Ride and park Reflected in a new study of parking done for the Downtown Development Authority is the dilemma that long has been facing those bent on reshaping downtown.
Businesses invariably demand parking when they consider locating downtown.
It is critical to both customers and employees. While employees might be induced or coerced into using mass transit rather than personal vehicles, customers will not. For years, The Jacksonville Landing has been struggling with parking and trying to get city officials to live up to a commitment to provide parking. Downtown businesses compete, in most cases, with malls and suburban shops, which almost always have free and plentiful parking. It is not possible to offer free space downtown because land is too costly.