to think that if you live near a city centre you should expect this

[mileend2bermondsey]

I currently live about 10 miles from a big city which I work in. To save money on parking in the city centre at on average 8gbp per day I drive to the outskirts of the city, park on the closest street that does not have yellow lines and walk just over a mile into work. I was chatting to a friend about it who said I was lucky my car has been nicked (dodgy area) then goes on to say she'd be fuming if commuters parked on her street. My opinon is that if you chose to live on one of the first streets without parking restrictions, there are bound to be people who will park there to save money, same with living near a train station. I used to live in a terrace opposite a shopping precinct, during business hours you couldn't park on the street for love nor money. It was part and parcel of living in that particular location, I got on with it until I could move and consider such factors when moving since. I certainly wouldnt blame the drivers or key their cars over such a 'slight' as my friend thinks may happen.

Not everyone can afford to buy a house or has complete choice about where they rent.
Of course I don't expect to to be able to park directly outside my house but somewhere in the same street would be nice when I get home late at night.
Some of us applied to the council for resident permits but we were turned down as a lot of others didn't want to pay.

When I bought my flat its proximity to pubs mattered more to me than parking, which wasn't an issue anyway due to how far away we were from the controlled parking zone. Both these things have changed. There are also more residents with cars, as there are fewer elderly owners and more couples with kids squeezing into the flats, due to economic issues.
Shame I couldn't predict all this. I lose no sleep over the people parking here, but if I thought the viewed me with the complete lack of empathy expressed by some on here, then I might feel differently the next time I see a commuter parking up for the day.

The flats round here are all council. Half of us didn't even choose them, let alone buy them and if we all had the money to buy houses with driveways, I don't think we'd need QueenBean to suggest it to us.

"Making compromises" and "all I can afford" are exactly the same thing. "I can't afford a four bedroom house with a garden but the garden is the most important thing so I'll take a two bedroom with a garden instead"

I concede that if the council changes things and it's totally out of your control then that's no good. But not ok to key peoples cars or throw dog shit on them.

And it's not a "let them eat cake" attitude - I just wouldn't dream of buying somewhere and relying on the road for parking then bitching that the general public are parking there instead.

Of course it's a let them eat cake attitude - again demonstrated by your 'four bedrooms versus garden' analogy. I shouldn't laugh, but I am - your lack of social awareness is hilarious

I agree it's not on to throw dog shit - absolutely.

What's so ridiculous about that analogy? Showing that a compromise and a "I can't afford it" are the same

I'd love to live in a mansion in the countryside but I couldn't afford it. I'd love to live in a house near the city but I couldn't afford it. What I could afford was a poky 2 bedroom flat so that's what I bought. I compromised on loads to get it but an ok location was my priority.

I used to live in an area with on street parking. Commuters parked there daily, for up to twelve hours or more a fucking day. Not only did they park there for ages, they parked like cunts. If an ambulance or fire engine had ever needed to come down the street, we would have been fucked, as there was no way for a large vehicle to get round the corner onto our street.

All the residents wanted permit parking and the council turned it down because the pub across the road vetoed it. As someone has already said, I don't give a shit about parking directly outside my house, but somewhere within a mile radius would've been nice.

Op you are not being unreasonable. If people are either to lazy or astute to lobby their council for sensible parking restrictions in their town centre and on their own street then what can you do about it.

Our local chamber of commerce is always lobbying for small changes that make a big difference, even a few parking spaces in key areas can make an enormous difference to the convenience of life in a town centre. e.g. match the length of parking to the type of businesses in front of the spots such as chemists and convenience stores only need 15 minute parking.

Why is it ridiculous? Because as has already been explained to you, for many it's not about whether or not you want 4 bedrooms or a garden, it about what you can afford in your area and nothing more. Gardens and 4 bedrooms don't come into it.

Lazy or astute? What evidence is there from the OP that's the case?

You're being deliberately obtuse pretending to not understand that those were clearly examples of what people may or may not be able to afford

Not at all.

i live in cul de sac with a school at end. the school used to be half the size. so i expect most used to walk. theyve decided to put a no motor vehicle sign up. ridiculous as you need motor access to the school. plus of course to our drive etc.
since expansion the school now also have more teachers etc with no extra car park.
i cant see the point as the parents parking is such a short time. but mainly as it is completely ignored as its not enforced. they just turned the signs around, ha even if seen they are being ignored.
interesting point could be made about the weight of the adults who couldnt possibly walk a few more metres.
i also feel it disadvantages those who dont want to break the rule.
i dont think the op is doing anything wrong, its not even in front of someones house.
i think 8€ is a lot to park to go to work.
yes to improved public transport (free)
but say a hospital near us parking became awful, literally missing hospital apt bad.
so many people seem to have cars that are always just left parked on road not used (nor put them on own drive or garage).
i dread the population increasing further as commuting is awful and driving takes ages or even the bus.

I find this fascinating. DH drives but I don't so I have always done my most of my travelling on public transport. It just astounds me people get so angry about having to walk a couple of roads or around the corner.

You could go round in circles with that 'argument' - what about all the single mothers with debts who might want to park near their house? Or the older person with mobility issues? Or the person who has to struggle with multiple young children? Etc etc etc.

If you're disabled you can have a parking bay marked out for you.

The "single mothers with debts who might want to park near their house" are not being told to fork out nearly £200 a month for other people's convenience.

The resident "struggling with multiple young children" might have to struggle a couple of hundred yards from inconveniently-parked car to front door. I don't see how this qualifies them to tell similarly-burdened others to use public transport or park even less conveniently.

No arguing when it comes to the anti social, anti commmunity twerps who think their right to park 10 feet from their front door outweighs my right to spend 170gbp a month on debt repayments rather than city centre parking

But, as has been pointed out, OP, that isn't the choice. People aren't whinging about their right to park 10 feet from their front door, but they would like to park somewhere in the vicinity of their house - which I suspect is what you do when you get home from work. Does that make you an anti-social, anti-community twerp?

You in your turn don't have a stark choice between paying £170 a month on parking and parking in the nearest street to your work that has free parking - you could vary where you park, park a little further away, take public transport, car share, cycle, go by scooter, or whatever. And if you can afford to run a car there's a case for saying you should ensure that you can afford to park it at your eventual destination.

Garlick, how does a single person travelling to work who chooses to park a mile away and walk count as "similarly burdened" to a resident struggling with a number of young children?

And I don't think the issue is residents having to walk a couple of hundred yards; the problem is when they end up having to walk much further than that, particularly if they live in an area where theirs is the only area with free parking and every other street in the vicinity is permit controlled.

Op you are not being unreasonable. If people are either to lazy or astute to lobby their council for sensible parking restrictions in their town centre and on their own street then what can you do about it.

TrueBlue, since when did lobbying automatically result in sensible parking restrictions being granted? What is your position on residents who have been lobbying till they're blue in the face and been repeatedly been refused local parking control measures?

So for those saying it might be legal but that doesn't make it right, are you suggesting that the public area on the road outside a house should be kept clear all the working day until the occupier of the nearest property gets home? Stupid.

I lived on a terraced, one way street with parking down one side for years. It became a PITA when DC1 was born, so we moved. Ok it did annoy me when residents parked their commercial transit vans on the street but I had no right to expect that they shouldn't.

What exactly are 'sensible' parking decisions? What decisions are sensible when it comes to choosing which property to live in?

If you're disabled you can have a parking bay marked out for you

Who said anything about being disabled? And if you think that being disabled and having a parking bay will prevent any parking problems you're quite wrong.

No-one is "suggesting" that *Jennifer" - interesting that you've jumped to that conclusion and claimed that it's the fault of the owners who want to park right outside their house. No-one on here has said that. You were also very fortunate to be in a position to move - not everyone is.

I'm with Iggi in the real world, rather than the pleasant bubble of 'choose between a garden and a drive!' and 'you can always park elsewhere on your street!' that some posters inhabit. Seems to be quite difficult for some folk to get their heads around the fact that not everywhere is like where they live.

And like Iggi, I count myself lucky if I can get a parking space within half a mile of my house while the commuters are in residence. I count anywhere on my street as 'outside my house'!

Op, your debt? No more my problem or concern than my parking hassles are yours. My opinion of the commuters who park daily on my street remains unchanged.

you could vary where you park
How would this help?
park a little further away
1.3 miles away from my work is far enough, thanks.
take public transport
Public transport ends before most of my shifts do
car share
Just gotta find someone who has the exact same weekly chaging, varying shift patterns that I work. Should be easy!
cycle
Over 10 miles to a work place with no showers or bike parking facilities.
scooter
Yeah Im going to learn how to drive and buy a scooter when I dont need to

And if you can afford to run a car there's a case for saying you should ensure that you can afford to park it at your eventual destination.
And there's a case to say that if you can afford to run a care you should ensure you should have an off road parking space to park it. Same thing.
And there's a case to say if you want to be able to park outside your house/on your street dont live near a city centre/train station/ect and then whinge when the general public dare to park on 'your' street!

1.3 miles away from my work is far enough, thanks

I feel the same about my house.

I think my street is generally quiet during the day, or at least appears so on the odd day I'm here and off work. The problem is coming home at night. Several households have more than one vehicle or bring work vans home. I do resent not even being able to get on the street at night because some households park three or four vehicles at any one time. No wonder they told the council they were opposed to resident permits.

Move if you dont like it then? Im not going to start paying out 170quid a month just because you think you have some sort of god given right to park on 'your' street, which superceeds my right to park wherever I chose on a public highway with no parking restrictions. Like you said, you dont care about my debt. I do, I have worked out away of cutting out unecessary costs to pay if off quicker. Like you said, I dont care about your parking hassles, so work out a way of dealing with them, dont expect me and other parkers/commuters to fix them for you.