In case you were wondering, some of your elected officials think you are lazy. During last week’s Common Council discussion on restoring some of the on-street parking lost to the reconstruction and re-striping of Oregon Street, Mayor Steve Cummings used the phrase “Oshkosh doesn’t have a parking problem, Oshkosh has a walking problem”. The inference being that Oshkosh residents are too lazy to walk a block or two from an off-street lot along Oregon Street or North Main Street to get to a store or restaurant. It sounds like a great point–if you are down there on one of the 100 or so nice days that we have weather-wise–but not so great in the bitter cold or the pouring rain.
I have to admit I was surprised to learn that there are any public parking lots near Oregon Street. And if they hadn’t been highlighted on a graphic during the Council meeting, I could never have told you where they are–as they don’t seem to be well marked and there are no directional signs pointing you toward them as you drive. Maybe if people knew about them, they may use them–if they aren’t too “lazy”. During that entire discussion I kept waiting for at least one Council member to suggest that Oregon be restriped to include bike lanes–and that the City install bike racks along the sidewalk–to “fix” the parking problem.
But let me tell you who is lazy: WalMart shoppers. More specifically, WalMart shoppers that take Go Transit.
In an effort to speed up their routes and to improve safety, Go Transit no longer picks up or drops off riders in the parking lots of stores. They have put up new bus shelters near Pick and Save on both sides of town, at Festival Foods and just recently along South Washburn Street in front of WalMart. Because that stop is right outside of my office window here at the Radio Ranch–and on my way home–I see what goes on there more than any other bus stop in town.
WalMart may as well put a cart corral right next to that bus shelter, because every day dozens of shopping carts are abandoned on the sidewalk, in the terrace and on the small patch of grass between the driveways. Last Thursday, there was one up against the curb in the far lane of traffic on Washburn–likely blown there by the wind. All left by people who didn’t want to carry their two bags of items from the store front to the bus stop. They may want to put a garbage can out there too, because Subway cups and wrappers are left in the shelter and on the ground–along with assorted other junk. So far, I’ve only seen a person sleeping in the bus stop on my way into work at 3:00 am just once.
Actually, I am shocked that advocates for those that ride the bus regularly haven’t been up in arms about this change. Why should those that can afford to drive a car get to walk a shorter distance to those stores than those who rely on public transportation? If anything, Go Transit should be building covered lanes directly into the stores themselves rather than moving their shelters out to the streets. Mayor Cummings has it all wrong. On-street parking and giant free lots aren’t for the lazy–they are for the socio-economic elite–further repressing the less-fortunate in our society.
