Dusty Rose prefers to drive bigger vehicles. (Madeline Kotzer/CBC News)

Slowly move in, too tight on one corner, back-up, readjust, try again. Repeat.

This is a common method of parking for drivers of big vehicles, employed while trying to squeeze into small parking spaces in the city.

Dusty Rose is familiar with the drill. She has been driving a truck in Saskatoon for the past seven years, and before that drove a 4X4 SUV.

"I live in Saskatchewan and there is lots of snow around and I like not being dependent," Rose said of her decision to drive a bigger vehicle.

Rose admitted parking in some areas of the city takes skill, patience and "shimmying".

"Getting in and out of my vehicle can be quite difficult," Rose said. "I actually slipped getting out of my vehicle last winter and dented another vehicle. It was just because we were so tight and I was trying to squeeze out of my vehicle and I slipped. It was really unfortunate but it was just because it was too close."

Rose told CBC News she notices parking in some public areas is better than others. She noted that parking at Costco is relatively easy because the spots seem bigger than at other big box shops.

And Rose is right, the size of parking spaces in the city does vary.

Parking spot sizes vary

The City of Saskatoon regulates all public parking spaces; bars, restaurants, schools, underground parkades, theatres, malls, cemeteries, hospitals and convents alike. It does this through minimum parking space dimensions in the city's zoning bylaws.

Darryl Dawson is manager of the development review section with Saskatoon's planning and development division.

"Minimum parking spaces are provided in the Zoning Bylaw to ensure uses that are defined have the correct number of parking spaces — so the customers coming to a building have a place to park," Dawson said.

Dawson explained that while the city controls the size and number of parking spots per establishment, it is up to individual developers to decide the form of this parking and whether or not they make the spots bigger to accommodate large vehicles.

Prior to 1981, the smallest a spot was allowed to be was 2.4 metres wide by 5.4 metres long. In 2009, the city updated the size of spots and adjusted the bylaw to make the minimum requirement for a stall bigger. Now, a typical parking spot in Saskatoon is 2.7 metres by 6 metres.

However, the smaller, old spots still remain.

"If a [smaller] space existed and it's recognized that it's grandfathered, (that) space can then stay until the property is redeveloped," Dawson said.

Drivers squeezed

Ed Holzman said he has been putting up with the woes of parking a truck in Saskatchewan for more than five decades. (CBC News)

For example, the parking lots serving customers of The Centre mall on 8th Street were constructed in the 1970s. They fit the old minimum space requirements for parking perfectly.

Ed Holzman has been driving a truck for more than five decades. He spoke with CBC News while he was parking at The Centre mall.

Holzman said he has developed his own strategy for parking at the shopping centre, it involves parking far away from the entrance and ensuring a clear way out in front of his vehicle.

"If I park too close and get boxed in, it's really hard to back out," he said. "There's lots of places that are similar to this but this is one of the worst."

Allen Bisec, 16, told CBC News he gave up on driving a truck after only three months and admits troubles with parking was a factor in his decision. (CBC News) Sixteen-year-old Allen Besic has only been driving for three months, and already he's decided parking is too difficult in a truck.

"Well, I started out with a truck that was really hard to park in," he said. "I always had to back out and try like three times. Eventually, when I switched over to my car I just got used to parking in tough situations."

The City of Saskatoon said it is currently conducting a parking study. Right now the process involved meetings with stakeholders, developers and business improvement districts to develop a new parking strategy for implementation in late 2015.