City of Hudson

One of my favorite places. I used to fish out of there until they raised the non-res launch pass to a ridiculous amount. Im sure you all remember that discussion. Now the city council is digging for more gold. Found out yesterday there is no longer any free parking in Hudson. Main street, side streets, city lots, etc. They have signs everywhere and payment kiosks spread out.
I spoke with two establishments last night and its definitely a hot topic. Neither of them support it and one said it was a hardship for employee parking. One would think these parking rates shut down at the end of the business day but not in Hudson. 8pm! I found out by checking at a kiosk downhill and a block away. Check out the signs they use. They all have a bolt covering the cutoff time. I love the town and the people and all the great eateries and bars but decisions like this keep a lot of people away. My wife and I wont be back for a long time after 30 years of support. I guess the council is banking on filling up the town with willing customers. Bummer.

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I was down there saturday night and the sign where we parked did not have it blocked. It is a world of supply and demand, I am glad they are doing something. I saw parking enforcement drive by at 7:30 so they will be enforcing the extended hours, the previous person quit around 4:45 each day. Hopefully it generates some revenue and they can build a parking ramp where the old firestation is. The parking fee is such a small amount of a night out that it won’t have much of an affect on people going out, it didn’t last weekend. The cost .50 per hour, to put that in perspective a friend of mine got a parking ticket out west, 22 minutes over was $416.00. The parking fee adds about $2 to a night out.

Just another form of taxation. Its a little funny that one of the causes that lead to the revolutionary war was a rather small Taxation. Here we are today probably paying over 40% of our overall income out in taxes when you add up all the overall taxes we pay. I’m starting to think another revolutionary war is going to happen in the near future.

Time to shop and eat out elsewhere!!!

I’m with Onestout on this one Suzuki. Hudson is no different than Stillwater. I won’t mind paying a couple bucks per night to have a spot to park when I want to go for dinner downtown. Prior to the parking meters you would have many people taking up spots for the entire weekend. We shall see if it helps free up some spots.

If a business owner doesn’t like the new parking fees, they should have volunteered to kick in the money for a parking ramp. Unfortunately, cities like Hudson and Stillwater don’t have the space for unlimited free parking.

My son takes music lessons downtown Hudson on Tuesday evenings, finding parking is typically a royal pain. I’d rather pay than waste time searching if that’s is the end result.

Is Stillwater planning to make us pay for parking? I heard another ramp is in the works.

I see its on Sat too. Guess Im in the minority but we all have choices and mine is the middle finger to those instituting these charges. Permit parking $100 per year for downtown employees $200 per year everyone else or .50/hr and the kiosk based payment system. Oh well. Moving on. I know we wont be missed but we’ll miss them.

Not only that but my property tax went up $200+ this year as well. I hope we’re getting something good.

Reason #1326 why I do not fish areas that are densely populated and refuse to live there as well.

tegg wrote:

Not only that but my property tax went up $200+ this year as well. I hope we’re getting something good.

Only 200.00. I wish I was that lucky. Mine went us 300.00 after a school funding Referendum passed. This was after a 300.00 increase only 2 years prior Due to a New school building Referendum passing. That 600.00 over the last 3 years – Ouch !!!!

The thing to keep in mind on these parking fee’s ( User tax ) is that this is in addition to the property taxes that residents and business already pay for the use of those Roads. I know its only a few $’s but its the principle of it. Who’s to say they wont raise it to $5.00 a Hr next year. I feel bad for the business’s. If People like Suzuki and happycampin and other stop bringing business to the area it wont hurt the city at all – Just the local business’s that are trying to make a living as well as paying salaries to help others make a living. Its the trickle down effect something as small as a parking fee that leads to a loss of business’s and thus jobs that people don’t think about.

fishthumper wrote:

The thing to keep in mind on these parking fee’s ( User tax ) is that this is in addition to the property taxes that residents and business already pay for the use of those Roads. I know its only a few $’s but its the principle of it. Who’s to say they wont raise it to $5.00 a Hr next year. I feel bad for the business’s. If People like Suzuki and happycampin and other stop bringing business to the area it wont hurt the city at all – Just the local business’s that are trying to make a living as well as paying salaries to help others make a living. Its the trickle down effect something as small as a parking fee that leads to a loss of business’s and thus jobs that people don’t think about.

I cant vouch for Sartell but living in the area I haven’t noticed a shortage of people that aren’t willing to flock to the St. Croix Valley (Hudson or Stillwater). We’ll see but until I see it I don’t expect a big drop off.

I doubt the quantity of people will decrease. Im sure they realize the resource they are tapping into. Progress I guess.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tegg wrote:</div>
Not only that but my property tax went up $200+ this year as well. I hope we’re getting something good.

Only 200.00. I wish I was that lucky. Mine went us 300.00 after a school funding Referendum passed. This was after a 300.00 increase only 2 years prior Due to a New school building Referendum passing. That 600.00 over the last 3 years – Ouch !!!!

This is pretty short sighted, and off topic, but as someone who grew up in Sartell and lived there from when it was a small town of 1200 to a town of 12,000+ ten years later the main reason for that is the schools! And that still goes on today. So yes it costs you $50/month more, but how much has your home appreciated? How quickly will it sell when you finally sell it? I’m probably more anti tax than most, but school referendums pay dividends in your biggest physical asset, and complaining about them is short sighted at best. Own some property in St. Cloud (as I do) and try selling to see the opposite end of the spectrum.

Sorry for the rant, back to parking meters…