In many towns they don't charge for parking
I got a parking ticket recently, even though I had a paid 2-hour parking receipt right in my window and at the same time, I had a friend going nuts trying to find a meter that worked near Greenstreet -- he couldn't find one to take his bills, coins or credit card. Now this from Jane Harris:
"On a recent Saturday evening we headed into The Grove for the Art Stroll. We were running late and there were no parking spots along Grand so we ended up a few blocks away on Mary Street.
"I dig around in my bag for quarters and step up to the meter. It won't take my hard earned quarters. We take a closer look....there is a green paper wrap with white text ordering us call this number to pay for parking. But wait there's a credit card slot...we insert our credit card. Doesn't want it. OK let's call the number....meanwhile we are standing on a side street in Coconut Grove clutching our wallets, credit card in one hand; cell phone in the other...in the darkness. I call the number ...... three tries ... the clock is ticking ..... and I decide to start out without my husband.
"He turns up 10 minutes later. Not happy. Apparently the automated system was not asking him for his tag number nor did it recognize the location number that he punched in on his phone. All this effort and two conversations with a real live person finally got the deed done.
"Apparently it worked in the end because when we returned the guy in front of us had a ticket and we didn't. Did I mention that when you hold your adorable little key chain flash light to the meter screen when you are trying to figure out what's going on it actually says "out of order"..... one should never assume .... but you can assume it will be a very long time before we go into Coconut Grove under these circumstances.
"Besides the sheer nuttiness and inefficiency of this new pay to park system experiment ..... there is something utterly unsafe about being on a side street in the Grove with your splayed wallet and cell phone occupying your appendages and your attention for way too long a time."
"On a recent Saturday evening we headed into The Grove for the Art Stroll. We were running late and there were no parking spots along Grand so we ended up a few blocks away on Mary Street.
"I dig around in my bag for quarters and step up to the meter. It won't take my hard earned quarters. We take a closer look....there is a green paper wrap with white text ordering us call this number to pay for parking. But wait there's a credit card slot...we insert our credit card. Doesn't want it. OK let's call the number....meanwhile we are standing on a side street in Coconut Grove clutching our wallets, credit card in one hand; cell phone in the other...in the darkness. I call the number ...... three tries ... the clock is ticking ..... and I decide to start out without my husband.
"He turns up 10 minutes later. Not happy. Apparently the automated system was not asking him for his tag number nor did it recognize the location number that he punched in on his phone. All this effort and two conversations with a real live person finally got the deed done.
"Apparently it worked in the end because when we returned the guy in front of us had a ticket and we didn't. Did I mention that when you hold your adorable little key chain flash light to the meter screen when you are trying to figure out what's going on it actually says "out of order"..... one should never assume .... but you can assume it will be a very long time before we go into Coconut Grove under these circumstances.
"Besides the sheer nuttiness and inefficiency of this new pay to park system experiment ..... there is something utterly unsafe about being on a side street in the Grove with your splayed wallet and cell phone occupying your appendages and your attention for way too long a time."
posted by Tom Falco at 11:00 AM
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8 Comments:
you are correct, but for anything to be different, your local government would have to acknowledge that the streets are not safe, even coconut grove. if they did that, what does that say about the civic area quality?
show me one citizen anywhere who actually supports parking maters and paid parking...there are none. yet, we allow our government to impose this tax to pay for corruption. why?
why cant we end parking meters if we do indeed control the government?
Sounds great! One less person coming to park in the Grove, one more space for the rest of us.
Jane Harris sounds like a spoiled brat, making a mountain out of a molehill. The Grove is about 99% safe, to be honest, and the only reason one would have to feel unsafe in a side street off Mary is one's own imagination.
All things considered, and having travelled just about everywhere in the world, our system is not that bad (and seems to work about 90% of the time for me).
It accepts credit cards, debit cards, bills and coins.
In many parts of the US meters accept only coins.
In many parts of the world, parking is "kept safe" by roving people who look, most of the time, more unsafe than leaving the car there.
I would love to have free parking, for sure, but, all things considered, these pay to park machines are great.
I'm going to have to disagree with the second poster here. There have been many many times that I have come to the Grove having to search high and low for a meter that works.
I find that the blue parking meters are not working nearly as often as they are working. It is astonishing how exploited the Grove is by our local government officials. We pay some of the highest taxes but are provided the skimpiest of services.
learn to read and put your card in the machine, you sound retarded jane.
Guys, she was trying to tell a funny story here, more than complain. You really have to start hearing what people are saying and seeing the tone they are "speaking" in. You attack me for trying to be funny and sarcastic all the time, when in reality, all it is is a funny story.
Calm down. Jane is a nice person and quite funny.
I would be wary calling a number on a green sticker and giving out my credit card information. Sounds like a scam...
That was a funny story?
Wow.
Would have never been able to tell without the subtitles
Those big blue parking machines are a disaster everywhere I've seen them. The ones in Downtown, South Beach, Coconut Grove, etc. are often broken. You usually have to walk around looking for one that works. By the time you find one that works, you're a few blocks away from your car and have to walk back to display the ticket.
The low-tech meters in the Gables and South Miami are much more convenient. Just pop-in some change and go.
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