I’m a little homie only 143lbs. That’s the issue.
1 Like
As if senior citizens would roll up to downtown Raleigh if it had more parking.
There are no Cheesecake Factories or Olive Gardens to cater to their generation’s highly refined tastes. Downtown is very uncivilized. No freeway either… how are they even supposed to find the place?
3 Likes
I think when it comes to parking keeps on the streets not apart of developments. So essentially no garages.
1 Like
I disagree! Seniors are very sophisticated. Their pallets have been refined over decades. Can also afford the good stuff. Visit the fine eating establishments in such places as Napa, NYC, and even our local fine dining such as Fearrington House, the Umstead, etc. Lots of seniors, popping tops, making it rain. Come on man
1 Like
Crazy as it is to agree with you, you’re completely right here. Plenty of older people eat at interesting restaurants - they have money to spend, many of them have been able to travel the world, they’re a serious fine dining market.
What are everyone’s take on valet parking? Do you use it? Would you use it if offered? I never do but in 99% of cases, I don’t drive when going out in DT. However, for our driving visitor’s why not use valet parking?
It’s sometimes offered per restaurant but could a valet service work for each district? “Coming to Fayetteville Street? Let us valet your car at insert_location_here and you can walk to your final destination”
Just a thought.
1 Like
Valet keeps the restaurants humming! The norm in LA, Santa Monica. All for it!
2 Likes
I think I see more people complaining about difficult-to-find free parking as opposed to just parking. With valets usually come tips. If we could make the service subsidized by the city and offer the valet driver a decent or livable wage (with no tips), I could see a service like that being very popular. Just depends on whether or not the city would get value from it.
I don’t see a service like this being as used if there’s a cost higher than the one a typical parking deck has.
My personal preference is I’m not letting some lil high school kid try and park my manual transmission vehicle. I know I sound like a grumpy cat but I’d rather park it myself
9 Likes
What is this “manual transmission” you speak of? 
1 Like
I may or may not have this on my car…
10 Likes
One of our Uber drivers in Houston for the Final 4 this year was a young guy with a manual. I mentioned he had a Millennial anti-theft device, and he said that was one of the motivations to get it, far less chance of car theft. I also saw a short clip of a car jacking at a gas station in Texas, I believe. They dip sticks had to hop out and run away cause the car was manual. All too funny. If you haven’t driven a manual transmission with no power steering you’ve really never driven. 
3 Likes
I learned to drive in a VW bug (one of the original ones). Manual transmission with a very unforgiving clutch, and no power anything. Stalled it out many times before I got the hang of it.
2 Likes
I was JUST thinking we need a VW reaction/emoji thingy. Same here. Actually learned on a 1980 Volvo but first car was '67 Bug.
2 Likes
Mine was a 74 Ford Fiesta. I could drive all around Raleigh without ever even potentially coming to a stop on a steep hill where there might be a car behind me, lol. Peace at Glenwood was the intersection I avoided like the plague.
2 Likes
I’ve had that problem, even when I am having my annual inspection. People just can’t drive manuals anymore. You could almost leave your car unlocked with a key in the ignition and it likely won’t get stolen.
1 Like
Yeah I couldn’t believe when I went to get my windows tinted on my current car neither of the window techs in the shop could back the car in. Neither of them understood how to drive a stick 
Both these guys had to be in their early 20s/late teens. I feel it’s definitely a generational thing for sure. My father has been an adamant manual daily driver for over 50 years and I’ve been daily manual driving daily since 2011.
1 Like
I had one friend who drove stick growing up but everyone else had automatics. I have to think even that ratio is dropping.
2 Likes
Got my license in 99 and my first car was an (extremely beat up) '80 corolla with a 5 speed. Had quite a few friends who drove cars with stickshifts back then. If you wanted a dirt cheap beater it was the only option. Automatic transmissions didn’t last long enough back then.
My car was the oldest/crappiest but other ones in the running included:
- 84 nissan pickup
- 86 civic
- 87 accord
- My date to senior prom even had an 82 tercel with a 4 speed (but it was somehow immaculate and had evidently been reupholstered?)
Back in the 80s and before, automatics were slow, unreliable, uneconomical, and were usually an extra dollar option to begin with.
In the 90s manufacturers got many of the reliability issues worked out, and moved to 4-speed automatics with overdrive gears and locking torque converters so by then the practical case for manuals was dubious.
6 and 8 speed automatics and especially F1-inspired dual clutch sytems that are becoming more common have killed the manual’s performance advantage too. These days automatics will go for hundreds of thousands of miles maintenance free, easily outlasting a clutch on even the most careful driver’s car. They are so good that there is basically no practical reason to go with a manual anymore. Perhaps there is a slight argument for it in terms of moderately better control of engine braking but that’s quite a stretch. Really at this point the only reason to own a manual anymore is personal preference.
2 Likes