A spot of bother over parking

The desire for the perfect parking space might be a thing of the past, but for a generation of Tasmanians, old habits die hard, writes Ian Cole

HOW annoying is it when you can’t get parked?

It doesn’t matter where you are heading. It can be just to the supermarket, or into town or to a function. It can feel worse if you are early and still can’t get parked.

Let’s face it, parking has become a big issue in many places. People maybe expect to park comfortably at big hardware and homeware stores and sport stadiums, but would equally like to park easily at airports and hospitals. But to quote George and Ira Gershwin in Porgy and Bess, “it ain’t necessarily so”!

Even in suburbia, real estate agents publicise as part of their property details the parking spaces available together with the number of bedrooms and bathrooms as I guess some old inner-city houses may not have offstreet parking. Of course, parking difficulties may have been accentuated because cars have got bigger and wider. When reversing in a supermarket carpark in my little Brumby ute, it is fraught with problems as I may be surrounded on three sides by huge SUVs.

We can learn a bit from the home of the automobile, the USA. Well, they did invent motels, their very name implying a hotel with easy parking access to your car. And in praise of US National Parks, which are wonderfully managed, parking spaces are generally strategically located to minimise any spoiling of a park’s natural attractions.

On a local note, it was pleasing to see on a recent walk into Shipstern Bluff, the parking area had been upgraded for walkers heading to Cape Raoul and Shipstern.

As we are aware, parking is getting harder. As a product of Hobart in the 1960s, I used to expect to rock up as a spectator to the footy at North Hobart at 2pm, get parked and see the bounce of the ball at 2.15.

I still maybe in reasonable company as American show host Jay Leno once said about restaurants: “If I can’t park at the front and see my car from the window, I’ll eat somewhere else!” And I’m also with Princess Diana, for different reasons when she said “I have no idea how to use a parking meter!”

Again I maybe not on my own when I somewhat ashamedly admit I might drive around a few times to find the closest spot to park when going to the gym!

Yes I want to be able to park easily, but I don’t want to upset Joni Mitchell by “paving paradise” to do so.

I best not end on a depressing note, but Isaac Azimov did say, ‘life is a journey but don’t worry; you’ll find a parking space at the end”.

So I‘d better finish instead with Woody Allen, who was commenting on another aspect of parking which we all hate – someone else’s bad parking! Allen as Alvy in the movie Annie Hall, says to Annie (Diane Keaton), who has just parked the car somewhat eccentrically: “That’s okay. We can walk to the kerb from here!”

Ian Cole is a retired teacher

YES I WANT TO BE ABLE TO PARK EASILY, BUT I DON’T WANT TO UPSET JONI MITCHELL BY ‘PAVING PARADISE’ TO DO SO