Ditching one’s car in the Motor City takes some serious mental preparation.  It is an automatic reaction to grab for your keys if you need to go to the pharmacy or grocery store.  I have done so many a time only to realize that the taking People Mover ($0.50/ride) or walking (free and healthy) would be less infuriating as the city fills with summer visitors.  This increased saturation means that the only parking available is from some shady person for $20 attending a field-passed-off-as-a-lot that clearly is not his/her property.  There are many non-shady options, but they too are ridiculously expensive.  I have turned right back around many times to the only parking I could find downtown – back at home.  The just shy of $4/gallon gas prices helps the process of ditching keys right along.  Bottom line: try something different – walk, bike, skateboard, rollerblade, Segway, rent a tandem-bike from Wheelhouse – because the cost of driving and parking are not going down any time soon.