WWTBAM Bored

So, tomorrow, I should get my little placard to hang from the mirror so I don't have to walk as far as others do to get to places. That will be nice, though right now, the walking isn't as hard as the getting out of the car, so the wider space will be more appreciated than the shorter distance.

Here in Houston (as I figure everywhere else) when you go to Target or Wal-Mart, if you don't have a placard you have to park in the next closest zip code. The front 6-8 spaces on each row are handicap. That doesn't really bother me even as I always walk by the 80% of them that are always empty.

When my wife and I went to the office building where my physical therapist is, there were only 2-4 handicap spots. All taken of course. I may mention it to him (yes, him) to ask what the ordinance is. It seems that proportionatley there should be at least 10-12 spaces (when compared to Target or Wal-mart). Maybe that ratio should be more when the office building is 60% medical related. But that's just me, now.

One would think that a parking lot for a PT's practice would have more 'wheelchair' spots than what is acceptable for the mall.

One does not always have a say in such things.

BackInTex wrote:So, tomorrow, I should get my little placard to hang from the mirror so I don't have to walk as far as others do to get to places.

I hope Texas customizes those placards just like you've got in your avatar!

BackInTex wrote: When my wife and I went to the office building where my physical therapist is, there were only 2-4 handicap spots. All taken of course. I may mention it to him (yes, him) to ask what the ordinance is. It seems that proportionatley there should be at least 10-12 spaces (when compared to Target or Wal-mart). Maybe that ratio should be more when the office building is 60% medical related. But that's just me, now.

Welcome to my world!

There is a formula for how many handicapped spaces parking lots are required to have, so naturally large parking lots must have more spaces than smaller ones. There's no prohibition against having more spaces, but you can't have less. My doctor's office is in a building that has exclusively medical tenants and it has an entire row of handicapped places (probably about 25% of the total number of spaces in the lot).

If you are in a building that has one medical tenant and a lot of non-medical tenants, there's a good chance that the landlord figured to cater to the wishes of the majority of the building's tenants, most of whom, as most able bodied people do, view handicapped spaces as a huge inconvenience. If most of the tenants in the building are medical, then the landlord never thought about the issue or is just too cheap to do anything about it.

silverscreenselect wrote: as most able bodied people do, view handicapped spaces as a huge inconvenience.

I don't know where you get that idea. I don't know anyone who feels that way.

Thousandaire wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote: as most able bodied people do, view handicapped spaces as a huge inconvenience.

I don't know where you get that idea. I don't know anyone who feels that way.

Most is probably an exaggeration, but I've heard plenty of people who gripe about handicapped people who get "all" the good parking places. They seem to think that if handicapped parking somehow disappeared, they would automatically be parking in those "good" places all the time instead of still parking out in the boondocks if the lot is mostly full and saving about ten feet in the length they have to walk.

T_Bone0806 wrote: Welcome to my world!

OUR world, T-Bone

BackInTex wrote:So, tomorrow, I should get my little placard to hang from the mirror so I don't have to walk as far as others do to get to places. That will be nice, though right now, the walking isn't as hard as the getting out of the car, so the wider space will be more appreciated than the shorter distance.

Here in Houston (as I figure everywhere else) when you go to Target or Wal-Mart, if you don't have a placard you have to park in the next closest zip code. The front 6-8 spaces on each row are handicap. That doesn't really bother me even as I always walk by the 80% of them that are always empty.

When my wife and I went to the office building where my physical therapist is, there were only 2-4 handicap spots. All taken of course. I may mention it to him (yes, him) to ask what the ordinance is. It seems that proportionatley there should be at least 10-12 spaces (when compared to Target or Wal-mart). Maybe that ratio should be more when the office building is 60% medical related. But that's just me, now.

I have the same problem and I haven't even had my hip replaced.

Tonight however, I got a room in Winnemucca that has a sliding door right in front of the handicapped space where I parked; about a ten-foot walk. I don't think the front desk clerk realized I have a handicapped tag though.

silverscreenselect wrote:

Thousandaire wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote: as most able bodied people do, view handicapped spaces as a huge inconvenience.

I don't know where you get that idea. I don't know anyone who feels that way.

Most is probably an exaggeration, but I've heard plenty of people who gripe about handicapped people who get "all" the good parking places. They seem to think that if handicapped parking somehow disappeared, they would automatically be parking in those "good" places all the time instead of still parking out in the boondocks if the lot is mostly full and saving about ten feet in the length they have to walk.

There are several places I know of (mostly fast food restaurants I eat at) where the handicapped spaces are actually further from the door than some of the regular spaces....

lb13

We've had that (handicapped parking in the long-distance lot) at very fancy restaurants. I guess the "good side" to my Mom now being in a wheelchair except for very short distances is that we have the wheelchair in which to wheel her with us. She would have made it to the door in about 45 minutes, back when she could have made it under her own speed.

"space reserved for new mothers with young children" annoys the hell out of me

there are as many of those in front of some stores as handicap spaces

it irks me more when I am on crutches due to gout and the handicap spaces are filled

BiT's right, with Mom it was much more the width of the spaces than the closeness to the door. Once she was in the wheelchair, it was smooth sailing unless there were potholes, which are usually easy to avoid at a walking pace.

Continued good luck with the recovery, BiT.

littlebeast13 wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:

Thousandaire wrote: I don't know where you get that idea. I don't know anyone who feels that way.

Most is probably an exaggeration, but I've heard plenty of people who gripe about handicapped people who get "all" the good parking places. They seem to think that if handicapped parking somehow disappeared, they would automatically be parking in those "good" places all the time instead of still parking out in the boondocks if the lot is mostly full and saving about ten feet in the length they have to walk.

There are several places I know of (mostly fast food restaurants I eat at) where the handicapped spaces are actually further from the door than some of the regular spaces....

lb13

I've seen many like that. Usually the reason is that the wheelchair ramp has to end in an area big enough for the chair and right by the door sometimes isn't big enough.

BigDrawMan wrote:"space reserved for new mothers with young children" annoys the hell out of me

there are as many of those in front of some stores as handicap spaces

it irks me more when I am on crutches due to gout and the handicap spaces are filled

Yes, those annoy me and I have parked in them before. Worst case scenario, I figure I say I'm pregnant (I think our signs say "expectant mothers" or something like that, at least at the grocery store).

I would never park in a handicap spot though.