I rarely carry cash, much less coins, so I was pleased to find that several parking meters along Downer Avenue on Milwaukee's East Side now accept credit cards. And, while they're not exactly new (they were installed in September 2011) they are convenient. Since I usually walk to Downer or park in that lot just north of Sendik's, I guess I'd never parked in front of these meters until last weekend.
Anyways, they aren't the LUKE meters that you find in Downtown and in the Historic Third Ward, but a hybrid of the old-school meter with added payment functionality.
Sandy Rusch Walton at the City of Milwaukee's Department of Public Works tells me, "The City is interested in expanding the footprint of credit card enabled parking meters into business districts where the hourly rate is below $1.00, insufficient to justify installation of the LUKE meters. This pilot is helping the City determine the usefulness and feasibility of this approach."
Convenience and location, of course, matter with parking so it's nice to see the pay by card option in more places. Plus, with great places like Cafe Hollander, Via, Henry's, OPH and Pizza Man opening soon these credit card enabled meters are sure to get added use in the very near future.
Here's to more of them in all parts of the city soon.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
