People walk along North Michigan Avenue as tulips bloom April 12, 2026, in downtown Chicago. | Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune
The last dumb idea from City Council
By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune
A new parking meter deal is done and dusted, as City Council on Tuesday approved a $2.53 billion agreement allowing Stonepeak Partners to take over the remaining 57 years of Chicago’s parking meter lease. Good. We were tired of writing about this historic disaster.
But that doesn’t mean there cannot be another one just ahead.
Now, aldermen are looking to the future. And as some gaze into their crystal ball, they see a brave new world in which suburbanites pay more to park.
An idea is floating around to bifurcate parking meter prices, adding a surcharge of 25 to 50 cents an hour for non-Chicagoans who park in the city, according to Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett, 27th.
Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett – Remember his face because we highly doubt this will be the last dumb idea he’ll have.It’ll raise revenue, he says, though he couldn’t say how much, and encourage public transit, though that doesn’t take into account the frequent inadequacy of those options from the suburbs, especially on evenings and weekends.What we know for sure is that such a move is crazy-town nonsense.
Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett – Remember his name and face since we highly doubt this will be the last dumb idea he’ll have.
“It’s easy to track, they already have the data now,” Burnett said. “We want our suburban counterparts to help when they’re clogging up the system.”
Clogging up the system? Oy.
We have an altogether different view of our neighbors to the north, south and west.
We view them not as bumbling annoyances from which to extract extra cash for the privilege of parking their car on the street, but value their awe and enjoyment of our city, even if they only stick around for a little while.
Editorial continues here.
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