It now costs more to park on the street - for some

I was out of town for a few weeks, came back, parked in the Center Grove and was surprised to see the rate is $3.00 per hour to park. On the street. I know $3.00 is less than a cup of coffee, but when it comes to street parking that's quite a high hourly rate.

There is a discount for City of Miami residents, which there always was if you use the phone app, but it wasn't automatic, you have to re-apply. Which I did and was declined the first time, something didn't match apparently. So I paid $6.00 for two hours. Once I sorted it out, the next time I parked, I was charged $1.40 per hour to park, which is what I usually would pay.

I wrote about this meter rate rise in December and it was supposed to be $1.75 per hour in the Grove without the discount, but $3.00? Are people going to visit and pay that? What if someone comes from outside the City to spend time in the Grove - what if they come to an event for four hours - they pay $12 to park. On the street! I think it's probably cheaper to pay in one of the lots around the area.

I was just up north for awhile, I was all over - Long Island - The Hamptons, Montauk and New England and I don't remember us having to pay a dime to park at any of these places. It was all free. That's how it is on the west coast of Florida, too. I don't remember ever paying to park on the street in Naples, Ft. Meyers, Venice, Sarasota, and so on.

I reached out to the Miami Parking Authority to ask them where all this money is going, since I don't think it goes to street repairs or anything city related. According to their website, "MPA invests in the construction and management of parking facilities."

I had to read that line twice, because as far as I know, the MPA sold off our only city-owned garage in the Grove to a private developer who turned it into an office building and there have not been any garages built around here since. One plan was to add condos to a much-needed garage which still has not been built at the Playhouse lot. I'm not sure how adding condos, rather than parking spaces to a garage, helps the parking situation or lack thereof.

Also they say, "MPA is an active member of the South Florida community, contributing funding and in-kind services to more than thirty festivals, events and non-profit organizations each year." In-kind means free. So they are not spending any money there.

From their annual report: "MPA, a semi-autonomous, self-sustaining agency managed by parking industry professionals and financed by parking revenues, receives no taxpayer support. Funds not used by operations are returned to the City of Miami, and all ticket citation revenues are payable directly to Miami-Dade County.

Still, I don't understand this $3.00 per hour to park for non-residents. It should be a quarter!

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