A commentary by a Langford resident who uses a car to transport musical instruments, sound systems and music books in her work as a professional jazz vocalist and busy music teacher. Tendinitis hampers her ability to carry these heavy items any distance, requiring her to park as close to her destination as possible.
There have been a number of recent letters where people have smugly described how they bike or walk or take public transportation, and that everyone should do so.
Here are reasons why this is not possible for everyone. Why we need more parking, not less. Everybody is not the same.
How nice that some people are able to easily walk or bike all around town. Well, I can’t and many others cannot as well. I have asthma, allergies, sports and workplace injuries, and arthritis, and when the pretty pink trees are in bloom, I cannot even go outside without a pollen mask.
I am five feet, two inches tall, with a small frame and in my work, I must cart around musical instruments, heavy boxes of music books and equipment. Because of pollen, I cannot walk three blocks outside during March, April and May, but nobody is going to give me a handicapped sticker because I am not handicapped — so more handicapped parking makes it even worse.
What I need is close available parking so I don’t have to arrive half an hour early to drive around and around in circles burning up gas looking for a space.
Everybody is not young and in perfect condition like the cyclists pedalling around town. I am so tired of the environmental excuse, which is used by those responsible for providing parking at campuses and municipalities. They use this to get them off the hook so they don’t have to think up good workable solutions or do anything about the real problem. They need to do their job in a way that benefits everybody.
Planners pretend that no one should be driving and that needing to drive and park is some kind of disgrace that people should be ashamed of. Some people might end up in the emergency room from walking farther than they are capable of to park.
If I get any pollen in my hair, I could miss work for two or three days. I have to work so hard to deal with this problem during pollen season, and I lose a lot of time having to allow so much extra time because of it. I usually have to make three trips to unload the car. I might add that the automobile is evolving, and is moving rapidly toward electric zero emissions status. It won’t be much longer before they all go that way. Then what happens to the smog excuse?
Everyone is not able to walk or bike around. Hurray for those who can. I can’t and many others also cannot. The population is aging. I recommend that city planners look at the facts about what the population is like and what all people really need.
