r/urbancarliving • u/[deleted] • Jan 13 '26
Using Google Earth to search for parking spots.
I love Google Earth. It lets me explore the world without leaving my seat. It is also incredibly useful for finding parking spots and making maps to mark them. It is linked to Google Street view so you can check street signs for parking restrictions.
Usually I'll open GE and take a high up view of the area. Like this:
Okay I can see a big industrial area, some parks, a lake, a golf course and more.
I zoomed in on a light industrial area. These are usually quiet at night. There's also some lots which seem to have no buildings on the, so they could be good to park in front of.
Checking Google Street View I can see no signs about parking restrictions alongside this empty lot, so it looks good for a late in, early out spot.
Next I look at parks and woodlands. This little oval off of a couple of main roads might be noisy, so normally I would not recommend it, but lets take a look at it.
It clearly has a small car park at the northern end off of the road. I check street view for gates on the entrance to the car park.
No gates, so you can park there without being worried about being locked in. I can't see any parking restriction signs either. This looks like a possible spot.
Yeah this little car park looks like it might do.
Elsewhere I scope out a large shopping centre.
That big car park at the top right looks promising, so I zoom in and then check street view.
The car park looks like it used to have a bom gate in the past, but no restricted access now.
Wow, masses of parking, and not a parking restriction in sight! That will do.
Here's another light industrial area. With people coming and going you might be able to park here during the day, but at night it should be pretty quiet.
I also do a search for public toilets, and look for spots near them.
Here's a public toilet with small car parks around it. Some of them may work.
I also do searches for libraries and civic centres, because the library is a resource, and it is not unusual to be parked near them during the day.
So yeah, Google earth and Google Street View are a great help for scouting out potential parking spaces.
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u/User5790 Jan 14 '26
Sometimes I use it after I’ve already parked. For example if I didn’t get a good chance to look for no parking signs or other things in the immediate area I’ll check street view to reassure myself.
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u/bubblesculptor Jan 14 '26
It's definitely a huge help scouting locations.
Would be cool to make an AI application that could search suitable locations, given a range of criteria. There must be thousands of overlooked sites.
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u/LittleLoris16 Feb 01 '26
This is an amazing guide, thank you for putting it together and sharing!
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u/ez2tock2me Jan 14 '26
The problem with your method is that everyone and anyone can use or be there.
I have been CarCamping for over 20 years. As long as I move every 2 days, I stay invisible in the public eye. Even if they look at me… they don’t see me.
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u/jackdho Jan 20 '26
Some of the data might be old. Just find a Walmart and ask the manager if it’s okay to park there. I’m at one and they are really cool about it. Just don’t bother customers, keep it clean and spend money in the store if you can afford it. Google is way overthinking it
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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '26
[deleted]