The Durango Noel Night was very busy. The local economy was profitable from just the parking meter violations. However, the shops lost a lot of money from customers who had to keep feeding the meter! It is impossible to carry enough quarters, and who wants to chance a credit card being hacked on a parking meter? I was trying to buy a nice piece of jewelry, but the wait in line was causing me to worry about the meter running out. So I put the item back and went to the meter, but I was six minutes late and there was the yellow citation on my windshield. It ruined my evening of shopping and I went back to the motel. The very zealous meter officer did not miss a single opportunity in completing a citation.
I saw vehicles being towed. Traffic was horrible because the police and tow trucks had the streets blocked. The city is to blame for not making parking free on a busy night such as this. I will probably never come back to Durango. This tourist will find a much more friendly and accommodating city. The local businesses lost a lot of customers because of the poor planning on parking for such a large volume of traffic and poor parking accommodations for an event such as this. A $12 fine is the last money Durango will ever see from me!
Anita Jack
Ada, Okla.
