parking spaces downtown, which includes more than 4,400 in publicly owned garages. The issue, it seems, isn’t a lack of adequate parking, rather a lack of proper signage to direct drivers to the lesser known parking areas around town.
Other concerns relate to the rumor in the disappearance of the first two hour free in parking garages rule due to the privately owned mall parking on Cherry St making this statement for the mall attached garage. The City, however, still intends to keep it’s first two hours free option at it’s publicly owned garages, which still bring in over $300,000 annually. The costs however barely cover the basic maintenance of the city garages, so the Burlington is seeking alternative options for procuring the funds, including a raise in metered parking rates for the new ‘Smart-Meters introduced in the area in November.
For more information including maps, transportation and parking resources please review the Seven Days independent paper’s article Burlington Considers its Parking Options.