[bdunbar]

Most lots have either parking meters or gates and attendants.

I don't know where you are from. In Dallas, the downtown lots closest to the center (expensive) had gates and attendants.

Further out (cheaper) were lots where you slid cash into a slot matching one's stall number: a guy came around on a regular basis to collect the cash, but he wasn't stationed in the lot.

YMMV.

[metageek]

I've seen a few of those, too.

I've seen one "print a ticket" lot, in a beach town in southern CA; I haven't seen any others when living in MA, PA, VA, GA, or the Bay Area.