One more reason we from JoCo get irritated with KCMO (Independence: lofts, theater)

[Samantha S]

So we went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Music Hall last night. Fabulous show, HOWEVER, a work to the wise if you plan on going:

Now I'm fairly familiar with downtown KC, although I don't frequent it nearly as much as I used to. We get there and the parking garage across from the theater is full.

I asked the attendant where I would find additional parking and he just shrugged his shoulders at me. Thanks a lot buddy!

We had to drive around several blocks before finally parking near the P&L district. Now I don't mind the walk, when it's something I have planned for. But four blocks uphill, in the cold (I had dressed assuming we would be crossing under the street from the parking garage) in my heels, when we are now running late because it took us 15 extra minutes to get parked and now we have further to walk. I was NOT happy.

Had I not been reasonably familiar with downtown (like many from other parts of the metro or from out of town are not) I may have had an even more difficult time figuring out where to go.

The theater was not even full. So why was the parking facility that serves it??? (I have never attended an event at the Music Hall and not been able to park in the garage) And WHY for heavens sake, if they expected it to fill up, did they not at the very least offer some guidance as to where reasonably close additional parking could be found???

[northbound74]

You don't have to be from precious-perfect Johnson County to get irritated at something like that. Yes, us Missourians with our meth-melted brains can muster up a little anger towards such things too.
Whoever was in charge of parking dropped the ball. Now that downtown has become quite the destination, they need to get that all figured out before they run everybody off.

The parking situation could be cured by a good transit system, and a population willing to use it. Not holding my breath anymore for that one.

They're building a new hockey arena in Independence that is just going to provide more competition for the Municipal Auditorium for all sorts of events. It will have plenty of parking, and probably free, no doubt.

[TabulaRasa]

This seems more a reason to get annoyed with know-nothing employees than to get annoyed with the city itself. Regardless of where you're from.

[Gibby3000]

I'm not from KC yet - thinking about moving - so I have no Mo/JoCo opinion. However your situation sounds typical of someone from suburbia who doesn't do much in the city where parking is often challenging no matter what city you're in. In my opinion it goes with the territory if you're going to do something in the city. If you're from the burbs it pays to do some research on parking before you head into town - including several options in case your first one is not available.

[OA 5599]

A four-block walk? How horrible! Try parking an any other city, even smaller than KC. If you want to head to downtown Austin, TX on a Saturday night, you are either not going to find any parking within a mile downtown, or pay at least $10 to park for just a few hours...if those lots aren't full. And they are still often a 4+ block walk from the hotspots for nightlife. I avoid the entire parking mess and simply take the bus downtown.

[northbound74]

Even though the parking situation in downtown KC could be better (they're working on a new garage, I think), I'd agree that knowing the area and it's parking options would be necessary before heading down there.
I know people who never, ever go downtown for anything because they don't like finding a parking space. I go down there all the time. Parking is a slight inconvenience considering the quality of stuff they have once you get there.

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

One more reason we from KCMO get irritated with JoCo:

Because you complain about having to walk four blocks when going to an event downtown. Give me a break. OA 5599 hit the nail on the head.

Downtown KC has plenty of parking - too much of it in my opinion - and it is incredibly cheap when compared to almost any other downtown in the nation. This isn't your Lenexa strip mall where you can park right in front of the Chili's.

[kcmo]

Come on Samantha, I like you, but really?

Sometimes you can't park across the street from your destination. That's just life. In KC, you still get to park much closer and cheaper than in most big cities. It's an urban area. You are not going to have flaggers out directing traffic to park in specific garages. You don't just follow the flaggers like you do at Worlds of Fun or Royals games.

I don't typically pay for parking downtown, we park on the street. But I understand it was cold.

The underground P&L garage is not that far from the Midland. It's 1-2 blocks. It's never full.

http://www.powerandlightdistrict.com...ge=map-parking

^ click on that map, read it before you go downtown to another event and have alternative options. Within 2 blocks, you have several major garages that never fill up. One KC Place, the new garage across from the Midland, the underground garage under the KC Live block (just park on the north end of that garage and it's one block away), the Town Pavilion Garage. That are just the ones that are within a block or two.

Are you even sure you tried to park in the massive garage north of the grocery store? That's a big garage.

Was the One KC Place garage full too? It's just north of the Midland and it's usually open.

I understand your frustration, but there is no way a city can build enough parking across the street from every single venue and make sure it's available 100% of the time. Downtown KC would be nothing but parking garages.

Did you really let this ruin your night???

My reply is not really against you or even “Johnson County” residents. You are not alone in your reasoning. This city is so suburbanized and has such a suburbanized culture (the entire metro) that paying anything more than $5 to park and walking more then one block is simply considered absurd.

I wanted a downtown baseball stadium. There is no way in hell this metro would have been able to deal with the perceived long walks and urban parking that goes with that, even though you walk further at the Truman Sports Complex and even though you have options of free parking and transit, while at the sports complex you are forced to pay ridiculous parking fees, especially for Chiefs games and walk 2-3 times as far.

But you have people there to tell you where to park your car and that's all that matters.

[skrazzle]

Hmmm... it sucks the attendant wasn't more helpful, but what does this have to do with downtown? I lived there for 2 years... i've walked 10 or more blocks and you know it doesn't take very long either. I used to walk to the rivermarket from 16th and walnut.

parking is very easy to find downtown... and many streets in the evening you can park on for free unless you just didn't want your car on the side of the street I suppose... many of the lofts have parking that while its supposed to be for residents only they never check, and there is usually security that watches them if your concerned with anything.

[RjRobb2]

Wow, 4 blocks? I use to work downtown and have to walk a minimum of 10 blocks EVERY SINGLE DAY regardless of the weather.

When you go downtown, be prepared to walk several blocks. If you can do that, then you need to stay in the suburbs.

I actually like that aspect of downtown. Sometimes I even park further away on purpose just to be able to walk. Now, when the weather is crappy I probably wouldnt do that but I wouldnt complain about it. Part of being in the city is knowing that parking isnt going to be ideal and you are likely going to walk to get to your destination.

In regards to this specific situation, there is no need to blame the entire city because one person screwed up.