The Washington times., 1929-12-11
PARKING SPACE
IMPORTANT
T0ST0RES
By J. LEO sUGRUE,
Time. AatemeblIe EdIiof

average man begins and ends
with the fact that he cannot find
q parking space. Actually. how.
ever. it is much broader than
that.
Al specimen Of the broad and
farreaching effects Of the prob
lem that the average man never
would realize was brought to the
writer's attention In brokerage
office during the noon-hour II .
recent busy day in the stock
market.
That's a good stock re.
marked the first observer point
ing to the name Of . prominent
department store which operates
III several cities.
.You forgot that the parking
problem Is not yet solved" replied
the economist to whom the re-
mark was addressed. That stock
win be q better one when here
Is no parking problem"
The merchant, large and small.
Is just as much irked, II not more
so, than John Jones and his wife
when they cannot find parking
space around the store. He sees
the material effect of 1t when
his books are balanced at the
end of the year. The gross and
net profits are smaller for every
instance ia which q prospective
patrons went away because # a
dearth Of parking space.
The merchant would like tire.
fnendously to see the parking
problem solved. But he has no
more idea how to do 1t than the
patron Of his store. Some mer-
chants favor the abolition Of all
parking in the interest Of BUSH
ness. Others fear a still worse
effect as . result of such q dras-
tic step.
THE parking situation" says
one authority, has many effects,
all Of which are bad
Another one of those No
Parking, Entrance signs, snapped
the driver, whose patience had
been exhausted five minutes
earlier in his futile quest for a
parking space,
They are inevitable" remarked
his companion.
"Inevitable?" storlned the
driver. They are put there just
50 someone who is prominent can
have a reserved parking space"
"Oh, no, they are not" re-
marked the other. THE one rea-
son they are put there is to pro-
vide free exit for those within the
building and free entrance for
firemen and fire apparatus in
event of fire. It Is absolutely
necessary in the case Of large
apartment and office buildings
which are occupied by a great
many persons
The second speaker was right.
Many motorists, however, see the
situation from the first and mar
rover viewpoint.
Who owns all those cars parked
ct the curb in a one-hour parking
zone? Surveys have revealed
that from IS to 95 per cent Of
them are owned by persons VINO
intend to stay longer than one
hour. A large proportion Of
them are believed by many traf.
fic authorities to be occupants
Of nearby office and store build
ingS-those who protest that
their patrons cannot get to their
offices and stores.
Says one expert commenting
on this:
Everyone wants the problem
solved. but in such way that
the other fellow will feel the
diScomfortS of the solution"
THAT ought to stop some of
these birds Who park bumper to
bumper with the car ahead"
unused many Self-righteouS car
owner in a city which recently
adopted a traffic ordinance re-
Quiring three ieet of clearance
ahead and behind the car in
parallel parking
He soon found himself wrong.
Cars were parked just as closely
together as before. He fused
and furned at poor enforcement