One of the issues in the current election is what to do with Main Street. Business seems solid, there’s no vacant space (other than the old Claimjumper building that remains mostly vacant), and anybody looking at it would say “don’t fix what isn’t broken.”
There are concerns. I don’t know how it is counted, but the claim is foot traffic is down from several years ago.
That could be a change in the way the mail is delivered. There is a lot of competing space in Canyons Village, and that isn’t built out. Lots of businesses targeted at locals have moved to Kimball Junction, where rents are lower and access is easier.
Nobody really knows what impact all the additional development at Mayflower will have on Park City. Can anyone staying there be convinced to travel into Park City at night for entertainment? It’s really a pretty distinct location of its own.
I was on Main Street twice this last week. That’s a lot for me. A friend had a birthday dinner one night, and I did some brick-and-mortar retail shopping another day.
I live here, I have the parking app on my phone and the credit card connected to it. It’s all set up. And still it was confusing. The signs said that special event pricing was in effect at China Bridge, though others at the party said it was actually free after 6 p.m..
When I tried to park for some shopping, I couldn’t tell what parking zone I was in on the street, and ended up in China Bridge.
There, the app told me that “remote payment is not available at this location.” That’s not helpful. What I think it was trying to tell me was that “parking is free at this time.” But I ended up spending less time than intended on Main because I was concerned about getting a ticket.
All of that has to be very confusing to visitors. If the candidates are looking for something to “fix” on Main Street, start with finding a way to make parking regulations simple, clearly understandable, and easy to comply with.
But what about the bigger picture? The Brew Pub lot is a wasted opportunity. There’s a fair amount of land there, really huge by Main Street standards. There ought to be something that can happen there that is creative, interesting, fun, and a draw all by itself.
I don’t know what that is — a bouldering course, climbing wall, splash pad in the summer, all designed to double as a simple music venue. It needs something that feels natural and spontaneous, and delivers an experience that people will walk to the top of the street to see.
The discussion about aerial transit systems just won’t end. It would be a terrible waste to take up that entire site with a gondola connection to — well, that’s the problem.
There’s no place for an upper terminal in the Silver Lake area that would shuttle people to dinner without skis. People staying at Snow Park would end up driving to a gondola terminal from most lodging there — a distance that is about the same as driving to Main Street.
In terms of adding excitement to the street, we might as well build a water tank. That’s at least authentic.
Swede Alley has been under discussion for at least the 45 years I’ve been involved here. One line of reasoning is that it is what it is, a service alley for the back of Main. Others think the lower levels of buildings on Swede could be more appealing than fire escapes and dumpster access.
It will always have the back-door function to it. That’s the way the buildings were built. It could be more, especially on the upper end of the street where the reconstruction of China Bridge creates some opportunities.
We tried one-way traffic on Main and Swede, with angle parking on Main. It was an experiment that didn’t last long. That might be worth revisiting after 50 years, along with wider sidewalks (didn’t we just completely rebuild Main Street?). That would require better circulation through Swede.
There is always talk of making it a pedestrian mall, but the combination of the loss of parking and difficulty of access to buildings on the west side for deliveries seems to complicate that.
My two recent forays on to Main Street are hardly a scientific sampling. Real data exist from sales tax and other sources. In what used to be the shoulder season, it was packed both days to the point that I was walking in the street at times to get through.
There isn’t empty space. Most communities wouldn’t think that’s a problem. It’s so crowded that nobody goes there anymore.
Drawing guests from Canyons and Mayflower will be something to work on. My “fix” for Main Street is pretty simple. Figure out something really cool to put on top of the brew pub lot, simplify the parking regulations, explore expanding the retail and entertainment options on at least the upper part of Swede Alley.
But mostly, leave it alone. There’s nothing wrong that couldn’t be solved by putting more dogs on Main Street.
Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986.