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Its really not hard to drive larger vehicles and those I've owned have been quite easy to maneuver. Though they were wide, the SUV's of my early driving days were short. But my past quad cab ram and the super crew F150 I just sold were quite maneuverable as well for what they are. Quite easy to drive and park. Backing in is a piece of cake with them. Using the mirrors actually let me guide them right down the center.
I'm more worried about the other idiots zipping in with their so called "nimble" car that they can't control as they have no idea where the corners are.
Width of assorted vehicles that I've been used to, not counting mirrors, of the time
Wide but short wheelbase and highly maneuverable
78/79 Bronco 79.3"
76 Cherokee 75.3
76 Cherokee Chief 78.9
80/81/88 Bronco 78
Wide with longer wheelbases and the longer trucks are more maneuverable than the shorter Caprice!
80 Suburban 80
84 Caprice 75.4
04/07 Dodge Ram 79.5
18/20 F150 79.9
Yep, spaces are getting smaller. One reason why I try to park a bit farther away and, on an end, next to curb. My fat ass can use the extra walking anyway. Thing is there always seems to be some idiot who feels its a good idea so they park right next to me in a wide open area.
Last edited by marlinfshr; 02-11-2023 at 08:22 PM..
Weren't vehicles supposed to get smaller as we get into the 2020's and 2030's? They keep getting bigger and people just don't know how to drive, let alone park while still being considerate to everyone else. I guess we'll just live with door dings everywhere.
"Increasingly, cars are too big for parking spaces, especially in parking garages and other paid parking lots where developers pay close attention to space size. Like the proverbial frog in a slowly heating pot of water, our cars have gotten ever-so-gradually bigger with each passing year, but the parking space standards have barely budged. Now, in the third decade of the growing car size trend, people are starting to notice."
Without reading the article, I'll say a big(ger?) part of the 'problem' may be the parking lot designer. Don't know what the 'standards' say, but I've found several Love's parking spaces too narrow for even smaller cars... and Lowe's parking lots where the 'driveways' weren't wide enough to maneuver a pickup truck comfortably.
More profitable for them AND taxing entities to make the houses with vast “finished living space” instead of mere storage/parking space.
I agree that the average house, including big expensive ones, have absolutely pitiful garage and storage space.
Someone once told me that her and her husband’s ideal home was, mostly, a 50’x50’ garage building with a small living area inside it. I totally agree! Not that it is everybody’s perfect house, only that such different notions shouldn’t be outlawed in HOA developments or considered inferior or weird. Not everyone raises kids or “entertains” groups of people or wants a sea of furniture.
some friends built their own home. It looked huge; consisted of two 2-car garages (used for workshops and storage) and a 2-car carport (to park cars) all side by side, plus a tiny 1-bed/1-bath house.
They later added a larger house, and the original one became an in-law unit.
Other friends live in a tightly packed subdivision, maybe 1/6-acre lots with just 3-4 feet between houses. Each house has a 2-car garage (presumably used for storage) and a 2-car driveway. The driveways are full of cars, and more cars are parked lining both sides of the street (against the unenforced HOA rules), so there's only room for one lane of traffic. If 2 cars are going opposite ways, one of us has to pull over.
I miss having a garage, just have a 1-car carport. Our only storage is in the indoor closets. House was manufactured in 1978. Our larger car (Honda Pilot) is too wide to park in the second parking spot, and I need to get the pick and move some rocks to make room.
I guess now we’re going to rail against the size/dimensions of vehicles instead of weight. Back in the day, I remember reading criticism about SUVs because they are ‘heavy and dangerous’ but now that EVs are heavy due to the battery, we’re not concerned about weight anymore. Heavy is now acceptable.
Either way, I agree with the others who cite the “land yacht” vehicles of yesteryear. Those were definitely big!
I agree. The Toyota Rav4 Prime: 73.0" wide and 180.9" long, weighs about as much as the 1976 Chevrolet Impala I earlier mentioned: 4235-4300 pounds.
Weren't vehicles supposed to get smaller as we get into the 2020's and 2030's? They keep getting bigger and people just don't know how to drive, let alone park while still being considerate to everyone else. I guess we'll just live with door dings everywhere.
"Increasingly, cars are too big for parking spaces, especially in parking garages and other paid parking lots where developers pay close attention to space size. Like the proverbial frog in a slowly heating pot of water, our cars have gotten ever-so-gradually bigger with each passing year, but the parking space standards have barely budged. Now, in the third decade of the growing car size trend, people are starting to notice."
No way. Most vehicles today are smaller and only a few luxury models are about the same size as what used to be a common mid-size 4 door sedan in the 70s, driven by working class people. Most of those are NOT American cars by the way.
Maybe what's bothering you is the fact that the parking spots have shrunk too much relative to the widths of the modern cars. But there is no doubt that cars today are smaller. Some of those battleships from the 70s were impossible to parallel park and real difficult to park anywhere. Many of the old Lincolns and Caddys were approaching 17-18 feet long. Dodge made one that was almost 19 feet long. And these were 4 door sedans. Not station wagons.
Weren't vehicles supposed to get smaller as we get into the 2020's and 2030's? They keep getting bigger and people just don't know how to drive, let alone park while still being considerate to everyone else. I guess we'll just live with door dings everywhere.
"Increasingly, cars are too big for parking spaces, especially in parking garages and other paid parking lots where developers pay close attention to space size. Like the proverbial frog in a slowly heating pot of water, our cars have gotten ever-so-gradually bigger with each passing year, but the parking space standards have barely budged. Now, in the third decade of the growing car size trend, people are starting to notice."
No, our cars are not getting too big. The parking spaces are too small. Anyone who's been around long enough to have driven a classic Impala or station wagon pre mid 70s has seen the size go down. What they call a full size car today was a compact car in the 70s.
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