Re “Leaders scale back Balboa Park paid parking” (Feb. 7) and “Keep Balboa Park free and welcoming to all” (Feb. 8): The car is our sacred cow. Anything that impedes car travel arouses anger, even fury — bike lanes, reduced parking on city streets and now parking fees in Balboa Park.
I go to Balboa Park regularly, am a museum volunteer and member of two museums. Thus, I am sympathetic to the museums’ objections that parking fees have hurt attendance and admissions. I also am sympathetic to the argument that parking fees hurt low-income people.
However, I wonder if the intensity of the backlash isn’t related to other factors, such as the increasing cost of living in San Diego. Also, some of us are angry about the actions of the Trump administration, especially the brutal tactics of ICE. We can march, donate money and call our congressional representatives, but all of these have limited effectiveness in the short term.
Fixing the parking fee problem is so much easier than fixing these other problems.
— Karen Kinney, Talmadge