Absolute Cash Grab
Pay parking sucks.
It seriously does. Maybe because I live in suburbia and generally don't have to pay for parking since space is plentiful, I find it annoying when one has to pay for it when going into more densely populated areas. I can somewhat understand the rationale - space is limited, so if you want the comfort of driving to your destination, you oughta pay for it - otherwise, take transit or walk or something. When I drive to work, for example, I pay $3 a day to park in the lot beneath the bank.
This evening Jordan and I caught a Vancouver Giants hockey game (in which they pulled out a win against the Chilliwack Bruins, our cross-town rivals, in effect) and we live about an hour away so driving was the only real option. Gas prices have been falling, the tickets for the game were only $20 each anyway...so it wasn't a bad deal. But parking...eight dollars. We looked for nearby street parking but everything was denied to all but local residents...fine. But $8? Damn that's ridiculous - especially when all I get for $8 is a tiny 5'x10' parking space in a lot that ended up being nowhere close to capacity, anyway.
The parking stub outlined the rules, too:
This ticket licences the holder to park one automobile in this area at owner's risk. Lock your car. The licensor hereby declares it is not responsible for fire, theft, damage to or loss of such automobile or any article left therein. Only a license is granted hereby and no bailment is created.
OK, so I understand emptying valuables out of your car and locking it sufficiently so as it isn't a target. But to pay that much for a few hours with no real exterior security measures doesn't jive well with me. So this means pretty much anything that happens, anything at all, is my fault and the people charging for this hold no responsibility at all. Sounds like easy money to me.
I'm more keen on this right now because in the past week, there were three car break-ins in my work's shared underground parking lot in three sequential days - and we even have a security guard, though he's not scheduled by his company to work between 11:30am and 3:30pm. So in effect, it's useless.
So really, what are we paying for? It is become accepted by many - including myself - as something you just DO in the big city but really, it's just a cash grab and nothing more.
Tim's List Of Professional Sports Teams He's Seen Play Live
NHL
Montreal Canadiens
Vancouver Canucks
Chicago Blackhawks
Toronto Maple Leafs
Carolina Hurriances
Calgary Flames
WHL
Vancouver Giants
Chilliwack Bruins
MLB
Montreal Expos
San Francisco Giants
Anaheim Angels
Detroit Tigers
CFL
BC Lions
Toronto Argonauts
Edmonton Eskimos
It seriously does. Maybe because I live in suburbia and generally don't have to pay for parking since space is plentiful, I find it annoying when one has to pay for it when going into more densely populated areas. I can somewhat understand the rationale - space is limited, so if you want the comfort of driving to your destination, you oughta pay for it - otherwise, take transit or walk or something. When I drive to work, for example, I pay $3 a day to park in the lot beneath the bank.
This evening Jordan and I caught a Vancouver Giants hockey game (in which they pulled out a win against the Chilliwack Bruins, our cross-town rivals, in effect) and we live about an hour away so driving was the only real option. Gas prices have been falling, the tickets for the game were only $20 each anyway...so it wasn't a bad deal. But parking...eight dollars. We looked for nearby street parking but everything was denied to all but local residents...fine. But $8? Damn that's ridiculous - especially when all I get for $8 is a tiny 5'x10' parking space in a lot that ended up being nowhere close to capacity, anyway.
The parking stub outlined the rules, too:
This ticket licences the holder to park one automobile in this area at owner's risk. Lock your car. The licensor hereby declares it is not responsible for fire, theft, damage to or loss of such automobile or any article left therein. Only a license is granted hereby and no bailment is created.
OK, so I understand emptying valuables out of your car and locking it sufficiently so as it isn't a target. But to pay that much for a few hours with no real exterior security measures doesn't jive well with me. So this means pretty much anything that happens, anything at all, is my fault and the people charging for this hold no responsibility at all. Sounds like easy money to me.
I'm more keen on this right now because in the past week, there were three car break-ins in my work's shared underground parking lot in three sequential days - and we even have a security guard, though he's not scheduled by his company to work between 11:30am and 3:30pm. So in effect, it's useless.
So really, what are we paying for? It is become accepted by many - including myself - as something you just DO in the big city but really, it's just a cash grab and nothing more.
Tim's List Of Professional Sports Teams He's Seen Play Live
NHL
WHL
MLB
CFL