Love? Nooooo. Sweetheart deal more like cheap tease. Rather have a ...

Free parking in the city on the evening of Feb 14 is one of the last things that the city needs to provide. The deed is sorta like giving an overweight, diabetic great aunt a big box of chocolates in a red-shaped box. Stupid yet sentimental.

There are a lot of bad ideas that would be slightly better than the free parking display of 'love' from the city. Let's give credit where credit is due. It is better to do something. There is merit to having bleeding heart liberals mark a day where wearing red and wishig for cupid's arrival, based upon a religious Saint's Feast, is marked.

Slightly better would be the hiring of private ambassadors from the PDP to direct downtown office workers on ways around the drunks in Market Square after making eye contact and winking at passers by.

I'm sure Ms. Mon's suggested a V.D. idea of wet kisses from crossing guards and elected politicians stationed at corners throughout the city, to stem the speeding traffic, would have been deemed too much of a gotcha / come on with drunken driver liability.

Pittgirl's ideas can't be re-typed here, as this is a family blog.

Another idea floated on Grant Street was to have political bloggers run heart shaped pretzels out to tug operators as they chugged up the river, unclogging the arteries of commerce, showing gratitude after a thaw.

Getting Around: City loves yinz, offers free Valentine's evening parking Getting Around: City loves yinz, offers free Valentine's evening parking

Sunday, February 11, 2007
By Joe Grata, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Wednesday is Valentine's Day. Pittsburgh wants to show how much it loves yinz by offering a sweetheart deal: free parking.

I'd rather just tell the world that Pittsburgh's parking tax will be dropped to 15%, (not 50%, nor 45%, etc.) as soon as 75% the Parking Authority garages and assets are sold and its final 25% of assets are proven to be on the market.

Yes, I think that the Parking Authority should be sold. I've stated that plank for years.

From china - bike

It would be much better to sell the Parking Authority than the PA Turnpike and the water pipes under the city's streets.

Then the city could establish a parking department to manage the meters, enforcement and be accountable.

New parking garages would be built with private investments again. Parking rates would climb.