I was thinking about our Forum luncheons....if Benito's didn't have free parking or any convenient paid parking for that matter, I'd certainly be willing to walk 5 or 6 blocks to catch a lunch with friends. Years ago, I worked in downtown St. Paul and I had about a 14 minute walk from this $2/day lot on the other side of the Mississippi River from downtown. I actually enjoyed the short walk everyday, it was something I looked forward to and the alternative of $10-20 per day parking just didn't make sense to me back then, having to pay out of my own pocket. That would have equated to about a new car payment.
I eventually started riding this really nice commuter bus (a full on coach) having lived way outside of town and in the Twin Cities, the buses can use the shoulder to bypass traffic slow-downs. For around $50/month unlimited bus fare, I'd grab free parking not far from my house or get dropped off at the parking spot and then take that bus into town, it was actually pretty fun, got to know some of the regulars and turns out one of them was a St. Paul PD detective which was pretty cool.
There is a youtube channel I would catch from time-to-time of a tow truck operator and his wife in Gatlinburg, TN. It really paints a picture of the paid for parking situation in most in-demand places, it's just comes with the territory. One of his regular lines that he tells angry customers was something along the lines of "In Gatlinburg, if you're not paying for parking, you're probably going to get towed."