But I doubt this is really about recovering the cost of parking. I think it is more about discouraging loitering. Atlanta has a terrible lack of safe and interesting places for teenagers and those in their early twenties to hang out, especially for those of limited income. So when a place appears that allows for this, it gets overwhelmed. It happened in Buckhead and is happening in Atlantic Station. That’s too bad because that vast majority of those who are loitering just want to hang out with friends, have fun and not bother anyone. But as we all know, get enough people in that age group together and you end up with someone trying to show off or prove themself to be greater than everyone else. Even a small token amount charge for parking will reduce those loitering. It’s too bad that those who are injecting life into the development are going to be run off, but just the same, it isn’t Atlantic Station’s responsibility to provide a hangout for the city’s entire population of youngsters. We need many such places but sadly that isn’t likely to happen.

Why should parking be completely free?