parking lots/spaces/places

[angliholic]

Experts say that it is necessary for us to rely less on cars. Instead, people should be encouraged to take public transport like buses and trains. Large parking lots/spaces/places can be built on/at the edges of cities, for instance.



Do all of lots, spaces, and places fit in the above context and convey the same idea?
Which prep. works better with the above wording, on or at? And why? Thanks.

[moggy]

Originally Posted by angliholic

Experts say that it is necessary for us to rely less on cars. Instead, people should be encouraged to take public transport like buses and trains. Large parking lots/spaces/places can be built on/at the edges of cities, for instance.



Do all of lots, spaces, and places fit in the above context and convey the same idea?
Which prep. works better with the above wording, on or at? And why? Thanks.

Spaces and places, in this context mean room for a single vehicle. A parking lot (this is more american) or carpark (Eng. equivalent) is made up of parking spaces/places.

On or at sound okay, but on sounds better I think.

[angliholic]

Originally Posted by moggy

Spaces and places, in this context mean room for a single vehicle. A parking lot (this is more american) or carpark (Eng. equivalent) is made up of parking spaces/places.

On or at sound okay, but on sounds better I think.

Thanks, moggy.
Would you explain in a few words why on sounds better?
Besides, are there subtle differences between on and at the edge of cities?

[moggy]

Some things are just instinctive Angli...sorry can't explain that

[Niall]

British English as my first language, I refuse to use the word parking lots.
Both spaces and places work, but spaces sounds best to be because the phase "parking space" is much more commonly used.

An edge is a boundary. In this case I believe the subtle difference between on and at is that if you are at a boundary, then you have arrived the boundary, but have not yet crossed it. If you are on a boundary you are already crossing it.
Because you are not doing any crossing of boundaries in this case, both prepositions work. If I had to choose, I would choose on, but there is no formal reason for this choice, its totally down to preference.

[angliholic]

Originally Posted by Niall

British English as my first language, I refuse to use the word parking lots.
Both spaces and places work, but spaces sounds best to be because the phase "parking space" is much more commonly used.

An edge is a boundary. In this case I believe the subtle difference between on and at is that if you are at a boundary, then you have arrived the boundary, but have not yet crossed it. If you are on a boundary you are already crossing it.
Because you are not doing any crossing of boundaries in this case, both prepositions work. If I had to choose, I would choose on, but there is no formal reason for this choice, its totally down to preference.

Thanks, moggy and Niall, for your efforts.
By the way, I'm not very sure of the meaning of the bolded phrase in your post. Does it indicate "it's totally decided by preference" or something else?

[Niall]

Yes. It means exactly that. And as you corrected, it should be It's totally down to preference. Its not a very formal phrase, it is more of a colloquialism.

[angliholic]

Thanks, Niall, for your confirmation.
I suspect that the following read as good:

It's totally a matter of idiosyncracy/personal tastes/personal preference.

[Niall]

Absolutely!

Idiosyncrasy is most formal and least used.

You would usually hear personal taste without the s. Perhaps this is because often we use the word taste to describe every single of a persons tastes.
More clearly, when I speak about all my tastes in general, I will call it my taste.
Although tastes is not wrong, I think taste sounds much more natural.

[angliholic]

Thanks, Niall, for your suggestion.
I can assert it's justifiable.