Getting parking tickets in Calgary is as normal as accidently breathing in that white fluff or pretending you only ate one bag of mini-doughnuts … when you really ate two.

Even with my fair share of tickets, the sting of paying them never goes away. Mostly because it’s silly to keep giving extraordinary amounts of money to an organization that is so clearly ripping off Calgarians in the first place.

Earlier this week, a Collier’s International report stated that Calgary continued to be Canada’s most expensive city to park, and only second to New York City in North America. 

Upon hearing the news, I was so upset that I immediately wanted to pull out what’s left of my few remaining hairs. But why does it feel as if I’m the only one who’s frustrated? Why aren’t we angrier?
 
Canada’s Most Expensive Place to Park is not a title that any city should have hanging over its head, and yet no one in Calgary seems to be doing anything about it. You would think that places like Toronto and Vancouver, where’s it’s practically impossible to find a spot to park, would have to pay more. But it’s our city -with all our land – that’s stuck paying more year after year.

A lot of people might blow off the high prices, saying “It’s Calgary – what are you going to do?”

But, you see, it’s not Calgary.  The weird weather: that’s Calgary.  Countless one-way streets: that’s Calgary. 

Having to pay outrageous amounts of money to park a car, even for a few minutes – that’s not my Calgary. Instead, we’re sitting by and letting one company decide our city’s future. A company so insecure it has to use the word “authority” in its title.

At some point, the parking authority has to let up.  Even the school bully eventually matures and
becomes a reasonable human being. I’m not saying that parking should be free. Obviously it’s a business and business is booming. 

But at what cost? 

The City of Calgary has already taken steps to rein in the parking authority, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be enough to stop the bad press.

So maybe it’s time for Calgarians to say enough is enough. It’s time we realize that we are the reasons this city is so fantastic, and stop letting the parking authority ruin it.

Mike Morrison is the perfectly bald head behind Mike’s Bloggity Blog. He also tweets regularly from @mikesbloggity.