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Park
it
Once
again Livingston
residents
are faced with severe parking shortages as the town's annual deluge of
tourists and second, third, and fourth homers begins. With over 94,000
additional people visiting the downtown every summer, parking becomes
extremely scarce.
Above: Drivers jockey for
position on a recent Saturday in an increasingly competitive battle for
parking spots. Wearing silly headgear only makes jams like these worse
as it can distract other motorists.
City
officials believe the problem can be alleviated with new policies,
education, and getting people to obey some basic parking do's and
don'ts (see inset above right).
| One of
the policies under consideration is curbing dog licenses. Dogs are very
territorial and often frighten other drivers away from adjacent
parking spots. They are notoriously lousy parkers, and they probably
shouldn't be driving anyway. |
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Some parking Dos and Don'ts
| Do |
|
| Don't |
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Another possibility is to work
with state government to make literacy
mandatory for all Montana drivers. Sadly, something as simple as
teaching people to read and to identify basic colors, like the blue on
curbs, and basic shapes, like the white stripes delineating parking
spaces, would
have averted serious
problems like taking up two spaces instead of one (illustrated in the
photo
above).
Finally, creating an
ordinance limiting the number of galleries allowed
in town
would free up "tons of spaces" according to an unnamed City
Commissioner. "Those spaces would then be
available for Livingston's real attractions."
Opponents of the gallery limit
ordinance suggest bringing
Calamity Jane back
to town. During last summer's visit by the Wild West figure,
"there were always 'tons of spaces' wherever and whenever this
impersonator performed," said one of Livingston's artists.
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