On street parking is mostly parallel parking which most people suck at. Just go to garage where can drive right into a parking spot.
5 Likes
Parallel parking is not even taught or tested here in Alabama.
1 Like
My first drivers test (16) was drive down street and do a 3-point turn on side street, then parallel park downtown. Every bit of 10 min from start to finish. But then tester know me and know had been driving farm pickup since I was 14. There was a rule that if going to one part of farm to another could drive on public road for up to a mile and if not a US highway. Not that, that 1 mile limit stopped me from going farther to visit friends. 
2 Likes
NC no longer requires parallel parking on the driving test.
1 Like
I think many states don’t. I know FL doesn’t, either. And it shows! I had to learn it in driver’s ed, but it wasn’t on the actual driving test.
Watching people attempt (and fail) to parallel park is quite entertaining if you’re not waiting on them.
3 Likes
yep some can be quite entertaining 
2 Likes
It’s not hard really. The key is going past the spot and backing in. Trying to parallel park forwards never works. But people try it all the time.
2 Likes
Don’t modern cars loaded with features park themselves?
2 Likes
At least since 1990 when I took it.
If the rear wheels turned it’d be fine. I wanna say there is some crazy model or two out there that does this but not sure off the top of my head. Edit: yeah they’re out there. super expensive.
Living on East Campus at NCSU, you almost had to parallel park to get anywhere near the dorms. I became an expert during my 2 years living in Syme and Gold Halls. It is a lost art. 
3 Likes
I lived in Bagwell and know what you mean!
1 Like
I turned right onto Blue Ridge, crossed over 440 (well, not that haha, I guess Wade), turned down the dead-end road that would eventually take you to PNC, did a 4 & 1/2- point turn, and then went back to the DMV. If it took 5 minutes, I’d be surprised. My mom was so stunned to see us back, she had brought a book and was prepared for a nice long sit.
1 Like
I think we took the same driving test @JeepCSC Turned right down into the stadium parking lot. No curbs, and running off the road was a fail. I did my 3 pt turn in 11 points. Also a fail. I did pass the next day, lol.
2 Likes
I grew up in Miami and took my driving test there. The test was — I kid not — on a closed range behind the DMV building with no one else on it. Perpendicular parking, stop sign, 3-point turn, drive around a couple of turns. Done.
I was shocked and disappointed because I’d heard of my mom’s experience (also in Miami, but at a very different time) and how she had to get on some really busy freeways, etc. So I had practiced all the hard stuff to perfection!
If you’ve ever driven in Miami, everything about how people drive there should make sense now.
3 Likes
Well, that’s definitely one of the reasons why Miamians drive how they do. I’ve also heard that drivers from other countries are just issued a Florida license if they have a valid license from another country. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but…
1 Like
Statistically speaking - Raleigh has the highest rate of failed parallel parking attempts in the country. Look it up.
Not so much a lost art but rather something most people that live here never had to learn. Its alive and well in other cities.
According to what I have been told my NC DOV if you have a foreign license you are allowed to drive in US. Also most states will let a foreigner received a DL if can pass the test as any first timer would. Main thing is in NC non us citizens will not receive the valid ID type of license (gold start in upper right).
Russ Jones of Loden Properties says that in Raleigh if you have 100 hotel rooms and no vacancy only 50 parking spots will be occupied. Because Raleigh required 1 parking spot per every hotel room hotels were not built in (downtown) Raleigh.
5 Likes
On the Jan 7 City Council meeting agenda, we have a change to downtown parking requirements. I take it they could vote to start the text change process for this one.
http://go.boarddocs.com/nc/raleigh/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=BJWSLK7336EF
This change would eliminate parking requirements for nonresidential uses in the Downtown Mixed Use (DX) zoning district. That district, which applies to most of Raleigh’s downtown, facilitates a dense mix of uses and includes the tallest heights of any zoning district in the city.
Currently, one parking space is required for each 500 square feet of commercial use in DX. That is moderately less than what is required in other commercial zoning districts, reflecting downtown’s higher levels of walkability and transit service. Additionally, no parking spaces are required for the first 10,000 feet of nonresidential use in a building or for the first 30,000 square feet for certain nonresidential uses, including restaurant and retail.
The proposed change originated with work from Council’s Healthy Neighborhoods Committee (now the Safe, Vibrant, and Healthy Community Committee) in 2019. The committee made recommendations to better align parking requirements with several goals, including:
- Housing affordability
- Housing supply in high-opportunity areas (near jobs and amenities)
- Increased use of transit and non-vehicular means of transportation
- Equity between transit users/carless households and car owners
- The cost of goods and services
- The creation of comfortably walkable areas
- Addressing stormwater runoff
- Addressing carbon emissions and other air quality benefits
The committee unanimously recommended that Council authorize a text change to eliminate parking requirements for nonresidential parking in DX. Council heard that recommendation at its meeting of September 3, 2019. At that meeting, questions were raised about the potential effects on adjacent neighborhoods, and the item was referred back to the committee. The committee did not take up the item again, and on December 3, 2019, Council requested that it be brought back as a special item.
If the City Council would like to amend the Unified Development Ordinance to remove the minimum parking requirements within the Downtown Mixed Use District, a text change must be authorized. The text change would be referred to the Planning Commission for their review and recommendation. The City Council would conduct a public hearing to adopt the ordinance.
12 Likes