Readers respond

I think that closing Main Street to traffic sounds like an excellent

idea. I’ve noticed that it’s almost impossible to walk on the sidewalks

now -- with people dining out front. I was in Davis recently and they had

parking lots that allowed 2 hours of free parking. I wish we had

something like that in Huntington Beach. Part of the reason local

residents stay away from Downtown is the parking situation -- it’s a

giant hassle. If we had the 2-hours-free parking spaces available,

beachgoers wouldn’t use them and locals could eat or shop Downtown in

that time frame. When a local resident is deciding to go Downtown to eat

or to a restaurant that is away from that area, most times they’ll opt

for the restaurant that isn’t Downtown because they don’t want to deal

with the traffic and parking.

Donna Farnam

Huntington Beach

As longtime Huntington Beach residents we hope the move toward

eliminating parking on Main Street is successful, it’s long overdue. We

would go Downtown and use the shops, restaurants, etc. much more often if

the area (even a couple of blocks) became a pedestrian precinct. The

behemoths parked there nowadays take away the pleasure of strolling down

Main Street, to say nothing of the fumes when people are trying to enjoy

the outdoor restaurants. The picture on page A4 of last week’s edition

says it all.

Also as longtime readers of the Independent, we think your new format

is a big improvement.

Now it seems like a “real” newspaper.

Dorothy and Harry Bolton

Huntington Beach