The New Mall Is Great, but…

I ventured into Santa Monica to check out the new Santa Monica Place mall yesterday. I thought, “Hey, it’s a Wednesday, how crowded could it be?” My instincts were mostly right. The crowds in the stores weren’t bad at all. Bloomingdale’s was quiet and finding friendly sales help was easy. There was no line at the ultra-popular Forty Carrots yogurt shop.

But parking… oh, the humanity.

Driving West on Colorado, it took forever just to get to the entrance, then once inside, there was a lot of that classic “I’m gonna take my good ole time getting out of this parking spot” while other cars line up in wait. The aisles are too narrow to go around them so annoyance levels rise fast.

Leaving was worse. It’s great that you pre-pay your ticket before you leave (and somehow my parking was free, even though it’s usually a $5 flat rate after 6 pm), but pulling into traffic onto Colorado is an experience best undertaken only by the most patient of us all. There are two traffic lights very close together, so drivers are reticent to let other cars in. Not fun.

The mall has all the makings of a great shopping destination, but I have to hope management is working on improving the parking situation.