Downtown Davis is cute and has great places to go eat or grab some boba with friends. If you plan to go downtown, do not count on finding any parking, especially during the weekend. People flood downtown on the weekends and there is never any parking. The few lots that are open to use on F St. and 3rd street are always full, and you are lucky if you are able to snag parking before the next person does. When the farmers market is not going on one could even park near central park, but that is still a stretch. While I understand enforcing a parking limit does allow for a flow of people downtown, it is a giant hassle for the people who work there every single day.
It is even worse knowing that there is a 90-minute limit for parking at different places downtown. There are cops who are in the area and are routinely checking every hour and a half to see which cars are overstaying the restriction. If you happen to be the unlucky victim of their inspection, then you will get a fifty-dollar fine.
It is such a hassle for people who have jobs in downtown Davis because there are not any special parking or even permits that allow them to be parked while at work. Employees have to fight for parking since there is not any designated place for them near their work. I know that there are also two parking garages around, but it is so out of the way for people who do not work on that street. Walking through there alone is not the greatest time, especially if you work at night. As someone who recently started driving to work it is so frustrating to not have any close parking near my job. Then, while I am focused on my customers, I have to also keep an eye on the clock to make sure I have enough time to move my car so that I do not get a ticket.
It was a lot easier during the pandemic because they stopped ticketing people for staying longer than 90 minutes at a parking stall. The workers of downtown did not have to worry about getting a ticket for a while, but that has now ended. The only nice thing about working in the evenings is that once it hits six o’clock you are in the clear, and do not have to move your car anymore.
For downtown Davis to have so many businesses, there should be a better system set up for the employees so they do not have to be inconvenienced during their shifts. Give out parking permits to allow employees to park longer than 90 minutes, or even some sort of parking spots reserved for employees only. That would give them the opportunity to park right near their work and not have to worry about being on a time crunch.
