End of Free Parking in Downtown Salem Gathers Momentum

Free downtown parking in Salem may be nearing an end as the city is planning a change to the area with a new plan from city officials.

Downtown businesses currently foot the bill for parking in downtown as this money goes towards maintenance and upkeep for the spaces.

“What we have in common is that we have a regular healthy turnover of those parking spots throughout the day” La Familia Cider owner and city councilor Jose Gonzalez said. “As the owner of a downtown business, if they’re paying more to park, they may end up with less money to spend in our business.”

Salem City Council first met in February of 2023 and the mayor discussed this topic in his state of the union address a month later.

“The community and city are taking steps to remove the free parking,” Gonzalez said. “It was some of the small businesses in the community that had been gathering for several years and this is one of the main issues where they wanted to take initiative. Every few years this seems to come up.”

The downtown parking district was established in 1976 to provide funding and help with the promotion of public parking in downtown Salem. Each business within the district is given a share of the operating and maintenance costs of the customer parking spaces in the downtown district. 

“We want a healthy downtown, which not only includes healthy businesses, but also funding to keep it clean, maintain it, etc.,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what brings people down there to visit.”

Several downtown businesses have closed down, including large department stores like Nordstrom and JCPenney, which didn’t help the city collect on any parking taxes from them. 

Newer downtown residents and hotel guests are also taking advantage of the on-street parking spaces, which take up the free short-term spaces meant for the customers of the businesses.

“We have seen some people take advantage of that as we have several spots right in front of our business,” Gonzalez said. “A change should make it easier for people that want to visit us. The money earned helps keep staff, programs for street cleanup and keeps security at the parking garages and reinvest into events.”

Community members can become involved by joining the Downtown Advisory Board or keeping up to date at their board meetings, which can be streamed on YouTube. 

“It’s a process, but it will happen sooner than later,” Gonzalez said. “I want to encourage everybody to be involved, even if you aren’t in those circles, you don’t live downtown and don’t have businesses downtown. We need to hear from them as well and bring more people from Salem into the downtown area. The more vibrant it is, the safer it is for everyone.”