Amid the reports and cacophony of (seemingly) one bad economic news story after another, it's important -- perhaps essential -- to take time out to notice the good economic news stories out there.

And there are good news stories about business models, products, and services out there, because despite this period of extraordinary economic problems, the United States remains the most resilient, adaptable, and technology-advanced economy in the world.

An intelligent parking space system/service

One such good news story: smart parking technology, currently being tested in San Francisco.

This fall, San Francisco will test 6,000 of its 24,000 metered parking spaces in the nation's first large trial of wireless sensor network that will communicate which spaces are free at any moment, The New York Times reported.

Privately-held Streetline, the small company behind the technology, says the system, via sensors embedded in parking spaces, will communicate parking vacancy information to smartphones, displays on street signs, and eventually to a low-cost, battery-operated display that would alert drivers to open spaces nearby. About a dozen other large cities are in discussions to deploy smart parking systems.

Transportation / Energy Analysis: You're looking at the future. First the 'smart' home with central air / heating, lighting, watering systems that turn on/off at times you can program remotely. Now the smart parking system that tells you which parking space are free, before you arrive at your destination and drive around the block three times. Particularly in chronically street parking-tight cities like New York, Boston, and San Francisco, the technology has the ability to save a considerable amount of time and money, and, equally significant, gasoline/fuel.