Coatesville has a crime problem not a parking problem

View Larger Map

 

Our downtown business area in Coatesville is from 1^st to 3^rd Avenue along Lincoln Highway. There are usually 60 or more empty metered parking spaces between 3^rd Avenue and 6^th Avenue. Yet people complain saying that there is “not enough parking in downtown Coatesville”.

I lived in Philadelphia for 17 years and the complaints about “not enough parking” are baffling to me. But I think I figured it out:

When riding in someone's car the drivers, who happen to be Black, say lock you’re doors while driving by 8^th Avenue on Lincoln Highway.  This doesn’t make sense to me because I park there and walk to the restaurants or barbershop. I usually park in the lot in back of the stores near Harmony Street. Most people try very hard to find a space right out front of the store they are going to.

The reason they try to find a space out front of the store is that they want to see the path they will follow to their car from the store entrance to the car. They want to be able to see their path because in the back of their minds they’re afraid they might be mugged.

Even if broad daylight they would be afraid of walking a block on Lincoln Highway to get to their car.

All the empty spaces tell me there is not parking problem in Coatesville. But the fact that people will not get out of their cars unless they can park within view of the store they want to go tells me we have a personal safety problem.  We have a crime problem in Coatesville

Muggings are rarely if ever reported as news but from talking to older people who are at risk of a mugging and who live in and near downtown Coatesville it happens often enough to be a a part of walking in Coatesville. A few people are repeatedly mugged. The fear people have is a reasonable fear.  It may not make the Daily Local News but the muggings are talked about.

There is another linked crime problem and that is armed robberies of stores and restaurants in Coatesville. The robberies are seldom reported because the owners don’t want to scare off customers. If you are a shop or restaurant owner in Coatesville it’s not if you will be robbed, it’s if you will survive being robbed.

We desperately need a real parking problem that is caused by a lot of people wanting to shop and dine in downtown Coatesville. But until we solve our crime problem we won’t get more stores and restaurants here.  

And right now our Police Department is FUBAR. Actually it can be repaired with the right police chief. I understand that Dominick Bellizzie might be available.