One Next Step for downtown, one giant leap for Durango, IMHO. Yes to wider sidewalks. Think of all the extra space for activities: walking, restaurant seating, waiting in lines to get restaurant seating, passing sidewalk gapers, whatever is going on in front of Maria’s and room for (gasp) more trees? Yes to corner bump-outs! Means shorter (read safer) crosswalks, which means slower vehicle speeds, which means safer cycling. All that and we can still drive (and park) our vehicles on downtown Main just like the olden days when Durango still had character and you knew someone who died from gum disease.
But wait! We can’t have nice things because “it’s the parking, stupid.” Parking – the perennial origin of angry complaints. Always has been – parking complaints almost predate cars. Do nothing to downtown Main, we will hear complaints about the lack of parking. Take the Next Step, we will hear the same. Build a four-story parking garage at the transit center, people will not use it, and then we will hear complaints about the lack of parking. Ten years ago, delivery drivers derided parking downtown. Ten years from now, they will do the same. It’s in our blood. It’s in our DNA. And it’s a lot easier than taking that Next Step into the great good unknown! But the easy way does not a Durango character make. So let’s put our character pants on, look forward and take that beautiful Next Step together – your future self and progeny will thank you!
Tenny Webster
Durango
