Free Parking. What a neat phrase! However, the truth is that ther is no such thing as “Free Parking".

First, let’s take a quick look at the cost to “create” a parking space. Downtown Little Rock land prices can range anywhere from $12/square foot to $60/square foot. Consequently, just the land beneath a typical downtown Little Rock parking space will cost from $3,600 to $18,000. Add grading, base rock and blacktop paving, and the cost gets higher.

What about a parking deck? Not including the land cost, the average nationwide price-tag for the construction of a parking deck car space built in 2006 was $13,588. Even if the parking deck is built on relatively inexpensive land (which is not usually the case since they’re in higher demand downtown locations), it’s easy to see how the “true” cost of a single parking garage car space exceeds $20,000.

So maybe the next time you find a “freebie” or are allowed to park in a “free” parking space, know that someone, somewhere is subsidizing it somehow, someway.