Pull Onto the Grass, Mind the Sprinkler Head
Texas beat Ohio State 24-23 at home, and I paid full price for every one of those points. A quarter-by-quarter audit of game-day parking and stadium beer, priced against the coffee-can years.
5 min read
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Parking
Browse Old Austin Grouch posts about parking, Austin nostalgia, and the city habits locals still argue about.
Use this topic hub to explore satire, memories, and cultural commentary about parking in Austin, Texas.
6 posts · Newest first
Somebody Finally Sent the Gulfstreams a Bill
Austin plans new fees for private and corporate planes, possibly starting October 1, to help pay for the airport expansion. I remember when parking at Mueller cost about what a jet now spends on hand towels.
5 min read
Old Continental Lot Ran on Trust and a Lawn Chair
The dirt lot behind the Continental Club on South Congress charged five bucks cash, let you park your beater all night if the band was good, and the attendant in the lawn chair would hold your spot with an orange cone that had seen better days; these days the pavement's the same but the system texts you dynamic pricing alerts, knows when you left the bar, and charges a convenience fee for using actual money at the new kiosk.
6 min read
Three Dollars Bought You Two Hours on Congress and Zero App Permissions
Stood at the meter on 3rd and Congress feeding actual quarters into a machine that rejected two of them before spitting out a slip good for twelve minutes; that same stretch in 1995 let three singles buy you a lazy afternoon of record stores, cheap lunch, and no surveillance, before the city outsourced its sidewalks to a company whose app now knows your license plate, your credit score, and exactly how long you've been gone.
6 min read
The Meter Maid on Guadalupe Knew Your Name and Your Excuse
Betty used to cruise the meters from 24th to 29th in a golf cart older than most freshmen, waving at regulars and only writing tickets when you truly deserved it; last week the new plate-reading cameras zinged me $34 for eleven minutes over on a spot outside the old University Co-op while I was buying one remaining real paperback, no conversation, no mercy, no Betty.
6 min read
Parking Downtown: A $3 Meter, a $30 Garage, and the Death of Spontaneity
Parking used to be an afterthought. Now it's a second mortgage.
4 min read