the amateur parker ...

People in the parking industry probably hear enough complaining from the public, so I don’t want to use this column to gripe about my own

I can’t write about technology without dating myself. I fall somewhere within a demographic called Generation X. It’s a label I’ve always resented. My generation came

There’s a lovely shopping and dining district in my city. The street is lined with great restaurants and pricey boutiques, galleries, hat stands, and gelato

For many years, my family gave up airline travel. The purchase of a house, heavy work schedules, and two children under age 6 made a

 It’s not hard for me to come up with things to write for the annual Women In Parking issue of Parking Today. It is hard

In the middle of my town is a civic center that includes a library, municipal pool, police headquarters, county courthouse, theater, meeting facilities, and offices

 I live in crowded town near an enormous, highly populated city. I like to pretend I live in a small town by getting to know

 Parking Today’s 20th anniversary issue coincides approximately with my 10th anniversary as a member of its staff. It took me a few days to gather

 I don’t want to get old. Nobody does. Besides the unavoidable forgetfulness, there are a slew of age-related issues to worry about: broken hips, neglectful

 The American Automobile Association recently shared a drastic statistic: 75% of Americans park dangerously. I could have saved the AAA a lot of money in

 Every weekend, I give my kids a list of chores to do. Yes, I’m that mean parent who expects her children to help out around

 Every month of the year has its theme. January is for making resolutions, February is for romance … In November, between bites of mashed potatoes

 I have always loved to travel – most people do – and happily, my kids have reached an age where they finally enhance, rather than

 Every once in a while, my children tell me that the sun is going to explode and the Earth and everyone on it will be

 Today I feel lucky to be female. Because if I were male, this column would be turned over to some guy I don’t know, and

 Just a few weeks ago, my mother and I attended a show at a theater in the city. The tickets were a gift and came

 Many professionals find themselves attending a tradeshow at some point in their careers. This month, quite a few parking industry types will gather for the

I come from a long line of people-watchers. Sometimes we watch people and see their ridiculousness or their fancy purse, sometimes we see their worries

I was busy thinking of a subject for the “Amateur Parker” column when I clicked on a news site and saw the awful headline: “Shots

The holidays have snuck up on me this year. The older I get, the faster the year flies and the shorter the span between two

I’ve lived in my Los Angeles exurb for 13 years now. I got my first cellphone here, bought my first house, had two children, and

I am a born planner. I like things to be neat and tidy, organized and predictable. Routine is my friend, and to-do lists are a

It’s summertime, and the living is easy, but the parking is hard. For me, the summer parking crunch starts during the final two weeks of

You might have heard of Parking Today’s new website, ParkNews.biz. It’s completely devoted to gathering and sharing the news of parking, with a few advertisements

The moment I heard about an “all-female” issue of Parking Today, the soapbox I stand on when I share my feminist views started to rumble.

I’ll admit right away that that headline is sensationalistic, but hyperbole is a common enough strategy for attracting readers, so I don’t feel too bad

Sometimes your whole world revolves around parking – especially if you’re visiting downtown Los Angeles. The folks at Ford are a little parking-obsessed these days,

I’m the kind of person who doesn’t want the government interfering in every aspect of my life. That’s a pretty standard statement for many Americans,

Last month, I received an important notice from my Homeowner’s Association. For those who quake and spit at the words “homeowner’s association,” take a deep

A new year is a lovely thing. A fresh calendar is so refreshing after a December spent perfecting at least three of the Seven Deadly

I’m rarely crankier, ruder or more impatient than I am when I’m driving and parking. I’m often cranky and impatient – though I try not

Technology might be a huge factor in the evolving requirements and capabilities of consumers and the parking industry, but attitudes toward consumption and convenience are

Not long ago, a San Francisco blog posted a request for pictures of public servants parking badly. Some of the offerings included a police vehicle

I already feel like parking lots are dangerous places, but some crack pot in Pennsylvania has upped the ante. It’s a shocking story, and perfect

There’s a line in a song I’ve heard a lot recently. It goes like this: “Sometimes revenge is a choice you gotta make.” In general,

Parking’s not usually complicated or difficult. It’s certain the industry does everything possible to make the process easy. Regardless, there is a disconnect between the

In San Francisco, Jan. 6, 2013, marked the beginning of Sunday parking meter charges. About 11,000 verbal and written warnings were given on the first

The headline was ominous – they usually are – scary gets more attention than cheerful. It said, “Patron receives year of free parking for insult

Last month, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the city of Boston set forth an interesting and creative initiative to gather gifts and toys

Drivers May Get Cash Back for Parking Tickets NBCnews.com Chicago Now I’ve heard everything. My American Express card gives me cash back, which my husband

I might have mentioned before that I used to be a newspaper reporter. My first experience in publishing was writing for my college newspaper. Finding

I recently read an article about “minimum parking requirements” and what a challenge they can be for downtown areas, new buildings and new businesses. Providing

A couple of years ago, I wrote a column about Park(ing) Day, “the annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily

There are evacuation routes for hotels, hospitals, planes and schools. My little family even has a plan for emergencies – it’s called “grab the kids

The battle of the sexes is a war that will never end. Nobody’s going to give up and nobody’s going to win. Whatever stereotypes we

Dear Parking, Valentine’s Day does funny things to me. I eat a lot of chocolate and pink-frosted food, listen to sickeningly sappy music on the

I have read about cellphone apps that make parking easier. Apps that tell you where the next available parking space is, or where to find

I don’t often give much thought to bollards and vehicle barriers, but lately they seem to be popping up everywhere I go. I am most

As a professional in the publishing business I experienced the good, the bad and the criminal of consulting. There was the gung-ho guy who suggested

Everybody I know is cutting back these days. Concerns over the economy have motivated many of us to consider our spending and apply the latest

I finally have a new car. My old one was a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder with 116,000 miles, bald tires and only three working doors, as

A recent search for news of the world of parking (you can find most of these stories in the PT News section on our Home

It’s my observation that parking – like the label on a purse, the insignia on cars and the square footage of a house – is

I wonder if the parking industry needs its own national ad campaign. I have no idea who would organize or fund it, but let’s set

I made a statement in my last column that I feel badly about now. I wrote that everybody thinks the people who run cities are

Chicago was parking-drama central during the latest winter storms. Besides highway gridlock, power losses and frozen toes, the city took a direct hit to the

Speed bumps hurt my car, and my backside. They’re called speed “humps” in some places, but that just makes me laugh like a sixth grader,

The holidays were pretty enjoyable in my immediate vicinity. The fun and frenzy of the season occurred as expected, and my family reveled in it

I might never have considered parking a sexist industry if I had not had such a strong and spontaneous reaction to the September 2010 cover

There are days for everything these days. It’s not just Memorial Day anymore – we have Secretary’s Day and Boss’s Day, Earth Day, May Day,

We have many opportunities to take advantage of shuttle rides here in the Los Angeles area. It seems like many of our most popular venues

The hot season has faded into fall in many parts of the country, but school starts after Labor Day around here, so early September is

From now on, whenever I start complaining about parking, I’m going to snap the rubber band around my wrist and remind myself: At least I

Whenever I think I’ve seen it all, I’m proven wrong. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it’s bad. Of course, I am arrogant to think

My favorite little grocery store is actually part of a giant chain. They specialize in smaller-scale locations that sell staples and good-quality gourmet foods that

I recently met with the staff of Parking Today, something I get to do barely once a year and which is always enjoyable. I communicate

1. The English call a parking structure a “car park.” And while it makes total sense, it also conjures funny visions of cars, left behind

In a month or two, Denver International Airport (DIA) reportedly will break ground on a 4,200-space, $18.6 million parking facility that’s supposed to be the

The temperatures have dipped here in the Los Angeles area, and I have stopped wearing flip-flops and traded my T-shirts for a light sweater. Occasionally,

There are days when I feel like a mental patient of sorts. Whether I am suffering from memory loss, sleep deprivation, depression, temporary insanity or

Just when I thought I had experienced most of what the world of parking has to offer, my daughter started kindergarten earlier this fall. In

I rarely have anything nice to say about valet parking. It’s not because I’m trying to lose my job as a columnist in this magazine.

Having lived a fairly commonplace, average-Josephine kind of life, I am easily shocked. I grew up in a small town, attended a religious college, married

I’ve been writing this column for quite awhile now, and I think it’s time I made a confession. Or maybe a few confessions. I’ll just

I recently read a news article about two men arrested for using a parking lot as a toilet. They punctuated their performance by flashing two

Parking is one of those important but mundane things that most of us would say are not important at all in the grand scheme of

Two of my nieces recently flew in to see me – arriving at LAX. Because they are underage, I was required to obtain a boarding

I went to Disneyland almost every year of my childhood, and during the past three years since my address and the age of my children

If I am more than an amateur in any specific parking area, it is in on-street parking. That’s because it’s the option offered to me

The holidays are over, and my good will toward man, woman and child has been dimmed by office parties, mountains of gifts to wrap, heavy

My wish list is a mile long. For starters, I’d like the economy to stabilize, my house and investments to regain their former (higher) dollar

As a member of the literate public, I am inundated with news reports at every turn. I read the news online, glimpse headlines at the

Parking is rarely simple. Industry leaders out there would argue with me, but I’d still insist – parking is rarely simple. Lots and garages and

There’s a menace in the parking lot. Be it the grocery store, drugstore or shopping mall, the same danger lurks. You park your perfectly innocent

Like most Americans, I have spent a significant part of my life parking. Whether I want to or not, I am compelled by society, industry,

Parking lots and garages offer an interesting glimpse of a specific modern reality. That is, how human beings have come to use public places for

I’ve aired a number of grievances in this column. I’ve complained about everything from scary parking garages to holiday parking nightmares to outrageously enraged parkers.

Melissa will be speaking on her favorite subject, amateur parking, at the Parking Industry Exhibition at the end of March in Chicago. There is something

I thought I’d heard everything until I read about the latest reality TV show: A&E’s “Parking Wars.” I’ll be honest: When I first found out

Ah, the holiday season, a time of peace and generosity, parties and pies, traditions and family gatherings. There are so many things to love about

Parking is different in every state – at least it is in the 6 different states I have lived in during my life: Utah, New

There are so many things to be outraged about these days. Politics, war, gas prices, imminent domain, spam, global warming. Although I feel strongly about

It’s a simple truth: If you are a woman and you are alone and you are in a parking garage, you are afraid. Some will