Driving, lifestyle: parking

Self-tutoring about the driving lifestyle: the tutor mentions parking.

I read recently that in one metro district, residents are being charged for parking permits based on the size of their vehicles. The difference really isn’t that much between a permit for a compact car vs one for a large vehicle like an SUV – especially in a neighbourhood that is likely pretty expensive just to live in. Some people hope this multi-tiered price structure will result in more parking available. From what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t be too optimistic. Yet, I guess it sends a message.

I will admit I’m not, by nature, a driver – especially in urban areas where transit is easy and cheap. Where I live is small, so parking is not problematic for me or my wife. Moreover, when feasible, I walk where I need to go. I do have to drive sometimes; I try to do so outside of peak hours.

Recently, however, I did live in a nearby city for about half a year, and always took transit, which never let me down and excluded me from the hassles of driving and parking.

From afar, I’ve watched, for decades, people compete for parking in large urban centres, such as the city in which I recently lived. For your typical commuter, it seems, there is seldom enough free parking unless the workplace provides it. At some large installations like universities, there seems no guarantee of enough paid parking; one must arrive perhaps 30 minutes before class, or earlier, to be sure.

Residential parking – well, it really depends on the neighbourhood, but some people in the interview I watched report that two or three neighbours “share” one parking spot. One tries to avoid pondering the details of how that might work.

I’m no eco-evangelist, just a practical person who’s observed, since before I could even drive, that within large cities, cars generally don’t make sense. I think North Americans have an idea that driving is convenient and liberating, but in the midst of a city, a car is a ball and chain as much as anything else. Any area I’ve seen where it’s so populated that three neighbours share a single parking space – that same area is likely well-appointed with transit service. It raises a question.

I recall, at an installation last year, walking in the evening, surveying acres of empty parking spaces. It gave one pause, to think that those would be full thirteen hours later.