To by put off by jobs with lack of parking.

[Boo2012]

Exactly that really. I get really really anxious about parking anywhere! I tend to google map, street view and even drive to places before actually visiting. I don't go anywhere if there's no parking unless unavoidable. I've been kept up at night fretting about parking. Mad I know.

Anyway, I've been looking for work. I've been a SAHP for a while.

Mil works somewhere about 15 minutes away. She has told me that there is work available there. Seems like a nice place to work BUT I can't deal with the lack of parking which she's told me about and I've heard it from others. Basically there is no actual spaces for a staff, customer parking is also limited. It means that people are parking outside peoples houses in the nearby village and the locals are very annoyed at this. There is no actual car park nearby or anything. Not a very built up or busy area. There is no good public transport links here either.

I just couldn't deal with the uncertainty of parking every day. Sounds mad. But I need to know I can park. Mil thinks I'm mad and says you just need to drive around to find a space - I don't want to drive around looking for a space. Parking rage 😂

I've seen another job that could have potential with lots of car parks nearby. Admittedly it will cost £££.

But surely I'm not being unreasonable to be put off a job over lack of suitable parking nearby?!

I'd see parking as a nice bonus but lack of parking wouldn't stop me taking a job that was great in every other way.

If your mil, who works there, has said that it's not a problem, then I would trust her and assume that it wasn't a problem.

She'd tell you if she had to go to work an hour early to get a space, regularly drove around for ages and was late for work, got shouted at by irate villagers, frequently got blocked in etc wouldn't she?

We have parking at work but it's dreadful to find a space after about 8:30, there are spaces across campus but it can be half hour walk!
I'm cycling in once I go back into the office (WFH during Covid so far) albeit it's 15 mins in the car, it can be an hour of faffing to find parking and walk to my office so cycling is easier and quicker
Can you cycle it?

You are not being unreasonable - I base this on many years of trying to park in hospital carparks for 1230 shifts. What made it worse was Parking charges came out of my wages. We were also fined if we parked in a non staff space. Very stressful, especially when you then have to walk a considerable distance to changing rooms and another 10 mins walk to the ward after that.

I understand the time issue but this is why we really need to think about how shit cars are. I can't imagine not taking a really great job because of parking. It means you care more about the fifteen minutes you might spending parking than the hours you spend at work.

To me it isn't rational.

Was thinking yesterday how cars are a massive pile of crap that ruin so much.

Research your public transport options in more detail. Too often people are unaware of what they are.

Depends how much you want or need a job! Sounds like an excuse to me but it's not something that bothers me (I do public transport to work anyway as we only have one car). Can you bus train or cycle? Get a lift with MIL?

Could you cycle?

YANBU no parking is a nightmare and I probably wouldn't take such a job.

But if it's 15 mins away then you could bike or walk. Maybe there is even a bus.

@newnortherner111

Research your public transport options in more detail. Too often people are unaware of what they are.

Or they are and some places really are difficult to get to.

My current place of work is a 15 minute drive. I live in a town with generally excellent public transport (bus, metro etc). The office is in one of those out of town business parks on the other side of the city to me.

I tried to route map public transport just in case I ever needed it - 89 minutes and three separate modes of transport with sone lengthy walks/waits in between. Fucking ridiculous.

I don't think you are being unreasonable, just one point.

It is likely not the employers fault. The government introduced laws on company carparks bin the Blair/Brown era for environmental reasons.

YANBU My last employer was based in the town centre with only 6 parking spaces and 60 people in the office. A few of my colleagues rented parking spaces, a few paid £140 a month for the nearby multi-storey and a few battled for spaces in a residential area then walked 15 minutes. I took the bus but it was unreliable and I had to leave 1hr and 15 minutes before work (compared to 20-30 minute drive) in case the later bus didn't arrive or wasn't on time (regular occurrence). Now I work somewhere with loads of parking and big spaces I don't think I could go back to a job without parking.

Whilst I understand it’s easier to drive to work and people do have to travel a distance, I can’t imagine turning a job down because of parking.
But if it’s only 15 mins surely there’s public transport?

YANBU and I'm surprised that so many people voted that you are. I'd hate to start my working day stressed at trying (and possibly failing!) to get a parking spot, and going through that worry every day. Not knowing how much extra time I'd need to factor in going round and round the block looking for a space. Or hoping that at the end of a working day I wouldn't come back to a car damaged by territorial locals who are fed up with people parking outside their houses. As you said, public transport isn't really an option either.

As PPs have suggested, would it be viable to drive to your MIL's and get a lift with her? It still doesn't guarantee a parking space but may reduce your stress.

I turned down a job because of no parking, I'm disabled (but not enough for a blue badge) and would have had to park some distance away.

it is shit but it is very common op, you would struggle to find work imo if you were holding out for a staff parking space

I’m with you OP. My last two places of work in a large city centre have had awful parking, (thankfully I could get the train in so I wasn’t affected, though it cost a bomb and took just as much time) but colleagues had to park in residential streets and walk 15mins to the office or pay an extortionate cost to park in nearby car parks.
I’ve now relocated offices to another part of the country & it’s has masses of parking, which I’m looking forward to the convenience of when we go back to work. I can also cycle in for 25mins, so think i might do that more often now. Is cycling an option?

@Moonshine11

Whilst I understand it’s easier to drive to work and people do have to travel a distance, I can’t imagine turning a job down because of parking. But if it’s only 15 mins surely there’s public transport?

Not outside of London and a few big cities , except on the third Wednesday of the month , with return on the Thursday

@newnortherner111

Research your public transport options in more detail. Too often people are unaware of what they are.

Non existent here. At least it is if you want to get to work on time. The train might get you into the city on time, but not to your work location on time. Buses are normally late/don't turn up at all/break down. If they are on time, you still end up late as they don't actually run to anyone's work schedule. Even within the city, the buses are terrible, and that was before covid.

I wouldnt take a job without suitable parking either. Although many places never have enough spaces either so people end up parking in very strange places.

15 mins by car could be anywhere between under 5 and 15 miles and direct bus routes don't exist in many areas. Plus infrequency of connections could mean that the journey takes an hour or more to do.

OP, YANBU but it depends on availablity of alternative work, or modes of transport eg cycling or car sharing with MIL whether this job is feasible or not.

Do you have anything like "Call Connect" in your area?

I wouldn't take a job where I couldn't park, you're not being unreasonable.

RE: public transport. This isn't possible for a lot of people. It's probably a 3 mile walk for me to our nearest bus stop, and train station is a 30 min drive.

But if it’s only 15 mins surely there’s public transport?

There are many locations 15 mins away from my house that are not served by public transport. Equally many places have bus and even train links.

Public transport is area dependent, not time/distance.

What about parking a little further away and using an electric fold-up bike or electric scooter?

YANBU. I applied for a role recently but when they requested to interview they said there was no parking at all to encourage public transport use. But when I checked on the situation it was 3 bus changes or a bus and 2 train changes meaning 20 miles would take around 1.5 hours from where I live. I drove round to see if I could find other parking myself but there wasn't anything so turned it down.

I also had a role in W London which took away staff parking spaces, I just found somewhere else and resigned. Going from a 30 min drive to paying for parking at the station and a 1 hour 15 minute train/tube journey is rubbish!

No, not everywhere "surely" has public transport. I live in the South West. My first job here was 9 miles away. The office was 2 miles from a station with 1 hourly train and the last bus left at 5.10 when I finished at 5.30. I had to join a complicated lift-share system.

In my current job, I can park, but my colleague in a town in the opposite direction has no car. She had to pay for a taxi on Wednesday when the bus didn't show.