On Friday WRAL did another hit piece on downtown life . This time the subject was free valet parking in front of a few restaurants exacerbating the “parking problem”. Aside from the logical problems of that argument (valet makes patrons’ parking not a problem), parking downtown still, in fact, is easy.

The City of Raleigh and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance have published excellent guides to parking in downtown. Go ahead and print these and put them in your car for future use.

• City of Raleigh guide (.pdf)
• DRA guide (.pdf)

Additionally, the Alliance has a zoomable online map . It is surprising just how much parking is available, especially at night and on weekends.

A way the City of Raleigh could vastly improve the perception of downtown parking is to erect a system of consistently designed, dynamic signs at lot/deck entrances. The lots would have a standard green circle with a large, white “P” letter. A neon “FREE” sign could be lit during hours when parking is free. As people venture downtown, they will be reminded of how abundant and accessible free parking is.