To the editor:

As a 20-plus year resident of Old Town Alexandria, it is obvious to everyone, with the possible exception of the anti-car crowd, that parking in Old Town becomes more problematic by the year. We lose parking to bikeshare, scooters, bike lanes, construction zones and their workers, zoning development waivers, social engineering experiments and many other pet projects of our city staff and council.

The fact is that Alexandria is a city of neighborhoods with Old Town being one and perhaps the most difficult area in which to park. More importantly, Old Town’s demographics lean on the older side and expecting senior residents to ride bikes, scooters or other “micro-mobility” solutions is at best unrealistic and at worst, dangerous even in the best of weather. Cars are a part of life here and to deny otherwise shows how city staff is being tone deaf to the real needs of the residents of the city.

First, build a municipal parking garage on the west side of Robinson Terminal North and route the trolley to it. If not, propose an alternative way to substantially increase public parking in Old Town. That will help ameliorate the parking crisis. Then and only then should we look at initiatives that further decrease parking such as the pedestrian plaza.

The anti-car, road diet, micro-mobility, wetland destroying, supposedly “green” initiatives that continue to dominate our city staff’s agenda is antithetical to the will of the residents. It is time for all residents of all political affiliations to vote every elected official in the city out of office. Let’s clean house, institute ethics reform, elect new voices from all parties and neighborhoods and make our city government reflective of the people who live and work here.

-Scott Collins, Alexandria