Parking in Waterloo Region

[mpd618]

Probably true, but I don't think it's because car drivers have some insight others don't. I think most people in this region that drive mostly visit suburban destinations like malls or power centres where there's vast fields of parking, and so parking that's underground or in a garage or not free is basically invisible to them. They see the lack of parking on King St and conclude there's no parking. Perhaps what drivers are complaining about is that there's not enough free parking.

I think it's also what you experience when you look for parking - you drive to the destination, then look for immediately adjacent parking until you give up, and go further and further until you find a spot. If street parking on the main street or a very central parking lot is frequently full, then a lot of people will experience that and perceive insufficient parking - even if a block away there's a mostly empty lot. I've often seen the lot between Waterloo Town Square and Erb Street to be completely full, with cars circling in hopes of discovering otherwise.

The solution of course is to make the really attractive central parking spaces not free (at least not for more than 15-30 minutes). So if you want to park centrally, you can find a spot instead of circling and polluting, but pay a bit of money for it.