Parking constants

Seen on social media:

idk what it is about paying for parking that absolutely infuriates me. Even if it’s just $1 at the meter. I will pay for so many other things, but parking? That’s where I draw the line.

The Chevrolet newsreels showed the debut of parking meters in 1936, of course featuring pretty girls driving a Chevy. The girls are annoyed at the meter and can’t find any coins.

Finally one fishes out a nickel and they show how the meter works.

Of course they shop too long and get caught by the parking patrol. Some things never change. The price hasn’t changed either, a nickel in 1936 and a dollar now, exactly in line with average inflation.

The meter was invented by Carl Magee, a civic crusader type who ran through several careers. First a lawyer, then a journalist. Scripps-Howard had assigned him to edit the Oklahoma News, a direct competitor to EK Gaylord’s empire. Magee supposedly wanted to relieve traffic congestion. He developed and patented the basic idea then hired two engineering profs at OSU to make it practical. After the company got going, Magee gave up newspapers and managed it.

Parking is an important constant in civic development. It was already important before motorized cars. Photos from the 1890s show buggies and horses parked diagonally, taking up more space than an automobile.

Malls killed downtowns because they offered easy free parking. Neighborhood stores had the best of both worlds, easy free parking and small lots for minimal walking. Now the fucking urbanists want to ban parking FOR NEIGHBORHOOD STORES.

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I doubt that Magee was really trying to solve congestion. More likely he was looking for a way to make money, and found it. The real problem with uncontrolled downtown parking is employees, not shoppers. In Magee’s era, upstairs residents were also long-term parkers. Employees and residents will hog most of the spaces if they’re not discouraged. Requiring separate long-term lots would have been a better solution.

Personal: While looking up the Okla News in NW Ayer’s 1939 newspaper guide, I noticed the wide variety of ethnic papers in OKC, typical of the era. One black, two Protestant, one Catholic, one Jewish and one Czech, along with several trade journals. The monthly Farmer-Stockman and the weekly Law Journal were still running in the 70s when I lived there. The address of the Jewish and Czech papers was later occupied by an engraving firm where I worked.