Day 86: Parking Lot Rant

Ok it's about time for another rant.  It's true we Angelinos live in our cars.  Which means, in the course of your day you will encounter many parking lots.  There are parking lots with narrow slots that would be perfect if we all drove Smart cars.  At Equinox I have to drive down and down, into the dungeon until I get to the bottom 3 levels - designated for gym members.  Then good luck finding one that is not kitty corner and does not require a 17-point turn to get out of.  There are destinations I avoid all together (Laemmle Royal on Santa Monica Bl, the entire town of Westwood) because I know parking will be a headache.  There are the poorly designed lots - hello Fred Segal Santa Monica, Starbucks on Bundy and Santa Monica Blvd.  If you pull out of your spot at this Starbucks, you basically are inches away from hitting the cars parked across from you.  Oh, and there are 8 spaces, 2 of them are handicapped.  It's not so much a parking lot as it is a parking spot.

And then there is my pet peeve, the forced valet parking.  My bank, City National apparently has one bank per fifty square miles.  EVERY time I want to go to my bank - even if I just want to use the atm machine, I have to pull up and valet.  Then, when I come out, if they are busy, I have to stand around and wait for my car.  Just to get 20 bucks out of the machine!  I used to tip these guys, then I realized, I am either going to pay a fee for using another bank's atm, but paying a tip here to use my own atm was defeating the purpose of schlepping all the way over here.  The bank manager assures me the drivers get paid well and we do not need to feel obligated to tip them.  The Whole Foods on Wilshire had to pay an additional $1million bucks and push back their grand opening because they were forced to re-do their entire parking lot.  It's not bad now, I can only imagine what a nightmare it was before the renovation.

And finally, to those that got it right.  I love Yummy.com on Pico and Euclid!  If you need a quart of milk or a red bull for your husband who has a deadline and will be up all night writing, you pull up, literally in front of the door of the store, go in, do your business, leave.  The new Santa Monica Place - not too shabby.  Century City gets my vote because there is a little light above each space - if it's green you know there is an opening, if they are all red you know you need to go down to the next level.  I do wish there was better public transportation here, it sure would be a dream.  We would save money on gas, it would be better for the environment, and maybe we could eliminate road rage (and parking lot rage.)