So many business have been hurt by by the pandemic, and we only hear about the ones we frequent the most like bars and restaurant's.  We seem to be on the road to recovery with the vaccines being given across the country, and with everyone following the safety guidelines, we still have a ways to go.

 

"We’ve seen, just like our businesses downtown, a lot less customers in the district really since March of last year," said Director of Planning, Building and Development Tom Ferhenbach.

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I guess In the most recent fiscal year, which ended June 30th, the budgeted revenue for parking structures was around $4 million, and it fell way short of that number.  It was about $285,000 short, which is a big chunk of change.

Many folks are doing whatever they can so they don't have to pay for parking.  Many are getting takeout.  Uber, and Lyft are parking on the side of the street because they don't want to pay parking. That can cause traffic accidents and hazards .

I venture through East Lansing a lot and many stores and restaurant's seem pretty empty. I live in downtown Lansing and it is easy to see the empty parking lots.  It has gotten a little better the last few weeks with bars and restaurant's opening up 25 percent.  If we do open up to 100 percent in March this will all of course change as we get more confident to go out more.

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