Where do I park?

We have decided to dedicate some time to a question we get asked quite a lot: where do I park?

The answer to this question is, it depends on the night.  On weeknights, we recommend parking on Lapham Boulevard.  There are generally plenty of spaces next to Bryant’s or across the street. 

On a weekend, the Lapham Boulevard spaces fill up fast.  Most people’s first instinct is to drive down 9^th to look for parking.  This is not the best idea.  Many residents of this neighborhood don’t have off-street parking (garages weren’t that popular in the 1890s), so they will be competing with you for the limited number of parking spaces.  Plus, 9^th street is strangely dark and hard to navigate. 

Instead, head ½ block south of Bryant’s on 9^th Street.  There is an amazing, huge, well-lit parking lot that is owned by the city.  There are over 250 parking spots in this lot.  Park here and walk the ½ block-

it is the easiest place to park.

The history of this parking lot is interesting for those who remember when the city wanted to turn Mitchell Street in to a walking mall, as was popular in the 1970s when suburban malls were rapidly becoming the preferred shopping centers.  The idea was to close off main urban shopping streets and raze the buildings adjacent to the shopping street to create large parking lots that would appeal to shoppers.  The results were not good and most of the stores on Mitchell Street closed during the 1980s, leaving only the remnants of a bad idea.  The last department store on Mitchell to close was Goldmann's Department Store, which used this lot until 2007 when it finally closed its doors (on a side note, as of 11/9/2013, the Goldmann's building is for sale- you should buy it and help us bring back retro Mitchell Street!).   

We hope that someday shoppers will again flood to Mitchell Street for Christmas Shopping and holiday cheer, but for now there are plenty of parking spaces for you and all your friends!