Shoes and Cars
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who wears shoes 2-sizes too big, they flop around, you can’t control them, they trip you up, and overall are not a comfortable experience.
So, why is it people drive cars that are 2-sizes too big?
One of the joys of living in Bouldin Creek or on a road adjacent to South Congress, or to one of the popular restaurants off South 1st, is having people around all the time. Mostly people = cars.
There is nothing funnier than watching someone who really can’t park take two or three goes at parallel parking, get out their car, look at the gap behind them, get back in the car either delighted with their effort or thoroughly angry and they screech off, only to come walking by 10-minutes later having found a better “space”.
Of course that’s really not the issue. The issue is why people drive vehicles they clearly can’t control adequately. Both the cars at my next door neighbors have been damaged when parked on the street, at least 30-cars a day drive fully up onto most of the driveways, as drivers can’t turn them around in the street.
Maybe once gas hits $8 a gallon cars will change, until then here’s hoping people will change. Next time you can’t park in that space, instead of blaming the space, the neighborhood, why not think, with the hassle of parking, the time it takes to walk from the “free” space you found – I’ll take a cab!
Heavy vehicles trespassing in paved driveways past the street right-of-way destroy what wasn’t built to bear such heavy weights. Drivers of such vehicles often aren’t accustomed to old-fashioned nararow driveways and scrape over the curbs. Many drivers do not know how to park in an angled or parallel space, are unable to make a U-turn in a narrow street, and do not know how to make a three-point turn. Haven’t any of those drivers ever heard of going around the block? Or does every one of them come from the land of suburban dead-end streets? There are parts of town where people keep a large tree limb or their trash-cart available to block driveways, walkways to the front door, and even parking spaces on the street.
As someone who lives near one of the places Pleasant Valley dead ends I’ve got to say that Austin central does a pretty good job of making it hard to make the block. People turn around in my drive way a lot too, and I’m not near anything even remotely of interest.
That said, I fear that giant SUVs will become a status symbol as gas prices go higher. Just like they can pay half a million dollars for a 700 square foot house, so can they pay $200/tank for a 700 square foot vehicle.
tthomas48 – aren’t SUVs *already* status symbols? Seems like it to me.
But yes, it’s apparent that gas is not expensive enough yet for some people. Shockingly, I witnessed evidence of this at the Armadillo bike ride, hosted by the Austin Cycling Association a few weeks ago – one of their volunteers left her diesel Ford Excursion (the largest Ford ever made, I think) running for 20+ minutes in front of the feed zone… and she wasn’t even inside! I was so furious.