Parking Complaints and the Ferg

I've been holding my tongue on the topic of parking in Stamford. When I started Stamford Talk in August, I thought, I'll go downtown and take some pics! Then I thought, oh... and park in the Tigin lot and pay 1.00 $ for one hour. Fine, but it's on the northern edge of the main shopping/social area. That's annoying, but like several defensive Stamford Letter to the Editor authors point out, this is a big city and to expect free, central parking is foolish. OK. Fine. I’ll suck it up like you suggest.

However, I've been pushed to edge by the one-hour parking meters outside the Ferguson. One hour? ONE HOUR??? Do they think this is a city of dummies? One hour in the library? I spend at least two! I'd like to be able to park in the spaces along Bedford, in front of the Schakolad and Bradford's and Tigin, without having to stress about how many minutes I'm looking at books. I think if I find a free space, I should get at least two hours.

Case in point: Last week I happily went to the Ferg for the Wed. 12:00 movie showing. Not only was I finally getting myself over to the library for the movie, I was exicted to see a quirky-sounding documentary called "Who the %@^%$ is Jackson Pollack?" I arrived ten minutes early, just enough time to grab a good spot in front of Bradford’s and make it in on time. OH. The meter is for an hour, and the movie is 75 minutes long. I don’t do parking tickets, so I had to pull out and go to the Tigin lot with its tiny spaces where other cars always ding you. I rushed in just in time for the opening credits. Where did all those other people park?

Parking pacifists say, "Parking's not that bad. In any major city..." Well, guess what. This ain’t a major city. If it were, there would be decent public transportation and more things within walking distance. When the parking spaces outside the library only let you park for one hour (ONE HOUR!!!!!) and your only option is to park in creepy Target or the lot behind Tigin, something is off. I’m trying, but walking from those lots in the rain or a very cold day in February… how does that encourage reading???

I'm willing to pay for the Tigin or Hula Hank lot if I'm out for drinks or dinner. I expect to spend money. But to have to spend money to go to the library? That just doesn’t seem right. Nor does having to root around for quarters; many people don’t carry cash, much less quarters. That’s so 1950’s.

What has kept my sanity is the fact that I don't have to return books to the Ferg; I can hit any other branch, therefore avoiding double parking trauma. I don’t mean to whine, but I really want to use the Ferguson, but doing so takes longer than it should.