City explores ways to make parking structure safer

The city council is exploring ways to increase utilization of the downtown parking structure. (Photo by Alex Dominguez)

DOWNEY — Is Downtown Downey’s Parking garage safe? Not even the city council thinks so.

After receiving a report on a recent parking assessment of Downey’s downtown area, the multi-story, 400-stall structure dominated the discussion, especially surrounding its underutilization and safety concerns.

“One of the main reasons we hear from our residents that they are not utilizing that great parking structure, 395 spots, is fear; concerns for their safety,” said Mayor Claudia M. Frometa. “Any other city in LA County would give so much to have that parking structure, and I think we need to do better.”

Councilman Hector Sosa echoed the sentiment, admitting that he did not use the structure for similar reasons.

“If you compare and contrast the two parking structures, I mean, well, where Porto’s is highly visible; there’s a lot of movement, a lot of people walking around,” said Sosa. “The other one, I don’t park there myself. I wouldn’t take my family in there.”

The city council voted to explore different options to increase safety within the structure, including cameras, cleaning and repainting the structure, assessing the lighting and reviewing the security contract for the downtown area which will soon be due for discussion.

According to the data collected by Dixon Resources, off-street parking options have seen lower usage across the board in Downtown Downey.