Not very often in Montreal. I drive downtown only on Sundays and weekends and the weekend and evening prices are cheaper than the meters. Also you cannot park for 2 1/4 hours at a meter, the minimum time needed for an afternoon concert. I did parallel park a couple weeks ago, but that was in space big enough for two cars. But when I visit my daughter in Brooklyn, I parallel park all the time and I’m pretty good at it.
Once, many years ago, before downtown Montreal became virtually all meter and sticker parking, I parked a car in such a small space that when I finished I was touching both bumpers. I had simply pushed the cars ahead and behind and that gave me a few inches on each side. After mayby 10 backings and fillings, I was in. Never again.
probably six times a year. my dad taught me how to do it years before i got my driver’s license. years later, i taught my sister how to do it for her driver’s exam.
i can’t remember if school instructors did a lousy job teaching it in the first place, didn’t offer it at all, or she just wasn’t getting it, but by the time i was done with her, she could p-park like a pro. i know grown folk today who can’t p-park if their lives depended on it. :rolleyes:
I don’t currently have a car, but when I did, it was every day. Both left and right sides of the street.
I was recently in a friend’s car when she had to parallel park. I had to tell her “Don’t bother driving me to the curb. I’ll walk. I need the exercise.” It was pretty funny. Seriously, she was like 5’ from the curb.
I paralell park a few times a year. I am still actually pretty good at it but I canNOT do it well when I am in a hurry or nervous. If I can take my time and do it slowly I can do it almost picture-perfect. Otherwise I scrape the curb.
I have to do it at least a few times a day. I don’t have garage or lined parking on my street, so I have to parallel park if I want to keep my car close by.
Around here it’s called “park by feel.” I’ve seen some drivers getting into some mighty small spaces, where they left maybe an inch on both sides. I was never that good at it!
I park my car on the street outside my house, parallel to the curb, but I don’t count that as “parallel parking” because cars are so sparse on our street that I can simply pull to the side of the road and stop - no reversing is required. That’s not parallel parking in the sense that the driving test examines.
Just about everywhere else I go (work, for instance) has lined parking lots.
tdn, I did that one time while living in NYC, the spot was literally 3-4 inches longer than my car. Looked like the other drivers deliberately blocked me in. That was a very proud day, should have taken pictures.
Now, I PP about once a week, in metered spots, so I don’t have to squeeze into such small spaces.
Twice a day, although most of the time I look for easy spots. I drive a Dodge Dakota mid-sized pickup truck and I know exactly where my corners are.
My wife’s Mini Cooper was a cinch, but that died.
I could go months in the 'burbs w/o needing to parallel park. If I go into the city, probably 3/4ths of the parkings will be parallel.
Nowadays I can go 2 or 3 months without going to the city, but then I’ll go 3 times in one week. My average is around once a month.
When I used to live in the city I was great at it, both left & right-sided. Now I have to pause & plan for just a moment before I attack a parallel spot.
It depends, more lately than before but that’s mainly because my boyfriend has street parking and I can’t always pull up to the curb.
I’m not bad, but get me nervous and I have lots of trouble. Especially with impatient people behind me. I tried parallel parking in downtown Halifax last summer, that day we were leaving later in the day and had an afternoon to kill before our flight so we decided to go to the park there. It just so happened to be the same day as a festival of some kind, AND a Black Eyed Peas concert was happening at the green, also downtown. So here I am, tourist, rental car, busy road and found a spot. I started to park and people started lining up behind me, I got half in and the only way I would be in correctly was pulling out again for another try as I was too far out.
Thankfully a lady who was in front of where I parked showed up and drove off so I just pulled into that spot.
But when it’s job busy like that I can do it, and usually on the first try too. I couldn’t imagine trying to do it on the other side of the road from the lane I’m in! People DO that, EmAnJ? In Canada? Seriously? I didn’t think that was allowable, you’re crossing a lane of traffic and unlike just pulling into a stall you’re in oncoming traffic for longer right? I’d be afraid of someone hitting me!
Actually, it just occurred to me that it makes sense on a one way, but there’s not much parking on the one ways downtown, mostly loading zones that I’ve noticed.
I only p-park a couple times a year, but it’s not difficult for me if I can take my time. I do get a little nervous about it if there are cars waiting for me to finish, I feel bad making them wait while I back in.
When my son got his drivers’ license two years ago, though, he had to p-park using only his mirrors; I had learned how to do it by turning around and looking out the back windows as I backed up. It was really hard to help him learn to park without looking backwards.
A few months ago my sister-in-law was visiting. She is someone who has probably never had to PP in her life. I foolishly suggested that we drive into one of the busiest neighborhoods in the city. It was a nightmare even finding a spot. She was about to have a nervous breakdown. I can’t even imagine if she tried to park.
I eventually told her that if she paid for lunch, I’d pay for a parking garage. I think she got the better deal out of it.
At least twice a day - once on the street at work, once in the space at home. It doesn’t bother me which side of the road I’m parking on. I do it without really thinking.
Almost daily. I work in Providence, and though I have a garage pass, said parking garage is about a mile away from where I need to get to. And to get there I have to drive through slow traffic and lots of pedestrians. So when I can find parking on the street (usually around 1/2 mile away) that’s what I do. Saves me around 30 minutes from my round-trip commute.
Parking is very tight, and for this purpose I’m very happy with my little Fiesta hatchback. I can fit in spots that are too small for other compact sedans, let alone really large cars. It’s probably the only reason I can reliably find street parking at all.
We were just talking about this two days ago with some German visitors.
Here in Las Vegas, I don’t think I have ever parallel parked!
No need - plenty of room for parking everywhere - just pull in and then back out.
Living in LA was another story.
Same as living in Berlin or NYC or Chicago - but here, nada.
Pretty much every day (or every day I take the car at least…not so much while I’m in school, though I have to move it at least twice a week for street cleaning!). I live in the city and have street parking. It’s all one-way streets around here, so I’m equally proficient parallel parking on either side, too.
Prior to moving to Montreal, I’d probably only parallel parked a handful of times in my life, though.
Only very rarely, and when I do, I’m very good at it. When I was living in Mexico City, I did parallel park a couple of times a month. I want to say that (given a large enough space), parallel parking an Expedition Max is easier than my Continental (and the Continental has auto-tilt-down mirrors for reverse).
Suburban Chicago; I have to parallel park once a week or so, usually when I go to my guitar lesson – most of the available parking near my school is on the street. I occasionally visit friends in Chicago, and have to do it there, too.
My wife teaches in the city, and has to parallel park every day. As a result, she’s much better at it than I am.
