Few things make me want to rediscover religion like trying to find parking in New York City. The few times I've driven here, it's been only vaguely irritating until it's time to park, which is when dread seeps through the walls of my skull. So many shiny cars sitting idle, their owners already in post-parking bliss. Fire hydrants open holes of hope only to mock me as I roll past what I thought was an empty space. I rage at cars that could be positioned closer to each other, which would give me maybe enough space to squeeze into a spot. By the end of it all, I find myself praying to the parking gods, please, for a slab of free asphalt.

We know you can commiserate with this experience and we have good news: Google wants to alleviate your parking nightmares.

In a blog post published on Tuesday, the company unveiled a brand new Google Maps feature called "find parking" and announced extended reach for its "parking difficulty" feature, both of which aim to make parking a lot easier for drivers.

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With "find parking," users in select U.S. cities can pull up a list of garages and parking lots close to their destination, right in Google Maps. If a user selects a garage or lot, Google Maps will add the location to their trip, and give "walking directions from their parking spot to their final destination," explains Google.

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Right now the feature is only available on Android in the following cities:

Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, DC, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa.

In addition to "find parking," Google also announced an extension of its "parking difficulty" icon.

The tool gives drivers an idea about their destination's parking situation based on how easy it has been to park at a certain location at a certain time in the past, according to Google. Then the feature will let you know if parking is "limited," if it should be "easy" to find a spot, or if the parking difficulty level is "medium." You can find the "parking difficulty" icon listed at the bottom of Google Maps (near where Maps lists the time and distance of your trip).

While the tool was already available in select cities in the U.S. on both iOS and Android, the feature is now open to people in the 25 non-U.S. cities listed below:

Alicante, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Cologne, Darmstadt, Dusseldorf, London, Madrid, Malaga, Manchester, Milan, Montreal, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Toronto, Valencia, Vancouver

Drivers in all those cities will be able to adjust their routes accordingly. Or, if parking is abysmal everywhere you're going, at least drivers won't get their hopes up.

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TopicsGoogle