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I visited metro Detroit for the first time on Saturday and the parking situation was abysmal but this is perhaps understandable in a large city. I thought my sm

by mikrl 3y ago

I visited metro Detroit for the first time on Saturday and the parking situation was abysmal but this is perhaps understandable in a large city. I thought my small city in Canada was bad! We couldn’t even park downtown since it appears you need to book it in advance and the trip was somewhat spontaneous. I just ended up pulling over (by a no stopping sign ha) on a quiet side street and setting the GPS back to Windsor.

jakemoshenko 3y ago
Detroit, as the capital of the auto industry, has far more parking than just about any other city I've ever been to. There are huge, multi-story garages right on the main thoroughfare downtown. https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/parking-lots-eat-american-cities/ https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/parking-lots-eat-american-... > Detroit was, or is, Motor City. Its center can pull off another automotive-related nickname: Parking Central. Fully one-third of downtown Detroit is dedicated to letting cars do what they’re not designed for: standing still.
- mikrl 3y ago
  That’s what I thought! But all of the five or so garages we tried cost $20-40 flat with no ticket machines or anything, and I wasn’t willing to download/fight with an app to walk around for an hour. Next trip will be more planned for sure. I was impressed with the highways though. Definitely a motorists’ dream to get around the various suburbs.
  - 2023throwawayy 3y ago
    Needing to download an app, and saying "you need to book in advance" are not the same thing. Just because you didn't want to deal with it and didn't do research ahead of time doesn't mean "We couldn’t even park downtown". You didn't want to, and that's fine.
    - mikrl 3y ago
      You’re splitting hairs, which I can also do: There’s a giant parking lot with 10,000 spaces and 2 are free. There is ‘no parking’ unless you want to drive around for 2 hours. For enough money you could probably get a permit from the cops and a security detail and park wherever you wanted, like in a city park. There is still ‘no parking’ in parks. Within parameters that apply in the majority of cities I’ve tried to park in, there was no parking. In future I’ll download the app, book a spot and bring my phone charger and then I’ll be able to access the parking.
      - brewdad 3y ago
        Saying there's no parking and there's no free (as in money) parking are two very different things. Parking in the downtown of one of the ten largest metro areas in the US is going to cost money. That's just how it is.
        mikrl 3y ago
        I don’t mind paying. In Toronto I’ll pay $20 no problem to park right in the middle of the core in a garage. But I have options to use cash or card at a meter or machine without getting my phone out. I can pay for an hour or 2 or all day. In Detroit the options were street parking (all full) or flat rate in a garage behind an app. I looked for a ticket machine and there were none. My bad for not doing research but still, I had a good day elsewhere in the metro, was just surprised by the inflexibility in the DT core. It was the end of the day and I wanted to walk around and scout out stuff for next visit. If I spent all day there I’d happily pay the $20-40 but not for an hour walk, that’s silly when I can look at stuff in Windsor where my accommodation and free parking were.
    - ehaliewicz2 3y ago
      Plenty of cities get away with garages that don't require an app. Don't normalize shitty things like that.
      - 2023throwawayy 3y ago
brewdad 3y ago
I don't know what you were doing wrong but Detroit has more available parking than just about any American city.
- mikrl 3y ago
  I must have randomly selected the 5 least suitable parking garages downtown then. I was happy to burn gas for another few minutes to find one that… I could actually pay for… but the consensus of my passengers was to just go home. This was at 4pm on a Saturday though, maybe you need to get parked before noon or something.
tfandango 3y ago
I recently took a roadtrip about 1500 miles to visit some family. On the way to/back we wanted to stop and check out some cities the kids wanted to visit and it's amazing the anxiety I had every time we drove into a large urban area, all about traffic and parking. Most of the time, like you said, there was no place to park so I drove around and around with hundreds of other people while the kids complained about not being able to get out. It's like you said, if you knew where you were going you may be able to map it out, which also gives me anxiety (ok kids, we need to leave now to get to the next parking spot). I don't know, each time I was glad to leave.

by mikrl 3y ago

jakemoshenko 3y ago

Detroit, as the capital of the auto industry, has far more parking than just about any other city I've ever been to. There are huge, multi-story garages right on the main thoroughfare downtown. https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/parking-lots-eat-american-cities/ https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/parking-lots-eat-american-... > Detroit was, or is, Motor City. Its center can pull off another automotive-related nickname: Parking Central. Fully one-third of downtown Detroit is dedicated to letting cars do what they’re not designed for: standing still.

mikrl 3y ago
That’s what I thought! But all of the five or so garages we tried cost $20-40 flat with no ticket machines or anything, and I wasn’t willing to download/fight with an app to walk around for an hour. Next trip will be more planned for sure. I was impressed with the highways though. Definitely a motorists’ dream to get around the various suburbs.
- 2023throwawayy 3y ago
  Needing to download an app, and saying "you need to book in advance" are not the same thing. Just because you didn't want to deal with it and didn't do research ahead of time doesn't mean "We couldn’t even park downtown". You didn't want to, and that's fine.
  - mikrl 3y ago
    You’re splitting hairs, which I can also do: There’s a giant parking lot with 10,000 spaces and 2 are free. There is ‘no parking’ unless you want to drive around for 2 hours. For enough money you could probably get a permit from the cops and a security detail and park wherever you wanted, like in a city park. There is still ‘no parking’ in parks. Within parameters that apply in the majority of cities I’ve tried to park in, there was no parking. In future I’ll download the app, book a spot and bring my phone charger and then I’ll be able to access the parking.
    - brewdad 3y ago
      Saying there's no parking and there's no free (as in money) parking are two very different things. Parking in the downtown of one of the ten largest metro areas in the US is going to cost money. That's just how it is.
      - mikrl 3y ago
        I don’t mind paying. In Toronto I’ll pay $20 no problem to park right in the middle of the core in a garage. But I have options to use cash or card at a meter or machine without getting my phone out. I can pay for an hour or 2 or all day. In Detroit the options were street parking (all full) or flat rate in a garage behind an app. I looked for a ticket machine and there were none. My bad for not doing research but still, I had a good day elsewhere in the metro, was just surprised by the inflexibility in the DT core. It was the end of the day and I wanted to walk around and scout out stuff for next visit. If I spent all day there I’d happily pay the $20-40 but not for an hour walk, that’s silly when I can look at stuff in Windsor where my accommodation and free parking were.
  - ehaliewicz2 3y ago
    Plenty of cities get away with garages that don't require an app. Don't normalize shitty things like that.
    - 2023throwawayy 3y ago

brewdad 3y ago

I don't know what you were doing wrong but Detroit has more available parking than just about any American city.

mikrl 3y ago
I must have randomly selected the 5 least suitable parking garages downtown then. I was happy to burn gas for another few minutes to find one that… I could actually pay for… but the consensus of my passengers was to just go home. This was at 4pm on a Saturday though, maybe you need to get parked before noon or something.

tfandango 3y ago

I recently took a roadtrip about 1500 miles to visit some family. On the way to/back we wanted to stop and check out some cities the kids wanted to visit and it's amazing the anxiety I had every time we drove into a large urban area, all about traffic and parking. Most of the time, like you said, there was no place to park so I drove around and around with hundreds of other people while the kids complained about not being able to get out. It's like you said, if you knew where you were going you may be able to map it out, which also gives me anxiety (ok kids, we need to leave now to get to the next parking spot). I don't know, each time I was glad to leave.