Parking Garages Tell An Urban Tale

It’s Labor Day weekend, and my family and I took a day trip into downtown Chicago today. Like any major metropolis during the summer tourist season (albeit the end of it), parking the car turned out to be an exercise in comparison shopping. Near high profile Chicago attractions, like Millennium Park, there is nary a parking meter in sight. No matter. We planned ahead; Sunday means free parking at city garages.

Except today.

Because of the park’s holiday jazz festival, the garage’s electronic signage flashed $25 for special event parking. Oh, yeah. That’s special alright. So special that I wheeled the car around and quickly exited to find cheaper rates.

Sure enough, a scant ten minute walk away was a relative bargain at 16 bucks. Parking was plentiful in what turned out to be an apartment building garage. But it was also a bit telling about the odd relationship between some city dwellers and their cars: they don’t seem to use them.

As I wheeled my trusty Subaru into an open space, I was struck by the number of cars covered in dust. I must have counted at least ten vehicles covered in varying densities of urban particulate. Some had light coatings, perhaps sitting unused for several weeks; several more were thicker, perhaps several months. But there was a 2008 Honda Accord that looked as if it hadn’t moved since, well, since it was sold. A thick layer of dust left the front and rear window opaque. More telling was the stalactite-type deposit from water seeping down from the floor above. It left a white stain that ran from the rear portion of the roof and down the rear window. Curious if the car was dead, or just hibernating, I peered through the foggy driver side window. Looking at the dash, the tell-tale car alarm light flashed dutifully.

It was strange about this Accord. Not a bottom-of-the rung four-banger; it was the lux edition six cylinder model with dual exhaust, fancy wheels, in-dash navigation system and black leather interior. And there it sat. The worst fate for a car, other than totaling it, is not to drive it.

Now, I’m all about utility. We use our single car. We use it effectively. We’ll use it until it dies. But, to all appearances, this Accord owner is content on paying a monthly car payment, the insurance to protect it, and the space to leave it parked in. He or she is certainly saving money on gas.