Comments on: Parking Rage Reigns in ‘Frisco

By: cretinx

cretinx — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:48:46 +0000

I still have $2800 in outstanding parking tickets “owed” to Washington DC.

Just try and collect ‘em. They link them to license plates. They’re not on my credit report because, as I found out – if you change your license plate (free for Virginia residents) the mail stops coming.

By: Glenn Swanson

Glenn Swanson — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:10:54 +0000

carlisimo: As an aside, the use of “insupportable” is probably coming from a Spanish speaker. ‘Insoportable’ is how we usually say ‘intolerable.’

Thanks for the explanation. :-)

TTAC readers’ knowledge, on a wide variety of subjects, continues to impress.

By: dolo54

dolo54 — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:58:04 +0000

I drove around SF a couple months ago. Didn’t find parking that bad, I mean comparable to Manhattan where I live. I managed to find a metered spot everywhere I went, but I’m used to hunting down and making sense of inscrutable parking signs. Actually I really enjoyed driving around the city. If you live there I imagine you would need your own garage, or rent a monthly space, much like Manhattan. At least public transportation there is decent.

By: Johnson Schwanz

Johnson Schwanz — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:57:32 +0000

LOL…

I’ve successfully parked in SF on the street on three different occasions.

Mind you, it took a while, and those hills are ridiculous, but still, I didn’t know it was that bad.

I guess next time, I’ll simply park at my hotel in San Mateo and just taxi up.

By: GS650G

GS650G — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:34:06 +0000

I can’t imagine a more screwed up place in the US than San Fran. Now that they outlawed guns themeter maids should feel a whole lot safer. That was a joke.

By: carlisimo

carlisimo — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:23:40 +0000

Is it terrorism to hound the meter maids until they quit? Or freedom fighting?

As an aside, he use of [i]insupportable[/i] is probably coming from a Spanish speaker. ‘Insoportable’ is how we usually say ‘intolerable.’

By: Areitu

Areitu — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:17:52 +0000

Don’t forget about those infamous unmarked “hidden driveways” that look like fences.

By: 50merc

50merc — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:17:38 +0000

“vicious assaults ‘related to finding places to park’, … Victims … include SF parking control officers.”

Where is Dirty Harry when we need him? Don’t bother with tickets, just ask “Do you feel lucky, punk?”

By: Jerome10

Jerome10 — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:42:45 +0000

$20 parking fine in Philadelphia? Lucky you.

I’ve paid $50 twice here in Chicago.

I think it was $35 in San Francisco, where I have also payed a fair share in my years there.

I had a friend with his Suzuki bike impounded for parking in a tow zone during evening rush in SF. I think it cost him $275 to get it back the next day. They charge you a tow fee, a ticket, plus a per-day “storage fee”.

Parking in north beach is terrible. I used to drive around 30-45 minutes sometimes looking for a freakin spot. And I drive a Miata….

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:01:54 +0000

you just suck it up and pay the $20 fine each time you park in Philly. It’s not much more than parking in a garage and it’s more convenient (and probably safer) to boot.

I don’t know about Philly, but that wouldn’t work in SF. The impound fee to get your car back after parking illegally would be well in excess of $200. $20 would be cheaper than any parking garage I’ve used in SF for more than a couple of hours.

By: morbo

morbo — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:02:51 +0000

As a native 609er Bluebrat, the solution is simple. Since I might need to park in a ‘parking spot deficient’ section of Philly about once a month, I simply bought the annual park anywhere you God-damn well please pass. Price varies (unless you park in Center City or South Street, where the Justice League of Philadelphia Parking Enforcement Agents roam), but you just suck it up and pay the $20 fine each time you park in Philly. It’s not much more than parking in a garage and it’s more convenient (and probably safer) to boot.

Or since Philly actively doesn’t want my money spent in South Street or Center City, I’ll just stay in Jersey.

By: brownie

brownie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:20:46 +0000

Is there any greater proof that street parking is far too cheap?

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:17:31 +0000

I was recently in SF, and the parking situation made Boston and parts of manhattan look easy.

By: Jonny Lieberman

Jonny Lieberman — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:55:24 +0000

I used to pay at least $250 a month in parking tickets when I lived in San Francisco.

Why?

If I got home from work after 7:00 pm there was no where to park, so I had to go on the sidewalk. Along with dozens of my neighbors. And this was over ten years ago.

It’s worse than you think.

By: TomAnderson

TomAnderson — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:12:07 +0000

tony-e30: I think you mean, “Why solve a problem when you’re making a metric sh*tload of money by not solving it?”

By: tony-e30

tony-e30 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:05:09 +0000

Indeed. Why would you try to stop the problem when you can just catch people in the act?

By: BlueBrat

BlueBrat — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:58:07 +0000

It’s only a matter of time that this happens in philadelphia too, where the ~~philadelphia justice league of parking professionals~~ meter-morons are already getting scoffed at thanks to the parking meter documentary.

By: Edward Niedermeyer

Edward Niedermeyer — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:42:29 +0000

The worst part of SF parking is the random streetsweeper schedule sweepstakes bullshit. Every block gets swept on a different day, and woe betide the idiot who assumes that other cars parked on the block means he doesn’t have to hunt down the sign that tells him which day the sweeper comes. Do I sound bitter? Naw, I love paying for 20 minutes of parking and then paying for an hour of impound with a bracing walk through the Tenderloin and SOMA in between. Love it.