Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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more parking space

 Park cars facing in alternating directions to fit in more cars
  (+5, -6)
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Parking cars in lots all facing the same direction or in random directions means leaving enough space to open car doors on BOTH sides of every car. What a waste!

Instead, repaint the lines and mark the parking spots to require that alternate cars park in OPPOSITE directions. One car noses in, the next car backs in. That way, the passenger sides of cars could be parked MUCH closer. The end cars in each row have their driver doors facing out (for an even number of cars). Could save maybe 15-20% of the space in lots!

(Of course, this might mean more parking-lot dents! And, since many lots have their rows very close, getting in and out of these tighter spaces might be tough!)

—lee, Mar 16 2001

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       And how do the passengers get out?
—PotatoStew, Mar 17 2001
   

       Anything that actively discourages putting more than one person in a car is probably a bad idea, if you're trying to make more parking spaces available.
—Uncle Nutsy, Mar 19 2001
   

       I'm torn on that idea, Peter. I think it's better for individuals, especially women, to park as close as possible to the store or whatever, to minimize the chances of being accosted in the parking lot.
—centauri, Mar 19 2001
   

       I've seen women's parking areas in Europe, for just that purpose.
—beauxeault, Mar 19 2001
   

       have magnetic cars,drive up the walls of the supermarket and leave them stuck to it while you shop
—technobadger, Mar 19 2001
   

       hmm... aren't most of those concrete structures initially established on a steel frame? Also, would there be ladders for ingress/egress? Would one park front-up (hard to keep any doors open), front down (hard to keep them closed), or horizontally (near impossible to get/stay inside). Maybe we should go to overhead-hinged doors (a la Delorean). Would a car start if it were vertical? Don't the fuel systems depend on gravity at least initially? Anyway, I like the initial idea. Again, my car is very small and old, so I park as close to that jackass in the F-350 as possible while still staying inside the 1/2 space that he so generously left me.
—absterge, Mar 20 2001
   

       technobadger... this might cause some problems while driving... if your magnetic car passes by another magnetic car either A) Your cars will be drawn together causing a collision or B) Your cars will be pushed apart causing you to go off the road. Maybe the stores should be magnetic, but then what do you do about the poor sap with a plate in his head... he's going to be stuck to the wall for a while.
—pnewp, Mar 20 2001
   

       do you have concrete supermarkets?
—technobadger, Mar 20 2001
   

       Start designing cars that are only wide enough for a single occupant, but make them double-decker, so the passenger is seated above the driver.
—PotatoStew, Mar 21 2001
   

       And I thought we had enough problems with SUV roll-overs...
—Wes, Mar 21 2001
   

       well then, Wes, have extendible wheels,as in traning wheels for a kid's bike, on this new tall car,then move them in when thecar is to park.
—technobadger, Mar 21 2001
   

       I had exactly the same idea. Because I couldn't get online earlier, I even typed it out in a Word document:   

       I work in a hospital. Like just about every other hospital in the country, parking is in woefully short supply, and if you arrive a few minutes late you can spend an hour trawling the car parks looking for a space. There is no space (or money) available to build more car parks, so I propose the following simple solution: park the cars closer together!   

       Obviously without a little thought this would just trap everyone in their car.   

       However, I’ve noticed that many of the staff here travel alone – so if cars were parked alternate front in/front out you could position them so that the passenger sides were adjacent. You could then park the cars so close that the passenger door can’t be opened and just leave enough space for the drivers to get out.*   

       I haven’t carried out any research into this but over the many hundred parking spaces here I’m sure we could create room for an additional thirty or forty cars, which would certainly ease things slightly, and make one less thing for our harassed healthcare workers to worry about in the morning.   

       * - for those people who DON’T travel alone, simply let your passenger(s) out before you park.   

       So you've beaten me to it - but I've given you a bun anyway.
—kmlabs, Dec 05 2006
   
      
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