F ³: They Paved Paradise

There’s quite a lively conversation going on over at the Columbia MD Reddit on the theme:

The worst parking lots in Columbia.

After reading many responses filled with heartfelt frustration I began to wonder. Is there such a thing as a good parking lot? An excellent parking lot? Can you think of a place you look forward to visiting because the parking lot is just that good?

Don’t limit yourself to HocoLocal examples. I’m thinking of parking lots everywhere.

Parking lots have to be designed by somebody. There’s clearly a range of expertise involved. Has anyone ever designed a parking lot of such intrinsic excellence that they won awards for it? Where does the budget come from for parking lots? Do they often get the short end of the stick when funds are allocated?

The public can be persnickety when it comes to parking preferences, and I admit to being one of them. When I lived in Rodgers Forge I got to a point where I wouldn’t shop at the Towson Mall at all if I couldn’t get parking in the exact location I liked best. That area was 1) more convenient to my needs and 2) I’d never forget where I parked.

Yes, I realized that was self-limiting. Perhaps I didn’t really need to shop in the Mall all that much after all.

Even if you are not daunted by walking long distances, it’s likely you wouldn’t pick parking lots as the place you’d want to do that. Large expanses of pavement with few protections for pedestrians in a sea of hopefully roving automobiles aren’t the settings that entice me, anyway. I feel like a wrote a post once proposing that regular shuttles might be a solution in sprawling shopping centers like Columbia Crossing. Park once, then easily travel from business to business without needing to move your car.

(It hints at Public Transportation. Therefore it probably won’t catch on.)

I learned from the thread on Reddit that ingress/egress and resulting traffic play a big role in the parking lot situation as well. It doesn’t matter how much you like the business if you get snarled up both coming and going. You’ll probably find an establishment you like almost as much if going there doesn’t take years off your life.

So, here’s your assignment. What’s the very best parking lot you’ve ever visited and why? Or do you think the whole concept of parking lots is inherently flawed and it’s not possible to make a good one? Are they merely ugly examples of our car-dependent culture?

If we started giving awards for the best parking lots would other parking lots want to improve in order to snag public recognition?

What do you think?

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