Bad experience in Austin

[Markness]

I drove to Austin yesterday to see the band 3Teeth at a club. However, I ended up driving back home to where I live (Temple) after some stressful things happened.

Firstly, I tried to find a parking spot because this club didn’t have a parking lot and I would have to walk a good distance to get to it. I drove to a pay lot where I once parked before but it was relatively empty. A homeless guy stalked my car and I waited until he walked away but he came back when I went to a pay terminal but it wouldn’t take my card and the homeless guy told me parking on the streets was ok since it was Sunday. He pointed out spots to me but would then tell me that I couldn’t park there until he stopped on a red lined sidewalk and said it was ok to park there.

I got anxious about getting towed so I drove into a parking garage but the machine wouldn’t take my card at all. When I turned to exit, I accidentally bumped the front of my car into the base of the barrier arm and it made a sickening crunching sound. Surprisingly, my car only had a small dent but the sound was extremely loud.

When I got out, I tried to ask a passing couple for help. The girlfriend of the couple looked like she was willing to help but her boyfriend pulled her away and told her to keep going while scowling at me. I told them I just wanted help for parking but the boyfriend kept giving me signals to get lost. The homeless guy was also still around and was yelling at people. Stress got the better of me and I drove an hour back to home.

 

[Wolfnox]

Something to be said for cds. Dont go threw this much trouble to get one. You didnt have tickets already right?

 

[GadAbout]

Sometimes transportation is more of a challenge than I can deal with. I've gone home or stayed home at times, just because I couldn't face that challenge.

Sorry your outing did not go as planned.

 

[oregano]

Yeah, those small clubs in downtown areas can really be a PITA to get to, especially if you have no other option than driving in from the burbs. Since they're downtown there's no parking except on the street (where your car will inevitably get broken into and everything stolen even if there's nothing to steal, which means your dash will be ripped apart for your cheap OEM radio and your spare tire will be stolen because dopeheads gotta trip) or in a lonely, barely lighted parking garage (which is a whole other level of creepy). And then the place where you park is 10 blocks from the club, so you have to walk a gauntlet of homeless crazies and various other weirdos who are truly capable of some really evil stuff. And then after the show it's 1:30 am which means that all of the above is x20 or so. Totally not worth it. Those clubs are meant for hipsters and artist types who already live downtown because their parents are wealthy and pay their rent, so they can simply walk to the club, and they know how to handle street crazies. But driving in from the burbs is not worth it unless you want to go "missing" for a few weeks until your body washes up on the riverbank.

 

[rubicks52]

I grew up in Austin, and the parking definitely sucks. I avoided doing stuff downtown because of it. I'm sorry you had such a negative experience.

 

[Fino]

I only go to something like that if someone is driving me. Any they don't want me driving anyway, they wanna live!

 

[ASD_Geek]

Sorry that you had to go through this. Finding parking and parking in small spots is tough for me as well. Hopefully the damage to car is minimal. I've done similar things, not being able to judge the distance in front of the car too well. FWIW, I love backup cameras on vehicles and would absolutely love to have a surround-view camera system along with lane assist and blind-spot warning indicators.