Everyone handles their road trips a little differently. Some people throw a few emergency supplies into the car and take off wherever the road takes them while others carefully plot out every lunch stop and sight to see along the way. Whether you’re a free spirit or a meticulous planner, no matter how you travel, every trip still ends in a parking spot, especially through the sharing economy. The key is to know ahead of time how easy it will be to find a good place to put your car and avoid the dreaded parking-crawl where you weave up and down rows of possible parking or nearby streets with parallel spots trying to find a space big enough for your vehicle.
No one likes the parking-crawl and that’s part of the reason why the sharing economy, always ready to adapt to the needs of the community, has grown to include parking. With mobile apps like ParqEx, you can find your ideal parking spot anywhere from days before your arrival in a new city to minutes after realizing there is no obvious available parking. Not sure when it’s the right time to look for neighbor-shared parking? Here are five perfect opportunities to avoid the parking-crawl by calling on the convenience of sharing.
1) Attending a Very Popular Event
Whether you’re headed to your state’s big football game of the year or a concert you hope to never forget, when there are thousands of other people attending the same event as you, parking can become a problem. While it’s always been known that those who don’t mind walking a few blocks are going to have a much better time, the true solution is to look for places off the beaten track. Most event venues are actually within a few blocks of a home or business with open parking spots and you can get quick clear permission to park there simply by booking and paying a small (usually less than paid-parking) fee.
2) Visiting a Student in College
Colleges are another known parking nightmare. Every independent teen and a young adult who wants to bring their car to school but actually doing so is a huge hassle. For the most part, students who do bring their cars wind up parking them all week and walking everywhere anyway, partly because it would be so hard to find another parking spot upon return. For parents and friends visiting a college student, this challenge becomes even more profound. However, with clever use of a parking app, you can probably find a spot among the nearby residences that no one else is competing for.
3) Shopping Downtown in a Major City
Downtown shopping is one of the most exciting things you can do while being a tourist in a major city. Whether it’s enjoying the sights of your home city or touring the fanciest venues somewhere new, finding an affordable place to put your car can be a real hassle. Fortunately, big cities are where sharing economy parking shines the most. With a quick check, you should be able to find half a dozen nearby spaces that will let you bound from your car in your best outfit and get to shopping instead of the parking-crawl.
4) Planning a Road Trip Ahead of Time
If there is a road trip in your near future and you are the kind of person who likes to have everything squared away, knowing where you’re going to park is an important detail for your itinerary. Every event you plan to attend that requires leaving the car should also be paired with known safe parking space and booking your space ahead of time is the perfect way to make sure you know exactly where your car will be resting while you take care of whatever your road trip was about in the first place.
5) Going to an Over-Packed House Party
The final surprisingly useful application of sharing economy parking is the simple house party. Most parking spots in the sharing economy are residential driveways offered by people who realized that they have a spot that is never in use. On the flip side, the driveway is the first thing to fill up when someone has thrown a big bash at their home. When the road in front of the house fills up, guests are faced with the risk of rudeness for parking in front of someone else’s house or missing the party. However, if there is a parking rental opportunity nearby, you can be one of the few guests perfectly comfortable with their parking choices as you arrive at the party.
How and where you park determines a lot about how comfortable you can be when you leave your car. With sharing economy parking rental, you can be sure that your car is somewhere that it is both safely and legally parked no matter how packed your destination event is. For more tips and tricks on the sharing economy, contact us today!
