Same as it ever was… a headline in the May 7, 1974 Daily Register (Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
A look back a half-century ago this week provides a some stark examples of how some things constantly change (like clothing styles) and other things never change at all (debates about parking in Red Bank).
On May 7, 1974, the Red Bank Register reported the borough council had introduced an ordinance approving $10,000 to hire a company to do a parking study.
It seems to have been a habit.
A parking study commissioned in 1971 resulted in the recommendation that the town create a parking authority.
Another parking study in 1973, investigated the feasibility of building a town-owned parking garage, but concluded it would be too expensive.
The call for the creation of more parking was being fueled by concerns of the Red Bank Chamber of Commerce over what it called a shortage of off-street parking for shoppers.
To us 21st-century Red Bankers, it all sounds pretty familiar.
Debates over the necessity of, and plans for, a parking garage have flared up again and again over the decades, a tried and true Red Bank tradition.
In 2001 and again in the mid 2010’s, proposals for a downtown parking garage were put forth and then scuttled.
Indeed, it seems only the realization of some long-predicted reality, like self-driving taxis or Jetsons-like flying cars, will keep redbankgreen reporters from having to write about parking debates in the 2040’s and 2070’s.
Either that, or out-of-town drivers will finally discover the east side parking lots. Don’t hold your breath for either.
In more colorful developments, the Register the same week carried an ad for Clayton & Magee, a menswear shop at 19 Broad Street that carried the timeless message “Summer is Pants,” beckoning polyester fans with a variety of seersucker, plaid, and checkered pants for the new season.
Ah, the 70’s!
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