I have spent a few days in Las Vegas over the past 2 months. The Strip offers the largest number of free parking lots I have ever seen. One interesting point I noted was that most people want to be on the level closest to the ground level, or whatever level their destination is on. They want to have the closest parking space to the door.
So if the casino is on the first level, then the second level of the parking lot will be packed. Every space on the second level will have to be filled, all the way across the parking lot, before most people will start to look for parking on the third level. And so on. Since most people are taking elevators, it doesn't pay to be any closer to the ground. But people will walk all the way from the back of the second level before they will try the third level, where they can often find a space much closer to the elevator. Or the seventh level, where they can park next to the elevator. If you measure the number of steps to the casino door, the higher floors end up being closer.
Just another observation of the psychology of parking. Drivers are always searching for the "best" parking spot, but in reality, after all the time driving around and around looking for that great spot, they end up no closer to the door.
Pete Goldin
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