Tuesday, October 23, 2007


No Parking

I live in a 20-story condo complex. One of the cornerstones of happy urban living is staking claim to a parking space. There is a big black market of parking spaces in our building, with people constantly posting signs "Looking For Parking Space"; "Parking Space for Rent". They are quite the commodity.

I have two reserved spots in my garage. Mine. All mine. And it is not a perk I take lightly. I LOVE having two spots for one car. I park next to a pillar which gives me several extra feet on the driver's side, and I have an entire empty space on the passenger side. My car does not get dinged. I can open the car doors as wide as I want. I can easily load up my bike or groceries or anything I want into my car, using any or all of the doors.

This morning one of my parking neighbors stopped me as I was getting ready to leave. I don't know her well, but she seems to have a nice family and we share plenty of elevator rides together. She told me they may be getting another car and wanted to know if I'd be interested in renting my free spot to them.

On the one hand, this is free money. I'm not sure what the going rate is for park spaces, but I think it might be $50 a month? $75? (I live in a condo with stupid-high fees for everything, so I'm sure people pay a premium for spots.) But on the other hand, I hate the idea of a claustrophobic parking space. I think that every single time I try to get in or out of my car, I'm going to miss the extra space. But on the other, other hand I certainly want to be a friendly and helpful neighbor.

I think I should rent out BOTH of my spaces, and then use that money to rent two adjacent spaces somewhere else in the garage. It's the only logical solution.

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