2025, Automotive, books, holidays, Technology

Park at Your Peril

40 Comments

When you have fifteen kinds of cookies on the front porch during the holidays, you’re always open to ways to spread the wealth.  I usually make cookie platters for my local library, my vet and my hardware store guys.  It’s fun and between assembling the platters and delivering, it takes less than an hour, as all the recipients are very close by.

This past year, I really tested the Inter-Library Loan department of the library system so I decided that I should provide some holiday cheer for them.  I found out that ILL works out of the downtown library (not much of a surprise) and do a straightforward 9-5 schedule. 

I spent several weeks waffling about how to get the cookies downtown as I detest driving downtown and I detest paying a fortune for parking even more.  As of Monday afternoon, my plan was to take the bus.  A long trip two ways but only $2 out of my pocket and the bus stops literally at the front entrance door of the library.  I even went to the bank to get a few one dollar bills.

As Monday afternoon wore on, I wavered more and more about this plan.  I checked online and found that the library parking is only $4 for the first hour.  I even called the library; the librarian confirmed that this was true and that you could park near the elevators and come right up to the atrium.  She also said that if you were in and out in 15 minutes, there was no charge.

Of course, yesterday when the GPS got me to the library, that particular lot was full.  I went around a two block area about five times – no on-street parking open and all but one ramp had their “FULL” lights lit up.  Grrrr.  I considered just going home and dismantling the platter but I figured, I’d come this far….    At this point, I was pretty stressed.  There were two machines at the entrance of the only open ramp near the library and it took me a bit to figure out how to get a ticket.  Found a parking spot near an elevator but when I pushed the door open to the outside world, there was a small sign saying you needed the QR code from your parking ticket to get back in.  Luckily I hadn’t let that door shut, so I went back to my car to grab the ticket.

Delivery went really well but when I exited the parking ramp (about 20 minutes later), they charged me $17.  OUTRAGEOUS.  At this point, I just wanted to get home but my GSP wouldn’t open until I was actually out of the ramp.  More stress.  The fortunate part was that once I got going in the right direction downtown, I did know how to get home.  Even being directionally-challenged.

It’s all I can do to no look up “parking-induced anxiety” on the internet.  Not sure if it would make me feel better to know I’m in good company or if it would make me feel any more weird. And we’ll have to wait to see if ILL ever gets holiday cookies from me again.  Please don’t hold your breath.

Any directionally-challenged issues or parking anxiety for you this month?

40 thoughts on “Park at Your Peril”

  1. Why I live in Mankato. No parking issues and you have to be very poor about directions not to navigate here. A decade ago they eliminated one way streets downtown, not a down town in any sense except down by the river, and some people still won’t go down there.
    But I have a strong sense of direction.
    Clyde

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  2. It’s not parking anxiety if you know ahead of time that finding reasonable parking will be hopeless. It’s only anxiety if you entertain the possibility of success. I used to work downtown but that was 40-50 years ago. Now most of the buildings have changed and I don’t recognize anything. It’s been decades since I ventured into the center of downtown except to pass through and there really is no reason to attempt it.

    It’s difficult to recall how we found our way to unfamiliar places before GPS.

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  3. I generally find it easier on my soul, psyche, or whatever you might want to call it to navigate these things alone, visually going from place to place and keeping landmarks in mind. I don’t use a GPS at all. The WORST situation is to wander with a general direction in mind, having glanced at a map, with a person who can’t look up because her attention is focused on the phone in her hand as she tries to give me directions. Maybe that’s not about the phone or the GPS. Maybe that’s about how we relate to navigating in a city.

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  5. Rise and Get Lost, Baboons,

    I prefer to go downtown on the bus or train due to all the parking issues you already named, VS. The only exception has been when I attend a play at the Guthrie. The parking there is across the street which makes it easier, if not cheaper. I do not remember if that ramp is free–but surely it isn’t. The last time I attended a play there was last spring. A street market was set up in the area. The ramp was only accessible by driving through the market which was a pain. But the play was worth it.

    I have no sense of direction. Last week when I was heading into Sioux Falls, a large snow squall kicked up at the border. It became a whiteout in places, which made the disorientation even worse, but it only lasted a few minutes. The worst consequence was that I missed an exit, but all that was pretty solvable. But I don’t enjoy feeling so disoriented and lost. I learned how bad my sense of direction was at age 16 in downtown DesMoines. I had competed successfully for a place in the Iowa High School All-State Band. We stayed in a hotel, an experience nearly unheard of! I got lost and disoriented crossing the street because I did not know how to pick out landmarks to help me navigate. Ugh.

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  6. There’s parking enough for 5 cars behind my apartment building. It’s on an abandoned building slab. No lines are drawn on it. I’ve always parked at the far end next to a couple of trees. Recently, the new neighbors have taken to parking about a half car width from the trees effectively taking two car spots. It gets worse when the next two cars park far apart. Now down to 3 spots. None of us can claim a parking space. First come; first served. Last night I had to park on the street. 😡

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    2. put the driveway markers in to mark parking spots for the newbies acan of florescent orange line stripeing stuff if theres snow. if theyre jurks theres nothing you can do . likely theyre just not thinking

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  7. My sister and I are Lynx season ticket holders. We never use parking ramps A or B – too difficult to navigate and SLOW to get out of after a game. We park in the old Dayton’s ramp (not sure what it is called these days) entering on 6th and exiting on 7th. The walk to Target Center is only two and a half blocks. It is a flat $10 fee (sometimes $7 on weekends). We intentionally park close to an exit ramp which makes getting out quick and easy. And I love driving down that spiral exit ramp.

    I have a good sense of direction and a decent memory. Before driving somewhere unfamiliar, I’ll look it up on Google maps, pick out a route and some landmarks from the map, and head out. Rarely do I get lost. I could just use the GPS on my phone but I’m not a fan of AI talking to me. And AI doesn’t always take you the best way or even take you to the correct place.

    There is one place in MN that confuses me – downtown St. Paul – so I avoid that as much as possible. I know my route to the History Theatre and that’s about it.

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      1. Usually once a year my bff and I see something at The Park Square Theater downtown St. Paul. I always drive the route the day before and make sure I know my way to parking nearby. Seems every year the road work has closed off another street!

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  8. This was last month, but it was a DT St. Paul parking frustration. I was going to the Twin Cities Book Festival at the Union Depot on a Saturday morning. The organizers sent a nice PDF map of parking options near the station. Smartly labeled A, B, and C. So I tried them in order. First one was full but only had maybe 20 spaces. Second was also full, maybe had 50 spaces. Third one, also full. All this driving into and out of lots wasted about 20 minutes of my time, so I was pressed to get inside and set up my book display. Didn’t think parking would a lot of extra time to my trip so I only allowed the usual 5-10 minutes you’d expect to find the lot, park, and walk to the destination. Uh-uh. 30 minutes later I rush into the building and find my place. Left me about 15 minutes to set up, and I was still doing it when the event started.

    No big deal in the grand scheme of life, but if you ever need to park near Union Depot, beware. There aren’t many close spaces, and most seem to be eternally full.

    I’m an excellent navigator and map person. My wife thinks I’m “psychic” in that regard. Probably because she’s nearly helpless finding her way around a new area, even with GPS.

    I do have a knack for driving into a new city and remembering enough to know how to get back out without a lot of help. OR driving somewhere in the country, missing a turn, but improvising by taking the next turn and working my way back to the route.

    I also brag that I’ve only gotten “lost” in the BWCAW twice. Once because the water level in a lake was so low I couldn’t find the portage because it was quite a ways “inland.” Second time I was certain of my directional heading based on a landmark but miscalculated and went north of where I wanted to go. Only cost me an hour of extra paddling, but it still irked me.

    I’ve always loved maps and was drawing my own maps of the states with crayons when I was 4 or 5 years old. Yeah, I know. “What a weird kid!”

    That’s me! 🙂

    Chris in Owatonna

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  9. I worry about finding a parking space. I don’t know why; I’ve never missed an event due to parking issues. I guess I just didn’t want to have to walk too far. Weird the things from our childhood that influence us as adults.

    Downtown Rochester around the Mayo Clinic is a mess right now due to Mayo’s ‘Unbound’ project. They’ve torn down 2 parking ramps in anticipation of a rapid transit bus route. I just try not to have appointments downtown if I can avoid it. Every few months I do end up downtown, and it hasn’t been a problem. One time there was a space right across the street. So it’s a hassle, but not the end of the world.

    I’m pretty good at directions. If I drive somewhere once, I can usually find it again the next time. Kelly learned how to read maps travelling with her aunt and uncle. I have always liked maps and atlas’. State Farm used to give out big Atlas’ that I enjoyed looking through.
    These days Kelly usually follows the GPS and gives me directions. I like to have a general idea of where we’re going because sometimes I want to go my own way even though GPS may want me to stay on a highway and I want to take the shortcut on the gravel road. It was hard for me to listen to Kelly and do what she says the GPS said. We had more than one disagreement over directions.
    She’s a good navigator.

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  10. I read a bit of an article recently about our brains and sense of direction… https://hms.harvard.edu/news/how-brains-compass-guides-body

    I love a small town for parking, and only have parking issues if I’m late to an event, or in LaCrosse or Rochester. When I did live in large cities, I exclusively relied on buses, etc., but some of those systems have quite a learning curve, I discovered. Early on in my San Francisco time, I might get on the right bus going the wrong way, and hadn’t learned how transfers worked… Subways in NYC were their own set of challenges – it just took a while.

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  11. Update.
    There was still a car parked in MY spot so I parked way over on the opposite side leaving space for the two cars that had left earlier this morning. They can both fit but will need to be careful with their doors.

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  12. Update
    REVENGE!
    I just now checked on the parking situation. I recognize the vehicles. One took both spots. The other is parked in the Baptist church lot. Only 4 out of a possible 5. Will it be too much to expect for people to figure out how to accommodate everyone without having to vocalize the arrangements?

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    3. obviously
      my brother once said do you want to be a jerk or a dumb shit and i realized even people i dont hate do this stuff.
      give them a chance then pound in signs with spot 1,2,3 4&5

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  13. Husband is directionally gifted and a good navigator, so if we go to downtown Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago (or any big city), he’s the pilot. The only problem is when I have to go downtown on my own. This hasn’t happened recently, but a year ago I had a work conference at the convention center. I had to pick up a coworker who had come from out of town and was staying at a nearby hotel. The hotel was located right in the middle of the tangle of one-way streets, bus-only lanes, and ramps where 35W meets downtown. I missed the entrance to the hotel parking lot and found myself heading south on 35W. Had to find a place to turn around and drove back, finally locating the hidden driveway. (It appeared to be a bus-only lane, which is why I missed it. Apple maps was no help.) After picking up my friend, finding a parking lot was relatively easy (emphasis on “relatively”).

    We were downtown Sunday, but Husband was driving, so things went smoothly (except for the pricey parking fees).

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  14. i am the parking god, a couple years ago domeone commented that if you wait the good spot will come . two daughters in chicago i noticed a wanna be parker just camps out waiting for a spot. i never need to they always open up.
    i think I’ve told the story of following the fodors map around San Francisco probably in the 70s and wondering why it was so hard and about 3/4 of the way through what I realized it was because I decided to do the route backwards and most of it was down one way street which made it very difficult to navigate coming in from the wrong side. I had to laugh about it later and I probably missed a whole lot of the stuff that they wanted to show me during the driving tour, but I do always kinda smile at how thick I was in that instance nowadays with the GPS I am bulletproof. I remember one time in San Francisco getting completely lost in the tenderloin not being able to figure out how to get in or out of an area I wanted to get to, but knowing that I was not in the right place someone recently commented the tenderloin is still the neighborhood that you don’t wanna be driving around or caught up in, but I do like San Francisco and I like all the busyness Boston is incredibly challenging, but always a great experience. I’ve done Italy and France, Germany, and Austria oh that reminds me of one time in Austria when my daughter and I parked at a hotel that a guy on the train told us about which was out-of-the-way and not in the old shot or most tourists wanted to stay and when we finished our dinner and wine, we were walking and had no idea which direction we were supposed to go and had to try to speak to the locals and my Austrian German is challenged at best. My daughter only spoke Italian that was a fun outing and took an extra 45 minutes to find our way back to our hotel, but we did it.

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  15. ireland england and hong kong where you look the wrong direction to see about oncoming traffic is a weird mind suck but always kind of exhilarating
    i may be a bit of an adrenaline freak

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  18. I had a summer when I kinda gave up on the downtown St. Paul Farmers’ Market. It’s within walking distance of my house, but there was too much wildfire smoke to walk it. And there was too much wildfire smoke to walk from any available parking space. Downtown St. Paul was so immersed in construction and detours it was simply unnavigable.

    I have a parking option I keep in my back pocket in downtown St. Paul. There is a stretch of four spaces that are not really close to anything, and they get overlooked. There is almost always a space open there. Often all four.

    I’ve overstayed my meter many times in St. Paul. I don’t think anyone enforces.

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