Two business representatives from Boothbay Harbor have written a press release this week asking for help in identifying spaces where downtown employees can secure parking during the busy summer months.

Wiscasset's downtown merchants aren't happy about the option to take away on-street parking in the MDOT's offer to fund a project to help with the flow of traffic along Route 1.

Parking during the busy summer months has always been a problem in both towns. Solutions in Boothbay Harbor have included a shuttle from the high school lots, taking out meters and labeling the parking spaces for a certain amount of time, etc. Wiscasset has its parking problems, too, but most of its problems have to do with traffic flow, not parking, during the busy summer months.

It will be interesting to find out what transpires during the referendum vote in Wiscasset regarding the option to take away on-street parking through the downtown area. It is an idea that perhaps needs more time since businesses are not liking it. To have a thriving downtown, you need businesses. If businesses die on main street because of no on-street parking, it will hurt the local economy.

I've always maintained that walking doesn't hurt. When I go to a city, such as Portland or Boston, finding a close parking spot near my destination has hardly entered my mind. Finding an affordable and safe spot is what I look for. Yes, as I get older and walking gets harder, I know I will feel differently. But walking a quarter to a half mile to my destination after parking my car doesn't bother me right now.