This Is Exactly What Galvan And City Hall Wanted, And It's Here Already

Last night at about 6pm, with the Asian restaurant on N. 7th Street doing a brisk business, on-street parking for its patrons was hard to come by.  4 cars were parked in the back yard of the vacant building at 704 Columbia Street, across from the restaurant, because none of the 20 street spaces on that block were available.  Parking by the public in this "lot" never happened prior to this year.  It is now a de facto parking lot.  About a week ago, in the early evening, I counted 7 cars parked there. (The tax bills for 704 Columbia are mailed to the owner in Coral Gables, Florida.)

The Upper Depot brewery, at 7th & State, recently opened for business, but they offer no off-street parking (it's true -- all that space to the side of the building is not going to be used for patron parking).  Parked cars on both sides of State Street, between the train tracks and 7th Street, especially alongside the brewery, are a common sight now.  This had never been the case.  Until late last year, it was a rarity for anyone to be parked in that section of State Street, simply because there was nothing there for anyone to park for.

Drivers on 7th Street attempting to enter State Street, or cross it to head to Columbia, now have limited sight distance looking for westbound State Street traffic headed their way.  An accident will surely occur, if one hasn't already.  This was not an issue before the brewery opened.  Traffic and parking patterns have changed, yet the city has done nothing to keep up with those changes or to make the intersection safe again.

The brewery's customers are also parking their cars on 7th Street - both north and, if able to, south of State Street.  It is now not uncommon to see 6 or more cars parked on 7th Street, north of State, where parking is only allowed on one side of the street.  Prior to Galvan razing the three houses on 7th Street last year, 3 cars parked there at any time was a lot.  Quiet 7th Street is no more.

Already, the effects of allowing businesses to operate in a predominantly residential neighborhood without off-street parking requirements are beginning to rear their ugly heads.  And this is prior to so much that is on the way in the area:  Outside seating at the brewery and the Asian restaurant have not begun in earnest;  the brewery across the street, in a Galvan-owned property, is doing its best to open soon, and it, too, offers no parking spaces for its customers; Galvan's construction of two apartment buildings on N. 7th Street -- with 140 units, retail spaces, and no nearby off-street parking -- could begin this year; on their website, Galvan refers to the Community Tennis Building project, nearby at 7th and Columbia, as a "450-seat theater, in development."   If and when Galvan begins construction of their two apartment buildings, a project that could take years to complete, no one will be allowed to park anywhere on N. 7th, from State Street to Railroad Avenue.  I sense a show coming to town, and it ain't Cabaret!

Park on the street!  Good luck!

The parking woes and associated quality of life issues that have arrived, and will only worsen, are exactly what Galvan, the Hudson Planning Board, and Hudson City Hall ignored or welcomed.  They are the issues that I and others warned them about repeatedly.  If these pictures are any indication of what lies ahead, we will have a fine mess on our hands, as well as a less desirable neighborhood and city to live in and visit.

Promoting, encouraging, and accepting businesses in downtown is a great thing.  Unless, of course, you don't properly prepare for it.