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Hard work of the Marquette DDA is appreciated

If you have visited other cities around the United States and spent time in the downtown areas you will realize what a nice downtown that Marquette, Michigan, has developed. The downtown is kept clean. Building owners are encouraged to keep the facade of the building in good shape. There are grants and funding opportunities explained to businesses through the Downtown Development Authority that help business owners keep their buildings looking good. Trees have been planted and areas of downtown have flower displays that are well maintained. In the winter snow removal is handled by the DDA to keep the downtown accessible.

Many great events are held in the downtown like The UP 200, The New Year’s Eve Ball Drop, The Summer Farmer’s Market and The Blueberry Festival just to mention a few. All of these events make the downtown a fun place to visit and shop. As an extension of Downtown events, Third Street is also getting involved with special activities like the Music on Third promotion, which is held the third Thursday of the month during summer months. All of these things help make Downtown Marquette a special place.

One of the main reasons for Marquette having such a great downtown is because of the work done by the Downtown Development Authority. The DDA’s job is to maintain an attractive atmosphere for the downtown. All this comes at a cost and part of that cost is supported by parking meter and parking rental money. On Monday, the new on-street parking meters will go live. This includes 365 meters featuring smart technology. Most people’s first reaction won’t be positive about the new meters because people now have to pay for something that they used to get for free in some cases.

We realize that there will be concerns expressed about the new parking meters, but we also realize that to maintain such a high-quality downtown that parking meters and the revenue they produce are a key element in providing money to maintain a downtown that will make other cities downtowns envious.

We hope residents will accept the new parking meters and understand why they are necessary to maintaining a progressive, beautiful downtown. When you have visitors in town we encourage you to bring them downtown to experience what a special place downtown is. We have great retail businesses and excellent restaurants. We believe the comments from those guests visiting our downtown will reinforce what we are saying about what a special place downtown Marquette is.

We realize that having the most beautiful lake in the world, Lake Superior, at the East End of Washington Street has a lot to do with our beautiful downtown aura. That alone without the work of The DDA would just mean we have a downtown with a view of the lake. Downtown Marquette offers a downtown with a view of the Lake plus many other amenities that we feel makes downtown Marquette one of the most beautiful downtowns in the United States. We appreciate the work the DDA does to help maintain our beautiful downtown and we thank them for all the planning and hard work that goes into creating and maintaining such a wonderful asset to our community.

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