To the editor:
Re. "Mayor Robertson declares war on parking, parkers," April 25.
It is good to have a discussion about any changes to automobile parking systems and regulations in Vancouver, but I question how productive it is to begin by comparing the mayor to Fidel Castro. Also describing the mayor as a "climate change alarmist" may tell the reader more about the writer than it does about the mayor.
While the writer admits that he doesn't know what the greenest city fund will fund," he appears to be dead set against it. He references an 84-year-old Kitsilano resident of whom he says it "takes almost an hour" to get from her home to, I presume, Stanley Park by bus. I checked with TransLink. From West Fourth and Macdonald, you can get to Davie and Denman in as little as 21 minutes or to the Stanley Park Loop in as little as 33 minutes on a weekday morning.
I'll admit that the Stanley Park hourly parking rates are steep but compared to the cost of buying, maintaining and insuring an automobile, it is not so much so long as you don't have to do it everyday. Sometimes using taxies can be more cost effective than automobile ownership.
Perhaps reluctant senior residents who wish to drive to Stanley Park could mitigate the cost of parking by coordinating with other like-minded seniors by car pooling or joining community centres at which bus trips can be arranged.
The writer may believe the mayor to be "an extremist" but if he is one, he is one who has been elected by the people of Vancouver.
Doug Vance, Vancouver
