[jakemoshenko]

Detroit, as the capital of the auto industry, has far more parking than just about any other city I've ever been to. There are huge, multi-story garages right on the main thoroughfare downtown.

https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/parking-lots-eat-american-...

> Detroit was, or is, Motor City. Its center can pull off another automotive-related nickname: Parking Central. Fully one-third of downtown Detroit is dedicated to letting cars do what they’re not designed for: standing still.

[mikrl]

That’s what I thought! But all of the five or so garages we tried cost $20-40 flat with no ticket machines or anything, and I wasn’t willing to download/fight with an app to walk around for an hour.

Next trip will be more planned for sure. I was impressed with the highways though. Definitely a motorists’ dream to get around the various suburbs.

[2023throwawayy]

Needing to download an app, and saying "you need to book in advance" are not the same thing.

Just because you didn't want to deal with it and didn't do research ahead of time doesn't mean "We couldn’t even park downtown". You didn't want to, and that's fine.

[mikrl]

You’re splitting hairs, which I can also do:

There’s a giant parking lot with 10,000 spaces and 2 are free. There is ‘no parking’ unless you want to drive around for 2 hours.

For enough money you could probably get a permit from the cops and a security detail and park wherever you wanted, like in a city park. There is still ‘no parking’ in parks.

Within parameters that apply in the majority of cities I’ve tried to park in, there was no parking. In future I’ll download the app, book a spot and bring my phone charger and then I’ll be able to access the parking.

[brewdad]

Saying there's no parking and there's no free (as in money) parking are two very different things. Parking in the downtown of one of the ten largest metro areas in the US is going to cost money. That's just how it is.

[mikrl]

I don’t mind paying. In Toronto I’ll pay $20 no problem to park right in the middle of the core in a garage. But I have options to use cash or card at a meter or machine without getting my phone out. I can pay for an hour or 2 or all day.

In Detroit the options were street parking (all full) or flat rate in a garage behind an app. I looked for a ticket machine and there were none. My bad for not doing research but still, I had a good day elsewhere in the metro, was just surprised by the inflexibility in the DT core.

It was the end of the day and I wanted to walk around and scout out stuff for next visit. If I spent all day there I’d happily pay the $20-40 but not for an hour walk, that’s silly when I can look at stuff in Windsor where my accommodation and free parking were.

[ehaliewicz2]

Plenty of cities get away with garages that don't require an app. Don't normalize shitty things like that.

[2023throwawayy]

I prefer being able to see my time remaining via the app and extend time if needed. Don't tell me what to "normalize".

[hughesjj]

An app is easier to maintain and enforce than meters, and I don't need to carry coins or go back to the meter to add time. I'm all for them but prefer a web interface with Google checkout, or text messenging with a card on file.