Park Here

Free Parking No Longer Exists

The Reality of Parking In the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles.

We utilize spaces subconsciously. We stand, walk, meet at locations, reserve entire tables at restaurants, designate parking spaces as our own, and even build ourselves living spaces on land.

To imagine a world doing so free of cost, would be rather whimsical, or even foolish. We have built a society in which we must pay for the space that we take, but this societal norm comes at a cost.

In 2005, a group called Rebar out of San Francisco. California created a global movement called Park(ing) Day. On the third Friday in September, parking spaces are treated as recreational parks for the day, urging people to reconsider how they utilize urban spaces.

While most cities handle parking endeavors individually and exclusively (some even offering for parking tickets to be paid off with food donations), Los Angeles has yet to incorporate any major change in method to Parking, and its high prices.

Within the Financial District a driver is given three options when they stop: To pay a meter, a garage, or a lot. Yes, there are an abundance of parking spaces, but with reasonable pricing not so much.

Given the scenario above if you chose to park neat Figat7th, within their garage unit, any time spend over 3-hours would leave a hole in your pocket. Similarly, if you chose to park in the lot across the street and stayed any less than 3 hours, you would end up losing a measurable amount of cash too.

Delvon Simmons, 23, visits the area regularly. "In the evening, I feel much more comfortable parking in the Figat7th lot because it is commercially related to the stores, it feels safer and it's cheap as heck if I don't stay long", says Simmons. While the lot across the street is an open one, it has multiple attendants ushering vehicles 24/7. "There is something about parking under a roof in a well lit area", says Simmons.

Yes, parking in a lot may feel more skeptical, considering its location and open surroundings but that draws us to a larger question: Who is selecting these parking spaces and their independent prices?

Alfonso Diaz works at Athena Parking Lot. "Our corporate office is right across the street, they select our prices based on the ones surrounding us" said Diaz. So I wondered, could we expect these prices to remain constant, or would one lot lower their prices to compete with the others? Diaz explained to me, "The prices around here will always be high. Everyone is coming to this same place and they want convenience, they aren't comparing prices." Diaz made a brilliant point, for the last 20 plus years, we have not been comparing prices. Very few Los Angelitos would take the time to map out each parking space, drive from one to another to compare prices and update this list. But given the advance of newer technologies, we now can. There are more than a hundred apps available through the Apple App store and similarly through other Android apps, regarding solely parking, two of those designated specifically for the city of Los Angeles.

"I use my app, every time I have to find parking. I almost always check Parker, sometimes ParkWhiz, before I even head into this area" Kaleigh Hunt explained. Applications like ParkMe, Parker and ParkWhiz are rather simple but contain much necessary information for parking. They all offer a comparison of prices, availability, space type, permit and payment in a map or linear list format. These applications are an easy way to view and compare parking costs, on a map.

For Athena Parking, according to Alfonso, the company believes that these apps have not effected their lot. If anything the app has considerably helped them to show drivers, "their great prices and brilliant service".