Parking - in the new day an age - Rant

[tradosaurus]

May my cane be the one you trip over some day as I'm trying to get my breath back or trying to relieve my back

Sounds like you need a handicapped placard.

 

[Oaktree]

I had a woman try to scam me for money by claiming I dented her car with my door. First, she was not there when I parked. Second, I opened my door and showed her it did not line up with her dent. She kept at it, so I went off on her. "Bad vibes, honey? When I start to vibrate, you will know it." When I started shouting for her to get away from me, she gave up. I have an outdoor voice that can match most PA systems. I should have called the cops on her. The next victim may not be so hard to push around.

That could have ended badly for you if she (or a bystander) called the cops on you. First impression most people get when they see a man yelling at a woman is that he is in some way (at least verbally) assaulting her. At the very least it might have taken a lot of explaining to get out of it.

I believe that one reason for such small spots is that businesses need a certain amount of parking to get permits to open a store. By only accomodating small vehicles, they can meet their quota.


Years ago I worked with somebody who had a large family. He came to New England to work every summer and drove a big 4 door F250 with an 8 foot bed. I went to dinner with him one night and the only spot available left the rear portion of his truck blocking one entrance. He felt that he was entitled to do so because he drove such a big megalith. I have always felt that is your choice, and sometimes it requires making concessions such as walking farther.

A lot of new houses seem to have garages designed for compact/subcompact vehicles these days, I don't know if it's to cut corners or there are zoning requirements in some areas to try to force people into smaller vehicles (much like ICE end-dates in some states). Same thing may apply to parking areas.

As far as your co-worker goes, can't comment on his entitlement attitude, but to be fair it's pretty hard to find a place to park a vehicle that huge. That was true 40 years ago too. I wouldn't want to have to drive something that big.

 

[ponytug]

As someone who used to drive a 1 ton dually crew cab, I can say that I have parked a hiking distance away from the front door of many restaurants. I definitely thought that it wasn't fair to other patrons to park any closer. I wouldn't have taken a car sized parking spot close to the entrance door, that is for sure.

It made a great truck for towing and ranch work though. It was real work horse. Then at around 435,000 miles, (most of them not mine!) on the second engine, and third transmission, the exhaust header cracked at the block in two places. It was of those career ending injuries. I put up with it for awhile, and even did a shade tree "fix" that didn't hold, but fixing it around here would have been ten times the scrap price. Tough to rationalize doing the repair. (With what I have learned since then, I could probably do it now, but it would not be easy.)

All the best,

Peter

 

[ovrszd]

It made a great truck for towing and ranch work though. It was real work horse. Then at around 435,000 miles, (most of them not mine!) on the second engine, and third transmission, the exhaust header cracked at the block in two places. It was of those career ending injuries. I put up with it for awhile, and even did a shade tree "fix" that didn't hold, but fixing it around here would have been ten times the scrap price. Tough to rationalize doing the repair. (With what I have learned since then, I could probably do it now, but it would not be easy.)

All the best,

Peter

My 23 year old Super Duty diesel has 275,000 miles on it. It's farm dented and rusty as all get out. I love it. I am very thankful for it. I pat it on the dash frequently. It spends the night in a heated shop in the Winter. Has towed my 20K GN trailer several miles. I'll be sad when the day comes that I have to retire it. I try to prolong that day by regular maintenance and respectful driving.

 

[WinterDeere]

A lot of new houses seem to have garages designed for compact/subcompact vehicles these days, I don't know if it's to cut corners or there are zoning requirements in some areas to try to force people into smaller vehicles...

I can't speak for everywhere, but I believe in most cases, you're just seeing cheap housing and the free market at work. Zestimates and the many other metrics for pricing a house count the existence of a garage, and how many "spaces" it offers, but takes no accounting of its actual size or quality.

Why would a developer looking to hit certain numbers put a 25x25 foot garage onto a house, when a 20x20 checks the same pricing estimate boxes at 65% the area and cost?

 

[bigtiller]

A 20' deep by 24' wide garage is called a "2 & a half" car garage.

Isn't that false advertisement?

 

[lman]

My trucks are parked more now with the high fuel prices and I use our hybrid suv that is getting 41 mpg more.
I still see some trucks with 8 ft. beds at the grocery store. I've often wondered why they drive a big truck to get groceries. Maybe they just picked up a load of lumber or they're buying 500 lbs of groceries. More likely they have too much money and want to give some to the oil companies.

 

[Eagle1]

More likely they can only afford one vehicle and bought one that filled the needs.

 

[lman]

That could be when they're driving an $85,000 truck. My truck is 22 years old so I can afford an efficient suv.

 

[Eagle1]

True that...