So this is What I Learned About Parking in Tacoma

1. You cannot at all park for any length of time on a driveway.

2. You cannot drive on the sidewalk into my building which is actually a parking garage. (This will make my landlord really happy.)

3. The law requires back-in parking on Broadway because of the slope....because someone is afraid of some car's brakes failing, and rolling backwards into traffic or a toddler, or a blind nun, and hurting something/someone. (Head-in parking on Broadway worked just fine for 100 years, back when brake systems were iffy, but modern cars have stopped using cables for brakes about 90 years ago.)

4. Sidewalks must be 5 feet wide at least. From the curb to the yellow line is 12 feet. (Seems fatter and skinnier)

5. Cars are not going as fast as you think they are. (I watch cars zoom by at 35mph - 45mph all day long.)

6. Tacoma does not make more money by writing parking tickets than they do from their share of sales tax revenue.

7. Tacoma Parking Viceroy, Mr. Kingsolver, has a really cool last name.

8. There is no legal way to load in Mountain Mist water bottles, park your FedEx or UPS truck, etc. for the offices in the Broadway LID, because you can't 1.)Double park, 2.)Park on a driveway, 3. Park in a slot and unload a load from the back into traffic.

9. There are no conspiracies to change downtown Tacoma into a series of One Way Streets.

10. Metered Paid Parking will happen next year. I'm glad Viceroy Kingsolver told me this, because I thought there were still some public citizen hearings with the City Council before a final decision was made. I could be wrong (it does happen) but he seemed pretty damn sure about that.

Your friendly gadfly, Tressie