What would be the best strategy for staking out a parking spot?
Asked by
tinyfaery (
44104
)
September 1st, 2010
Parking at my school is a nightmare. This morning I circled for about 20 min. before I found a spot. Other people were able to find a place to park, even people who came in after me. I was never in the right place at the right time.
What would be the best way to go about finding a parking spot? I try to follow people going to their cars, but other cars got there before me. I tried circling, but that didn’t help. I even stopped in one spot for about 7 min. and still nothing.
What should I do?
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10 Answers
I try to get the attention of someone walking to their car, then let them know I want to follow them to their spot. Usually, once I get buy-in from the person whose car is currently occupying the spot, they do what they can to make sure I get it. I have actually had people wave other people past before they pulled out of a spot they had promised me. The follow people out trick never works for me in a really crowded parking lot because all the people using the circling method beat me to the spots.
If you get into a situation where you and somebody else are competing over a parking space. You both get there at the same time the best way to get the space is to confuse them and cloud their thinking. Rev your engine move forward then back up and beep. Move forward and hold your horn. stop then quickly move into the space. they will be so dumbfounded they won’t know what to do. And you’ll have a parking pace.
Response moderated (Unhelpful)
invent an app!! someone in SF did that (although it’s for public parking) but could be a fun project if you’re into that kinda stuff.
God. You have just given me a flashback to the horrendous parking nightmare that was WVU. The parking garage downtown had maybe 200 spots for 5,000 students. Strategy was definitely involved, though most of the time I had really bad luck like you.
What I found helpful was to arrive even earlier than usual. That way, you can catch the people that got out of class early (or who dillydallied after) and beat the rush of people arriving for the next class. If you’re one of the first there before the next class time, you have a greater chance of snagging a spot once the current class lets out.
Good luck.. it is really frustrating, I know.
Simply get there earlier.
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You could also park farther away. At UT Austin parking was also an incredible nightmare. I just parked off campus and I walked to classes. Luckily, the building where I took almost all my classes was fairly close to the edge of campus.
You go there really early and find a spot and then wait til the doors open
Inflatable car that can reserve spots, then be deflated and placed in trunk.
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