PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

I was waiting for a friend Downtown last week when I got a text that she’d be a few minutes late. She was within the Golden Triangle but had just pulled a U-turn to escape a certain centrally located garage; when she had pulled up to the ticket booth, she discovered that the flat rate for evening parking was $30.

No, this was not during a Steelers game. During a Steelers game, we all accept that the cost of parking will rise to “back in my day you could get four tickets for that.” This was a fairly normal Tuesday night.

Fortunately for her, anyone who frequently visits Downtown knows that certain garages will charge you much less than others; she ended up paying $8. In other words, there are good garages, and then there are those that exist to exploit suckers who don’t know any better.

Won’t you be my neighbor? Apparently not, if we can squeeze more money out of you when you come in from the ’burbs.

The lack of parking in and around town remains a problem, from the happy-to-gouge North Shore lots to the utterly untenable situation on East Carson Street. Many comparable cities have more garages and more street parking options; I hate to use fighting words, but it is way easier to figure out where to put your car in Cleveland than it is in Downtown Pittsburgh. (And they have geographical challenges there, too. The whole city is slowly sinking into a lake — which occasionally catches on fire.)

Simultaneously, right-minded planners have pointed out that the future of urban centers involves more walkable and car-free areas. While the curmudgeonly love to grumble about any actual improvement to urban spaces, the most safe and thriving cities in the world have figured out that spaces for recreation and easy walkability make downtown areas thrive. Pittsburgh is always inching in that direction, temporarily closing areas for events such as the Three Rivers Arts Festival and improving riverfront trails so that you can actually get around using them — a pipe dream just a few decades ago.

There has been a recent push to make the Roberto Clemente Bridge a permanent pedestrian bridge. It’s a good idea; there are clearly enough bridges nearby to handle the needs of automotive traffic, as there were no meaningful snarls during the extended period when each of the Sister Bridges closed for construction. It would also more effectively integrate the Golden Triangle and North Shore destinations.

And if you want anyone to use it for walking to and from places, you need to give them places to park on either side.

Unless you’re in a very specific band of territory to the South of the city, public transportation in Pittsburgh remains limited at best. It’s not just that people prefer trains to getting on the bus; it’s that it isn’t easy or pleasant to get around Pittsburgh without driving somewhere, especially if you live more than a couple of miles from Downtown.

That means that anyone coming into the city for a game, a show or a festival is probably going to be bringing at least one car with them. And when they get here, they should be able to park that car somewhere reasonably close to Downtown for about $10.

Not $25, not $30 and definitely not $50. About 10 bucks. Yes, I know that inflation exists. I also know that parking lots and garages have almost no overhead. Don’t confuse a desire for giant profits with inflation; every lot and garage in the city could charge a couple of bucks per hour and still turn a tidy profit.

Part of that process is going to be admitting that we need parking more than we need upscale condos, in many areas. Part of it is going to be better marking and maintaining of street parking areas (and giving up on this asinine purple-zone plan). And part of it is going to be advertising where people can go to park for cheap and how they can get where they’re going once they do so.

I would love to walk to a Pirates game. Unfortunately, I live on the side of a very large hill that I do not particularly want to walk up after nine innings. I want to put my car somewhere closer to the ballpark and then walk over; I’m more than happy to walk 20 or 30 minutes between the parking space and home plate, but I gotta get a little closer before I begin.

And I’m not gonna pay $30 to do it. If that’s the only option, I’m just gonna stay home.