Comments on: Fair Park’s Parking Problems

By: Bethany

Bethany — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:46:20 +0000

Brent, for a while, when my workplace and my home were both near DART stations, I road nearly every day.

When I responded yesterday, I was also in the middle of a couple of things, and didn’t remember what the fare increase was – hence the “$2.50 or whatever.”

Three dollars is still cheaper than $200, which was my original point. The DART fare and minor inconveniences you may face (like having to maybe ride standing up for a couple of stops if it’s crowded, etc.) is always going to be substantially less than getting your car out of an impound lot.

By: Brent D.

Brent D. — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:08:48 +0000

@ Bethany – It’s always amusing to witness people’s argument endorsing DART when they don’t know how much the fare is. Ride much?

By: DM

DM — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:03:39 +0000

I park in a garage on Exposition… but then again, I have a clicker to get in.

By: KEH

KEH — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:45:00 +0000

My husband and I rode the DART shuttle buses that left from Pearl STreet downtown. It was an extremely efficient and easy (and cheap) way to go. the line wrapped around the block when we arrived at 10am but moved very quickly and our ride to Fair Park was great! We were in our seats, rooting on the Horns, way before kick off! The ride home was just as easy – well worth the $10 that you would have paid in someone’s lawn.

By: LakeWWWooder

LakeWWWooder — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:23:47 +0000

Hmm, I’m not going to tell you my secret parking spots. I’m sure some of them would be too deliciously scary for Parkies.

I went to high school with some kids who lived right around there – Congo, Jerome, Gurley, Parry, Caldwell. We used to take neophytes to the fair and SMU games down the shotgun-shack lined Bank street and under the railroad bridge just to freak them out!

Hey Dave you can always take a taxi or get a ride. It’s not far to walk from Ellum or even the Baylor parking lots, either. But any excuse not to go to South Dallas is good enough for some.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:08:00 +0000

Parking outside of the fair needs to be regulated. These people need to have a permit from the city and signs that indicate “official parking” spot for the State Fair… Either that or the city needs to shut these places down. They could easily put 5-10 cops on the beat to oversee this. But when in doubt, always park inside the fair!!!

By: Bethany

Bethany — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:26:12 +0000

I’ve ridden DART on the weekend to attend the fair, and have never had a problem. The special fair shuttles run more often, if you’re willing to pony up the $5. However, the weekend schedule is still much more convenient then waiting hours in line to pay $200 to get your car back.

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:13:26 +0000

@Bethany

The Cotton Bowl added something like 16,000 more seats. Even if those 16,000 people carpooled and took vans, there would still not be enough parking on the fairgrounds.

DART was on a Saturday schedule too. So even if you parked in Downtown near one of the transit centers, there was no promise of a ride on a bus. Driving through downtown Saturday morning, there were 30-40 people at each bus stop on Commerce and Main streets. I imagine alot of those people had to wait for a long time for a bus since many were full.

DART is ignorant of special events. They will maintain weekend schedules regardless of firework shows, concerts, New Years Eve bashes in Downtown.

By: Bethany

Bethany — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:54:51 +0000

I feel for these people – because it sucks to get ripped off. But at the same time (and maybe this makes me a bad person, I don’t know) I also thought, “Why would you pay $10 to park someplace else when you can park at the fair for that amount, or even take the train and bus there?”

I’m not blaming the victim, believe me. But perhaps next year the fair or the city can provide a list of good places to park – Fair-sanctioned parking. They could get special signs, and everything. If you don’t see the sign, you don’t park there.

By: drew

drew — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:46:44 +0000

What angers me about this (aside from innocent people getting ripped off) is that the hours the victims stood in line could have been spent out at restaurants, stores and other legitimate businesses, generating sales tax revenue instead. Wasn’t that the justification behind the $57M renovations in the first place?

That’s why I would think the city would take a more aggressive approach in curbing this kind of nonsense.