# Parking Q: distance or shade?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 1, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685 "2010-10-01T02:28:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/21 "2010-10-01T15:35:01Z")
I very rarely shop (as in almost never) large malls so walking distance is usually quite short even from the further reaches so I look for shade as it gets really hot here in the summer.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/22 "2010-10-01T15:59:57Z")
Neither one is a big deal for me; I’d probably go with “least hassle” (i.e. I hate circling around waiting for a space to open up).
My wife would definitely vote for “shade”, though.
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### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/23 "2010-10-01T16:01:09Z")
Why didn’t you think of people like me, who park as far away as they can?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/24 "2010-10-01T16:01:48Z")
Shade trumps walking distance almost every time. On the rare occasion that it is raining, all bets are off.
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### Author:  [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/25 "2010-10-01T16:08:38Z")
I live in hot hot hot Central Florida, but I generally go for distance over shade. There aren’t many shady parking lots around here, plus walking a long distance to and from my car in the blistering hot sun cancels out getting into a hot or not-as-hot car.
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### Author:  [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/26 "2010-10-01T16:47:10Z")
> [@Philster](#):
>
> Why didn’t you think of people like me, who park as far away as they can?
I’m with the Philster. I park far away from people that might dent my car. I don’t mind walking at all; heck, even the furthest spots take under a minute to get to the door, and I’m used to walking more than an hour at a time for exercise.
If there’s shade, though, I’ll go for it.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/27 "2010-10-01T17:03:15Z")
I prefer shade, but I have seen exactly ONE handicapped parking space with anything remotely resembling shade [that wasn’t in a parking garage that is]
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/28 "2010-10-01T17:06:43Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> If we’re driving the pickup, we are aware of how big our rolling ark is and park out in BFE so we don’t annoy everyone else. At most lots, the truck will not fit into one space. No problems at Home Depot, though. Imagine that - a parking lot that was designed to hold trucks. 🆒
Go to southeast Michigan when you get a chance. You know, where (until fairly recently) _everyone_ drove a full-sized pickup or SUV, and the parking lots are actually painted with them in mind.
On the other hand, I can empathize with you on small spaces. My company provides me with an extra-full-size SUV for use in an overpopulated region that’s seemingly designed for exclusive use by subcompacts. (The same company provided us (at another location) black cars with black interiors for use in the Sonora desert with normal daytime temperatures of 100 F and plenty of direct sun.)
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/29 "2010-10-01T17:06:56Z")
Living in the hot Central Valley (CA), I look for shade most months of the year. If it’s pouring down rain, I do look for the closest open spot, but I’m not going to wait for someone to pull out, just to get close.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/30 "2010-10-01T18:07:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> > [@dangermom](#):
> >
> > I am always puzzled by (able-bodied) people who seem to want to park as close as possible to the door, which to me is not important at all.
>
> Me too. I often deliberately **won’t** take the closest spot, figuring that a little old lady or family with small children may come along who need it more than I.
My 70-year-old mom still says, “Gotta leave that one for the old people!”
I park generally in the first space I come to in the right general vicinity.
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### Author:  [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/31 "2010-10-01T18:29:03Z")
Grocery shopping: first parking spot I see, but I look for one nearest to a cart corral, whether that’s close to the store or at the back.
Every where else: first parking spot I see.
Even in the summer in Phoenix, I don’t waste time trying to find shady spots, or spots close to the air conditioning. I just park my car as quickly as it’s possible to find a spot, any spot will do.
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### Author:  [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/32 "2010-10-01T18:37:09Z")
Yeah, pretty much the first spot I see that’s reasonably near other cars. For example, if rows 1-10 are pretty much filled with cars, and 11-20 are maybe 50% filled, and 21 and up are empty, I’ll take the first space in rows 11-20.
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### Author:  [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/33 "2010-10-01T19:53:06Z")
I park where it is easy to get out of. Usually means parking pretty far away but I could use the walk.
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### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/34 "2010-10-01T19:56:01Z")
Distance away from potential door dings is my priority. If I have to park next to someone I pick expensive or very clean vehicles.
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### Author:  [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/35 "2010-10-01T20:26:11Z")
Not to snow on anyone’s sunshiny parade, but no one has yet mentioned optimizing parking in winter. There’s a lot of factors: existing snowpiles and icy patches, whether it will snow while you’re parked, whether it will freeze or thaw while you’re parked, and where the plows need to go.
My father taught me to always park facing head out if you’re against a wall (if you’ve ever had to try to jumpstart a head-in, snowed-in car you know how difficult it can be to get access or to push it out into position). Likewise I will pull through in a bigger lot as it’s easier to get out through a little snow in forward than in reverse, like when the slush has frozen in deep chunks and encased your tires. I try to be in the middle somewhere I’m unlikely to get plowed in. And I’m always looking for streams and puddles of meltwater that will become a skating rink when I want to leave. Distance isn’t usually a consideration unless the ice and snow have made the traverse of the lot itself dangerous.
In hot weather I try for shade over distance.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/36 "2010-10-01T20:29:15Z")
> [@Khadaji](#):
>
> Forgot to add: I almost always look for a pull-through if I can find one.
This is my priority number one as well, not shade _or_ closeness. People are idiots in parking lots, I’d prefer to see them easily as I exit a parking space, whenever possible.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/37 "2010-10-01T20:35:52Z")
Shade is so unimportant. I’m happy for the three months of summer I get and don’t mind a hot car. I will park in the first available, convenient spot. I won’t go searching, but if I see one close, sure as hell I will park there. If there are none, though, I get one runthrough and then go park far away.
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### Author:  [@pyromyte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pyromyte)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/38 "2010-10-01T20:50:49Z")
To avoid people denting and scratching my car, I park as far away from anyone else as possible… And no where near a cart return.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/39 "2010-10-01T20:56:28Z")
My 2010 Prius has a solar panel on the roof which powers the air conditioner on hot days to keep the car (reasonably) cool. I, therefore, try to park in the sun on hot days to monitor the effectiveness and just be marveled at the technology.
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### Author:  [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-q-distance-or-shade/555685/40 "2010-10-01T21:37:21Z")
I park wherever there’s a space … which, in my part of L.A., there often isn’t.
You can’t be choosy around here. If you forgo an open spot to look for a better one you’ll probably spend the next ten minutes circling the block in frustration.
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