The last time I remember trying it took me 2-3 tries and I was about a foot from the curb.

It is a systematic thing but it requires regular practice.

I think a lot of people perceive parallel parking as a finicky and unnatural thing to do with a car. Once an “I can’t do it” mindset takes root, it often takes some uncomfortable digging to pull it out.

I’m such a genius.

The cheat-cars, those that claim they park themselves, are the first step to automobiles that drive themselves from point a to point b. The concept appears in a lot of the sci-fi books and flix.

By the numbers:
Find a space.

Come up close to and alongside the vehicle in front of the desired space.

Pull up until your back bumper is aligned with the back bumper of the vehicle in front of the desired space.

By this time, you should already know whether a ground-guide might be necessary, or at least helpful.

Turn the wheel as far as you can to the left or right (depending upon the side of the street you are on).

Here’s the tricky part:

Pay attention to where your car is in relation to the vehicle in front, the vehicle in back, and the curb. At the correct moment (the timing is the tricky part), and before hitting said curb, turn the wheel sharp in to opposite direction. Know that there is a lot more dead-space in front of and in back of your car than what appears from the driver seat, so your front bumper “should” just miss the rear bumper on the vehicle in front.

Continue to back in, taking the front of your car from the lane of traffic. Shift to forward and align your vehicle in the desired parked position (not always exactly straight, depending upon the purpose of parking).

Slowly back about a foot or two, to allow for departure space.

My other high-tech achievements may follow.

ER.

Here in Columbus, there’s paralleling all over the place, but mostly with residential areas and the the smaller Mom-n-Pop Shops downtown. The world has gone to diagonal or straight in parking for stores, malls, restaurants, tower facilities, well, just about everything. They seem to be the safest parking spaces, and DOT may even be training construction firms to design this type of parking through their driver’s ed training of what to look for and what not to look for in a parking space. And, as we grow older, we do seek the path of least resistance. That’s another sign of wisdom. If parallel parking is a requirement, I hope to find a double space, or, hope upon hope, one at the beginning or end of a line — more so the beginning. If the chips are down, I can still do it, and like a champ, I just don’t want to anymore.

I think it’s in older areas that parallel parking is still prevalent. Newer areas seem to have wider streets with angle parking.