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I'm of average build, neither svelte nor fat, and I've had several experiences where I've seen an open parking space with the adjacent vehicles coming right up to the line and I just don't even try to pull in. FWIW, I have a Kia Soul which is definitely on the smaller side of vehicles.
As a retired custom home builder, I can tell you that a double car wide driveway should be at least 18 feet wide. I have seen many at 16 feet wide but you have difficulty opening the doors in the middle between two cars and when you open the door on the outer edge of the driveway you're stepping into the lawn.
So what width are the parking spots in your town? Must be all at the bare minimum for you to be arguing this with me and not having noticed. In my town it varies considerably, but hey, my town has 3 stores and not 1.
Who is arguing? I simply answered a question you asked, punctuated by a "confused" smilie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathguy
Town planners control the parking lot spots at stores and parking garages?
I do now understand that you meant private companies are free to make parking stalls wider than the minimum. That is true, but they tend to follow industry "best practices" so when municipalities are calling for 8-foot wide parking stalls, that is what they tend to make.
Also, private companies are going to spend the least money possible. So if Urban Planners allow for 8-foot parking stalls, guess what private companies are going to use so they can tie up the least amount of space? If Urban Planners require minimum 9-foot wide stall, then private companies can't make them tighter. It always comes back to what the planners require or recommend.
Are there wider stalls here in Knoxville? Sure, in older parking lots probably when standards called for wider stalls.
Parking spots have long been going the opposite way of cars: getting smaller. Been to the mall lately? Remember driving past all those "compact" spots that seem sized for something other than what you drive?
Average parking spots in the US are 7.5 to 8 feet wide, down from 9 to 10 feet a few decades ago when we drove supposed "land yachts."
As a retired custom home builder, I can tell you that a double car wide driveway should be at least 18 feet wide. I have seen many at 16 feet wide but you have difficulty opening the doors in the middle between two cars and when you open the door on the outer edge of the driveway you're stepping into the lawn.
True people risk breaking their ankles trying to leave their cars or stepping into the mud. Garages are too tight cannot imagine for those who depend on walkers and wheelchairs. Apparently this aspect of residential buildings are exempt from the trend of becoming friendly to people with limited mobility. Interior of houses are though. And HOAs and apartments are making things worse by their form of control for beauty purposes but only pushes the problem elsewhere i.e parking congestion in other neighborhoods with less restrictions.
I did another forum about residential parking is why residential lots have so little usable space for parking in comparison with commercial ones. It isn't really the size of the lot as they may be the same size but they build residential lots with so much unusable space on the lot compared to commercial ones.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by citizensadvocate
True people risk breaking their ankles trying to leave their cars or stepping into the mud. Garages are too tight cannot imagine for those who depend on walkers and wheelchairs. Apparently this aspect of residential buildings are exempt from the trend of becoming friendly to people with limited mobility. Interior of houses are though. And HOAs and apartments are making things worse by their form of control for beauty purposes but only pushes the problem elsewhere i.e parking congestion in other neighborhoods with less restrictions.
I did another forum about residential parking is why residential lots have so little usable space for parking in comparison with commercial ones. It isn't really the size of the lot as they may be the same size but they build residential lots with so much unusable space on the lot compared to commercial ones.
Our house was built in 1978. The driveway is generous, 2 cars wide with plenty of space to open doors, and long enough to park two more behind. When we have some kind of gathering here we have 4 in the driveway. The new homes being built here have much smaller lots with the house taking up most of it, so a short driveway that barely fits two cars. Regardless of the size of the driveways, however, many have an HOA that requires keeping them in the garages. I can't fit my F150 in our garage. It has two separate doors, with a post between, and another post at about where the driver's door is inside. I would have to fold the side mirrors, drive in, but then being unable to open the door, climb out the window.
Spaces got smaller in the 80s. My college designed an entire lot for compact cars and we’d get a warning if we used the regular lots. I hated it because my doors always got dinged. That’s when I started taking end spots at the back of the lot. Still have a compact car and I still do that.
Dug up my early post in this thread. Just went to a new Trader Joe's. The back of the lot is completely labeled "Compact", just like 30 years ago when my college made compact parking in the back of the lot. Now, walking further doesn't bother me as I normally park in the back but I thought it was a bit discriminatory against those of us with smaller cars
Dug up my early post in this thread. Just went to a new Trader Joe's. The back of the lot is completely labeled "Compact", just like 30 years ago when my college made compact parking in the back of the lot. Now, walking further doesn't bother me as I normally park in the back but I thought it was a bit discriminatory against those of us with smaller cars
The people driving the big, huge vehicles should be made to park the furthest away IMO.
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