| Author |
Message |
    
Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 2256
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 10:26 am: |     |
People often refer to parking problems in Maplewood village. How bad is it? When are the worst times? At the worst times, how far away from your destination do you have to leave your car? I've only had to walk two or three blocks, so it doesn't seem bad, but maybe others think that's the problem, i.e. that three blocks is too far.
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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Gene Z
Citizen
Username: Genez
Post Number: 17
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 10:39 am: | |
OK, now that Spring is arriving, let's be honest with ourselves, how many of us living, say a 1/2 mile from the village, drive in and park when we could have walked? (Not including times of grocery or dry cleaning pick up or such.)
Guilty!
Z |
drewdix
Citizen
Username: Drewdix
Post Number: 496
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 3:16 pm: | |
There is no parking problem in Maplewood vilage (that is, if you don't mind walking 1/10th of a mile). |
drewdix
Citizen
Username: Drewdix
Post Number: 497
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 3:16 pm: | |
..on a bad day. |
Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 2265
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 3:18 pm: | |
I find it astonishing that I can park so close to my destination so often. Is it possible that the problem exists in people's interpretation of the words "close" and "often"?
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 177
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 3:53 pm: | |
Parking in Maplewood center is so impossible that I never go there anymore. It's much easier and more pleasant to drive a few extra miles to shop in Livingston--or any place else where the supermarket has a decent parking lot. I live in South Orange and have arthritis, so walking into Maplewood isn't an option for me. |
Marc
Citizen
Username: Bautisma
Post Number: 125
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 4:04 pm: | |
I only go into Maplewood Center on the weekends, but I've never had a problem parking |
SoOrLady
Citizen
Username: Soorlady
Post Number: 409
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 4:07 pm: | |
I rarely have a problem finding a parking space. I may have to circle around a few times, and it may not be as close as I'd like, but I find one... only had to turn around and go home once in all the years I've been a Center Shopper. |
Mayhewdrive
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 861
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 5:05 pm: | |
The only time I ever had a problem parking in Maplewood was a Saturday night when there was a play at the Burgdorff.
Otherwise, it's very convenient to park by the train (or in front of Kings) any evening or weekend that I have been there. |
jfburch
Citizen
Username: Jfburch
Post Number: 1319
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 6:08 pm: | |
Weekday lunchtime is the worst I see--and I'm there fairly often at various times of day, often toting small kids--but I expect it, and it's usually only a couple minutes or a couple blocks extra.
Otherwise I find it somewhere between easy and reasonable--only occasionally having to circle around to find a space that's turning over, or to park a block or so out. It's certainly not a deterrent for me for going to the Village. |
Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 2540
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 1, 2004 - 7:24 pm: | |
On weekends when we go to productions at the Burgdorf we park on the Memorial Park side of the tracks by the train station and walk through the underpass into the Village. |
ashear
Citizen
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 1013
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - 1:42 pm: | |
If you think in terms of strip malls where there is always parking, its a problem. If you think in terms of a real place where walking a couple of blocks from your car to your destination is normal, its not. (I grew up in NYC where walking is considered a normal way of getting from place to place.) |
Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 2284
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - 1:47 pm: | |
And in what ashear said lies something subtle. When you walk from a mall's parking lot into the mall (or one of the stores if it's a strip mall) you are not crossing any boundaries. When you walk from a street parking spot or municipal parking lot, you are crossing boundaries. I suspect it's that crossing that gives the feeling of distance. Sometimes, the distance you walk within a parking lot is greater than the one you would walk on the street, but the psychological effect is different.
So far, I haven't seen a convincing complaint about parking in Maplewood, except that Lizziecat's arthritis might make even small amounts of walking unacceptable. Still, it's not utterly convincing, because of my reason above.
Another psychological factor is the variability of the walking distance. The walk may not be long, but it may be three times the distance it was previously. That may make the walk seem long.
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
There is nothing
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marian
Citizen
Username: Marian
Post Number: 138
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - 2:39 pm: | |
Tom,
That's a very insightful point. I really enjoy reading your posts, BTW.
Having also grown up in Manhattan, I also don't see a major shortage of parking in the village. Guess it all depends on how you look at it.
I don't expect to be able to park exactly in front of where I want to go downtown and I realize that at certain times I may have to drive around for a few minutes to find a spot. I honestly don't see what the big deal is. I think the folks who complain about the alleged parking shortage need to keep in mind when you choose to live in an older suburb with a beautiful downtown like Maplewood--you have to make some concessions: Like not being able to park on a dime.
If you want ample parking when you shop or go out to dinner, move further south to one of those ugly sprawling 'burbs with ample parking in the strip malls.
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