Yard Art

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Firewood Bandit

Firewood Bandit

Minister of Fire
Jan 3, 2014
549
Western WIsconsin
When ever someone new comes to my place, I tell them to look for the parking meters as most of the other residents don't have metered parking.


3 of the 4 are would I would term collectable, MacCay, Duncan Miller Model #50, and POM aka Park O Meter and the final is a plain Jane model #60 Duncan.

I had someone ask me if they "work". I replied "who would have meters installed if they didn't work?"


Anyway, they are different and amuse me.


Kade the dog is stalking tweety birds in the spruce trees in the distance.
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Yatt says Hi.

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Neat! Love the yellow one. :)

I grew up in the "country" - when we went to the "city" I was fascinated by parking meters, sidewalks and curbs (didn't take much to fascinate me when I was a kid - can you tell?).
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Please be sure to report all of your earnings to the IRS for taxation.;)


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I never understood cities that implement meters. I mean I know their "intended" purpose is to generate revenue for the city. But, to me it is just a spotlight on backwards thinking of those running a town.

People want to go to town and find EASY, FREE, CONVENIENT parking so they can SPEND money on the reason they came to town in the first place. People don't want to dig in their ash tray for coins to feed the meter and then have to keep an eye on the clock as they do their shopping (worrying about getting a ticket)

Most of the money from a meter probably just goes back to pay the meter-maid salary to write tickets. Seems pointless.

Rant over.;lol

OP: Nice little collection though.:) I like antique stuf.
 
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CenterTree said:
Please be sure to report all of your earnings to the IRS for taxation.;)


---------

I never understood cities that implement meters. I mean I know their "intended" purpose is to generate revenue for the city. But, to me it is just a spotlight on backwards thinking of those running a town.

People want to go to town and find EASY, FREE, CONVENIENT parking so they can SPEND money on the reason they came to town in the first place. People don't want to dig in their ash tray for coins to feed the meter and then have to keep an eye on the clock as they do their shopping (worrying about getting a ticket)

Most of the money from a meter probably just goes back to pay the meter-maid salary to write tickets. Seems pointless.

Rant over.;lol

OP: Nice little collection though.:) I like antique stuf.
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I have considerable experience dealing with parking, but to avoid getting into a long diatribe, let me tell you the following.

1. There is no "free parking" except in the game of Monopoly. There is subsidized parking and local policy will determine if the tax payer picks up the tab or the parking patron.

2. The ramps everyone is so fond of, they cost aprox. $12,000/stall in a stand alone stall and $20,000/stall if the ramp houses other things like apartments or stores.

3. Maintenance in a ramp comes down to about $125-200/stall depending on the age of the structure.
4. In northern climates, ramps will fall down eventually due to salt/corrosion of structural steel.
5. Surface parking lots cost about $2,000/stall to build and maintenance costs including snow removal are about $100/year.

So the question for the cities is who should pay, the taxpayers or the parking patron. Personally I think the store owners should.
 
By "ramp" do you mean a parking garage? Not sure what ramp is.

Anyhow, my "opinion" was referring strictly to on-street parking (which is where meters are used).

To me, when I want to go shopping (or to a doctor/dentist/other business) I will always choose going to the ones that offer CONVENIENT parking first. And that is always NOT downtown.

Shopping malls and the like don't use parking meters.:)
Which references YOUR statement that store owners should pay for the patron's parking. (which I agree).;)


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Our nearest large city recently redid the main streets to now included what I call "tree islands" along the sides.

Talk about a WASTE of prime parking spaces. There are 3 usable spaces and then the sidewalk area juts out into the parking lane and there is a tree (with concrete sidewalk surrounding it) planted there. Then 3 more parking spots and another tree! GEEZ! :eek:

Meanwhile people are driving around town searching for the rare available spot to park. (also with their hand rummaging through the ash tray digging out coins for the meter.) LOL.;lol

Here we have newer DIGITAL meters. Wouldn't look so good in your driveway though. LOL!
 
CenterTree said:
By "ramp" do you mean a parking garage? Not sure what ramp is.

Anyhow, my "opinion" was referring strictly to on-street parking (which is where meters are used).

To me, when I want to go shopping (or to a doctor/dentist/other business) I will always choose going to the ones that offer CONVENIENT parking first. And that is always NOT downtown.

Shopping malls and the like don't use parking meters.:)
Which references YOUR statement that store owners should pay for the patron's parking. (which I agree).;)


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Our nearest large city recently redid the main streets to now included what I call "tree islands" along the sides.

Talk about a WASTE of prime parking spaces. There are 3 usable spaces and then the sidewalk area juts out into the parking lane and there is a tree (with concrete sidewalk surrounding it) planted there. Then 3 more parking spots and another tree! GEEZ! :eek:

Meanwhile people are driving around town searching for the rare available spot to park. (also with their hand rummaging through the ash tray digging out coins for the meter.) LOL.;lol

Here we have newer DIGITAL meters. Wouldn't look so good in your driveway though. LOL!
Click to expand...



Yes, Ramps = Parking garages.


Meters are very very common in parking lots, generally these are going to be Municipal, County or Unviversity owned.

Metered street parking will stir up considerable controversy. With Municipalities attempting to revitalize down town areas, parking is always a factor. The funny thing about having meters is patrons will find convenient and reasonably priced parking close to where they want to shop. Without meters, the parking is monopolized by employees of the stores using up all the "good" parking leaving nothing for paying customers.

People who use meters carry change and do not rummage around for coins as it is a planned purchase.

Digital meters are not something that would interest me either.:(
 
Seattle parking lots have either kiosks or pay boxes. Most all of our meters are now digital. It takes too many coins for a couple hours parking in downtown.
 
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Growing up in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, I always figured they use them to try and keep people from not staying all day long in the limited on-street parking available. If I was in the cities I usually used a ramp. To me a ramp is a cement open air structure that continuously spirals upwards and has a tight spiraling ramp down to the ticket taker/cashier.
 
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