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Parking Garages

Started by jeffandnicole, February 21, 2017, 10:23:36 AM

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When you park in a parking garage, where do you park?

First spot available
12 (29.3%)
As close to the elevator as possible
15 (36.6%)
As close to the stairwell as possible
6 (14.6%)
Loop around to the downramp looking for a spot
7 (17.1%)
Other
11 (26.8%)

Total Members Voted: 41

jeffandnicole

Driving in various parking garages, I'll watch people drive real slow, and appear where anytime there may be an open spot, immediately stop to try to fit in it, no matter how tight it is.  Others, like me, tend to loop around finding a spot near the elevator.  If I can, I'll keep an eye on the downslopes, and if traffic starts to thin out, switch to the exiting ramps and park near the elevator there.


texaskdog

I don't know why people call ramps "garages"

Truvelo

I always try to find a spot at the far end furthest away from the entrance to avoid anyone parking alongside and denting my car. This applies to all parking lots. I find it's laziness which causes cars to cluster nearest the store, elevator, stairs. No one wants to spend an additional 30 seconds walking to where they want to go.
Speed limits limit life

kphoger

Usually the first spot available near my exit point.  However, I'm not picky.  If I have to park in a big garage, then I already know there's a possibility I have to walk a bit to reach my destination.  It's also a priority that I park in a spot that's easy to find again when I return–near a sign, pillar, or stairwell.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

briantroutman

It depends on the specific garage, but in general, I try to use whatever insider knowledge I have and head directly to the section of the garage gives me the best combination of a fast, painless route to the parking space itself plus a quick walk to my ultimate destination.

For example, Tampa International Airport's long-term parking garage has a pedestrian walkway to the terminal on Level 2, but since most people seem to default to finding a parking space on the lowest possible level, I would have a tough time finding an open space on Level 2

On the other hand, there's a very lightly used monorail to the terminal that departs from Level 5. So I just scurry straight up the ramps to Level 5, take an open parking space, and I'm on my way.

As an aside–I appreciate the garages that have electronic displays showing the number of open spaces on each level and green and red lights over the spaces showing which are available or taken. In the aggregate, I have to imagine that a tremendous amount of fuel is wasted by people futilely  hunting for that one last open space, and these electronic monitoring systems would help reduce that amount dramatically if used more widely.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 10:33:39 AM
I don't know why people call ramps "garages"

I first heard that term when I was in Minneapolis.  Oddly enough, it was a single level basement garage for a hotel...the only ramp was the incline to and from the street.

Quote from: briantroutman on February 21, 2017, 10:56:32 AM
...As an aside –I appreciate the garages that have electronic displays showing the number of open spaces on each level and green and red lights over the spaces showing which are available or taken.

I was in a new garage recently that has overhead lights over the spaces.  I was on the ground level which offered 2 hour free parking.  Red indicates the spot is taken.  Green indicates the spot is open...OR...the car has been parked there more than 2 hours.  Good idea in theory, although you would think they could figure out another color or code to indicate when a car has been there too long.

Brandon

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 10:33:39 AM
I don't know why people call ramps "garages"

Funny, and here I thought the term was parking deck, or parkade if in Canada.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

coatimundi

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 10:33:39 AM
I don't know why people call ramps "garages"

A parking garage has multiple ramps. You can park on the ramp in the garage, but why park on just the ramp?
"Parking deck" I like better. "Parkade" is just silly. Don't the Brits use that term as well?

There is certainly a weird psychology going on in garages. Even when you put floor space availability on a sign, people will wait for a spot in front of them to open up, no matter how much it backs up traffic. There's a mall in San Jose where the traffic is typically backed up out into the street due to people waiting for people to get in their cars and back out of a spot.
And what's the deal with absolute refusal to park on the roof? I love parking on the roof if it's not crazy hot out. Maybe there are more vampires out there than I thought? Or maybe others like exhaust fumes and echo-y car noises more than I do.

briantroutman

Quote from: Brandon on February 21, 2017, 11:11:15 AM
Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 10:33:39 AM
I don't know why people call ramps "garages"

Funny, and here I thought the term was parking deck, or parkade if in Canada.

Is parking ramp some kind of a regionalism?

Throughout my life, I've always referred to (and heard others refer to) any enclosed structure in which vehicles are parked as a garage–whether it be single-level or multi-level, attached to a building or freestanding, have flat floors with corkscrew ramps between or continuously inclined floors and no definite "levels"  (basically one long rectangular ramp–which I assume is the parking ramp mentioned).

I'm also familiar with parking deck, although I tend to associate that term more with a garage that is inside of or attached to a building in an urban setting. But even in the case of a detached suburban or rural garage, someone could say "My car's in the parking deck,"  and I wouldn't flinch.

kalvado

As for me, I don't park in garage often enough to develop any insider knowledge of the system. Maybe few times a year, almost always out of town, and rarely twice in the same one. So most time it is first available spot - dealing with unfamiliar, usually high traffic area, leads to "park anywhere and get out!" approach.

texaskdog

Quote from: coatimundi on February 21, 2017, 11:22:45 AM
Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 10:33:39 AM
I don't know why people call ramps "garages"

A parking garage has multiple ramps. You can park on the ramp in the garage, but why park on just the ramp?
"Parking deck" I like better. "Parkade" is just silly. Don't the Brits use that term as well?


It's a ramp when it has multiple levels.

1995hoo

#11
I have sort of a hierarchy of spaces I'll use, unless my father happens to be with me because he has a handicapped pass due to balance issues he's had since he had a mild stroke some years back.

First priority is that I try to avoid any space that requires me to leave my key. I also hate valet parking and will never use it if I have any choice in the matter.

Second priority is that if possible I prefer a space where I would not be blocked in by stack parking if I need to leave earlier than the end of the work day. A lot of downtown DC garages have stacked spaces where you park and then there's another space directly behind you and they park another car there. You then have to find the attendant to move that car if you need to get out prior to the end of the work day (at which point the attendants usually move all the cars around so nobody's blocked in).

Third priority is that I prefer a space next to a pillar or a wall so my car can only get hit from one side, especially if the garage has a lot of back-in parkers who aren't good at backing in. That sort of thing seems to be common here–people see other people have parked backwards and even though they're afraid of hitting the wall or are apparently unable to back in straight, they try to back in anyway and you get vehicles at weird cockeyed angles or sticking out into the aisle or whatever.

Fourth priority is if I'm familiar with the garage and there are particular spaces I know to avoid because they're hard to get out of due to the location or things like that (example might be if there's a poorly-placed pillar).

Once those things are taken into account, the next consideration is a practical one: What is the payment system? The downtown garage I currently use most often (at my wife's office) is a "pay station"  garage where you pay at the machine before you drive to the exit. That particular garage gives you ten minutes to exit after you've paid. One of the two exits is also very close to a Metrorail station and thus it can take a while to get out that way due to the heavy pedestrian traffic (I tend to opt for the other exit for this reason). Because of these considerations, in that garage I'll try to find a space near one of the pay stations if it's feasible to do so. If I have to park far from the pay station, sometimes I'll retrieve the car before paying and then stop at the pay station on the way out.

I also consider things like traffic flow. The garage where we park for hockey games has multiple directions of traffic that all funnel into a single spiral exit ramp, and in that garage I try to park as close to that funnel point as I can because otherwise it can take forever at the various other intersections as everyone has to take turns. At least people do take turns in there.




I think "parking ramp" is a regionalism. I've never heard it used outside Minnesota to refer to a garage. I've heard the Brits refer to parking garages as "multi-storey car parks."

At the building where I used to work from 2000 to 2008, I would often park "on the ramp," literally meaning I parallel parked on the side of the ramp between levels, if I had to do so to avoid leaving my keys.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

epzik8

I often find myself parking on the first floor of my local garage, but in other garages I'll have to make my way up a few floors before finding a spot.
From the land of red, white, yellow and black.
____________________________

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briantroutman

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 21, 2017, 12:16:03 PM
First priority is that I try to avoid any space that requires me to leave my key.

At one San Francisco garage where I had to leave my key–not because it was valet situation, but because the garage was one of those labyrinths that the management trusts only employees to navigate–I got my car back enveloped in the distinct aroma of burning clutch.

kphoger

At the parking garage near Ed Debevic's in Chicago, I once paid the attendant upon entry, then several yards farther in encountered a ticket machine.  Apparently, the garage did not employ any attendants.   :eyebrow:
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Rothman

Quote from: kphoger on February 21, 2017, 01:07:03 PM
At the parking garage near Ed Debevic's in Chicago, I once paid the attendant upon entry, then several yards farther in encountered a ticket machine.  Apparently, the garage did not employ any attendants.   :eyebrow:

Heh.  In Portland, OR, you find people who just wear a reflective vest and carry a flashlight on busy weekends, parking people into free parking spaces on the street and then charging them $5 or so.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

DaBigE

It depends on what/how long I'm parking for. If it's for a concert or something else with a large draw/large number of people that will be leaving at about the same time, I'll park higher up/further away to make it easier to get into the exit queue. Anything else, I'll usually take the first full-sized stall I come across. If I know there are storms in the forecast, I'll avoid parking below grade. I won't even enter a ramp with valet service.
"We gotta find this road, it's like Bob's road!" - Rabbit, Twister

jakeroot

If I'm wandering around a city and don't see any street parking, I will try and find a "garage" or a "parkade".

Looking for a spot, if it's a multi-story deal, I'll just go straight to the top, regardless if there's a sky bridge or something.

UNLESS I'm at work. I'm a valet by day, and in those cases, I always go for the first spot, unless it's a larger car. Those have to go in the non-compact spots (otherwise I can't open the door).

If I'm going to a concert, I don't drive because I don't wanna sit in traffic (nor pay for parking). I take the bus or train, or an uber if I don't think the traffic will be too bad.

texaskdog

A garage is where you take your car to be repaired.

Or is that the "fillin station"?

Max Rockatansky

I always find them difficult to back out of spaces in.  Usually I'll go to the highest or lowest level simply because there is usually less people.  I like to find a space that doesn't have another spot on least one side, no issues walking for me.

Incidentally a little inside tip for anyone on a trip to Key West.  The city actually has unadvertised parking at the western end of Southard Street past Truman Annex at the old Naval Sub docks.  All you have to do is drive though the faux gate (they really are there to answer questions) and park at the west end of Southard in the lot.  Sure beats paying $8 dollars an hour or the daily maximum at the parking garages. 

jakeroot

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 02:48:30 PM
A garage is where you take your car to be repaired.

Or is that the "fillin station"?

A car repair place is a "service center" up here. "Garage" has several meanings, but it's usually a covered parking area.

FWIW, very few gas stations have service centers here. I don't know of any near me.

coatimundi

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 02:48:30 PM
A garage is where you take your car to be repaired.

Or is that the "fillin station"?

If a "garage" is an auto repair shop (or just "repair shop" when in the context of cars), then what is a garage in a house?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXJkLBj6G1k

I stayed at a hotel in Reno a few months ago that was valet-only because the ramps in their garage were too narrow for two cars. I went up without realizing this (there was a sign when you come in, but to hell with signs) and the valet chased me down. I just parked on the street.

DaBigE

Quote from: texaskdog on February 21, 2017, 02:48:30 PM
A garage is where you take your car to be repaired.

Or is that the "fillin station"?

Quotega·rage   /ɡəˈräZH,ɡəˈräj/
noun: garage; plural noun: garages
1. a building or shed for housing a motor vehicle or vehicles.

You get your car repaired at a repair shop or a service center. While you can repair your car in the garage, a garage is primarily for storage, IMO.
"We gotta find this road, it's like Bob's road!" - Rabbit, Twister

briantroutman

I know of independent repair facilities that have garage in their name–such as "Ralph's Garage" , but most people I know don't generically refer to auto repair shops as garages. I'd more likely hear someone use the name of the business: "My car's at Ralph's again–starter motor went bad."

Colloquially, instead of in the garage, I more often hear the phrase in the shop (or at the dealer if that's the case) when someone's car is being repaired. Out of context, if I was at someone's house and he told me that his car was in the garage, I'd probably think it was parked in that room with the big roll-up door that's attached to his house.

As to gas stations with repair bays, I would call them service stations. With all due respect to Gomer Pyle, my understanding is that a filling station is a place to do just that–fill your fuel tank (i.e. no repair facilities or convenience store). Like the curbside pumps of the '20s.

Max Rockatansky

For actually automotive repair centers I've mostly heard them referred to as a "shop."   It seems to me that a long time ago a lot of corner automotive shops would use the phrase "garage" somewhere in the title of the business.  I think that lots modern automotive businesses tend to associate the term "garage" negatively since it has that tinge of 1950s/1960s Mom & Pop speak to it.

What about "Parking Deck" instead of "garage?"   I've heard that one fairly regularly over the years.



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