I hate paid parking in Melbourne

The BBQ Pit
1

I googled 'I hate paid parking in Melbourne" and the first result that came up was http://www.wilsonparking.com.au/.

I am only talking about paid parking in this thread.

Anyway, so I went Xmas shopping in South Yarra. Parked for 1 1/2 hours at Wilson parking. Had to pay $18.( current exchange rate $18 US ). WTF? What, am I seeing Sinatra in there?! Am I being entertained? I don’t understand this.

Next went to the beach in St Kilda. Had to pay for the ticket to display. Damn machine was not working properly. Had to pay for all day instead of an hour- cost me $11.
Next weekend went to beach in Mordialloc. Parking near the beach - parking fees enforced 365 days a year 8am to 8pm - cost me $11. Can’t they be free after 6? What is the deal?

I hate the machines that only take coins. We have to stock up coins in the car every week- because they are so zealous in enforcing these fees. I am sure they have people out there on Xmas eve at 7 pm collecting fines.
The ones I really hate are the cheap car parks - only 70c per hour. But they make all their profit from zealously enforcing these fines if you do not display.

2

I hate paid parking in Melbourne, too. One time I went for pizza at Indialantic (on the beach,) and came out to find someone writing a ticket when I hadn’t been there more than the allotted time. Either they cheated or the machine never took my quarter. At any rate, I haven’t been back to park at Indialantic since, because of this, so how is that workin’ out for them.

But I’m in Florida, and so is my Melbourne.

:eek:

3

I don’t get the complaint. Real estate in Melbourne is very expensive. If you buy the ground for a parking lot you are going to be charging hefty fees to recoup the outlay. $18 for parking in Melbourne hardly seems expensive.

Of course, there is a public transport system.

4

This was the first time I have been there by car. We do usually get the train when going to the city.

$18 is not expensive?!
Definition of ‘expensive’ - 1.Requiring a large expenditure; costly.
2. Marked by high prices.

Sounds good to me. I could not even hear Sinatra music or anything.

5

It costs 10 pounds just to drive a car into London, much less park it, so $18 doesn’t seem that bad for a major city.

Fun fact: I have parked a car in both the Melbournes under discussion, plus within a couple of miles of the original one.

I should start an “ask the guy who’s been to all the Melbournes” thread.

6

I, on the other hand, am talking about whatever the hell I please in this thread.

I hate people who fart in elevators and then won’t own up to it. Fuck them.

7

I’ve got to say, even though that is a significant chunk of change, it isn’t totally out of line with what parking garages in the busy parts of other major cities charge. In downtown DC during the day, for two hours of parking you’d probably pay $12 to $20, something like that. I think that most cities tax the hell out of commercial parking, to the tune of 20% or so.

8

This is my complaint of all downtown parking in all big cities near and far. Believe me, I live in Los Angeles and it pisses me off to no end that downtown parking is more difficult and more expensive than non-downtown parking.

Incoming Rant:

Fuck the real estate barons who cluster big and important buildings near each other with inadequate parking!

Fuck those who consider a dilapidated, broken lot to be premium parking and charge for it!

Fuck those who tolerate and support it, by not erecting new buildings with sufficient parking!

Fuck the mayors, councilmen, developers, bankers, and all those who make money and continue to support this state of affairs!

These are modern times. There is little reason to squeeze all of these skyscrapers within a couple miles of each other. Space them the fuck out! There are these things call cars now that can take us from one area to another really quickly, use them, put some distance between government and business hubs so that not everyone’s being squeezed together.

If I were Emperor of the World, one of the first things I would do to alleviate parking is a decree that all parking should be free. Then I would fucking raze to the ground half of all densely populated downtown office and government buildings. In their place I would erect lighted, free, and unfenced parking lots, as far as the eye can see, on the surface of the streets. I would use the Ents to destroy the dams and flood the underground parking, never to be used except by mermaids and their Segways, and the vehicles the drowned in Davy Jones’ locker use to get to their dead-end jobs in the afterlife.

For all parking must mirror suburban parking. Buildings in the REAR, not the front! Parking is in the front, you turn into a parking lot, find a space, then walk to your god damn building! Each building must have ample parking for all their guests, no more neighborhood joints run by gangland mafia types ruling condensed parking with an iron fist. In place of their fist I would have them substitute a bloody stump as my Conquistadors wallow in their terror blood after a frenzy of murder which I shall rename Glorious Killing!

Each building, with parking in the front, the rule of evil things long deformed from the blight of sunlight no longer allowed to crawl between orange cones collecting tribute for the god-given right of putting your SUV in between 2 painted lines for a couple hours while you shop at that Chinese place with the effective dildos! A dawn of harmonious joy and happiness burst forth, flooding all those with wonderment and seratonin that will surely be unleashed by the earful once people are no longer slaves to the malice of overpriced downtown parking. A pox on those who disagree! A pox and a bloody stump! We can make this happen! We have the power to do this! Who’s with me?!?!??!

9

There’s your problem right there. Who in their RIGHT MIND goes anywhere near South Yarra 'round Xmas time?

Oh, and if you can actually afford to buy shit in South Yarra, you can certainly afford eighteen bucks in parking fees.

Just sayin’.

:wink:

10

Allow me to laugh as you suggest that Los Angeles doesn’t have enough urban sprawl, but that the sprawl should be accelerated.

That’s outrageously stupid. The only thing that I can think of as being a stupider city planning policy would be to require parking in the front of buildings. If you like the way New Jersey suburbs look and work, go live there.

11

Death to the unbeliever!

My ideal skyscraper setup would be like Isengard, with the tower in the middle surrounded by fields of ample parking, lit by torches burning the fats of the slain. It will come to pass

12

LOL

Anyway I have a paid for parking spot in the Melbourne CBD with work so I got free parking 24/7. :stuck_out_tongue:

13

Your parking was $2.05 above one hour’s minimum wage. The burden on a working Australian for parking costs is pretty low in reality though a shock if you are not used to it.

I hope you didn’t buy coffee and cake in South Yarra though, that would set you back more than my northern suburbs house :wink:

14

My wife has lived in Melbourne for 6 years. Just wanted to go there one time. I apparently cannot even afford to buy anything anywhere near South Yarra including a parking spot.
My gripes are more to do with council Scrooges with beach parking.

15

Two dollars above minimum wage for parking for an hour and a half? Someone working a minimum wage job would break even parking there…

Funny side note, at the local mall, the cost of a lost chip was actually (briefly) less than a six hour stay. I don’t know if anyone ever actually paid for a six hour stay…

16

Oh, and JFTR, there’s a cheap parking place in Darling Street (off Toorak Rd, just west of the station). It only costs $1.30 for the first hour, and $2 ph after that.

Just sayin’.

:smiley:

17

Do you really not understand how you end up with skyscrapers in the first place? Hint: it’s not because people want to live and/or work in really tall buildings.

18

I’ll second the bit about downtown lots being gravelly, misshapen, glass-filled hellholes. I understand why the owners never fix them - because they can get away with it - but come on, the asphalt at the Stop N Save down my street has painted lines and no major potholes. Would it be too much to match that level of basic parking decency next to all the fancy pretty buildings downtown?

19

The Emperor does not care! He just wants to park his chariot in a normal, open-aired parking lot! For all the money and space they save condensing workspace into one building, they can afford to splurge on the opulence of an asphalt lot with some painted lines. I have spoken!

20

Pfft. Then you’d be complaining about the long walk from Field 46E, Blue Lot, to the Tower.