Businesses In Greensburg Facing Parking Problem

GREENSBURG (KDKA) -- Shoppers say there's just not enough parking, and adding spaces is not the answer. Business owners in Greensburg want to find a balance between filling the need, and keeping the character of the city.

For frustrated parker Dee Weir, coming to Greensburg for anything is never a pleasant endeavor. She loves the folks here well enough, but not the parking situation.

"It's awful," she said. "I just spent probably 10 minutes, riding in a circle, looking for a spot. We definitely need more parking spaces in Greensburg. It's not a place I wanna come to that often because of the parking."

Weir isn't alone in that sentiment, which is disconcerting for businesses.

"It's difficult," said Heather Foster of Bortz Hardware. "It's a struggle that would be the word that comes to mind, it's a struggle."

Foster says some businesses aren't helping their own cause.

"A lot of the parking gets clogged up on the weekday by merchants and their employees that park their cars on the street in front of their own businesses," she said. "As much as people gripe about it, there isn't really a clear-cut, good solution. It's not like we can knock a building down and add spaces."

These lots are referred to by architects and city planners as "parking craters." Nice to have, but some say they take away from shopping in an urban environment experience to begin with.

"It does take away from the character of the city, just to have parking garages everywhere," Foster said, "but at the same time, if you want to add new businesses and you want your town to be thriving, you do need somewhere to put all the cars."

So it appears there is no clear answer to this situation. What it will have to come down to is a compromise between more parking spaces and Greensburg keeping what makes Greensburg so unique.

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