Tierra Luna

These are the last few acres of the immense land given to Downey when Boeing closed their plant in Downey. The first half of the land became Downey Landing. A giant parking lot surrounded by stores and restaurants. Now the other half has become the Promenade, Downey. This time it is a giant parking lot dotted with shops and restaurants.



The definition of a promenade is, 1. "A leisurely walk, or sometimes a ride or drive, taken in a public place so as to meet or be seen by others." 2. "The place where one would take the leisurely walk". There is nowhere in the Downey Promenade to take a leisurely walk. When you sit at Panera's to have a leisurely meal and look out on the lovely landscape, all you see is a parking lot.



This is a promenade. Let us hope that the plans for the rest of Tierra Luna (Promenade) will not look like the current lunar landscape but instead, a beautiful park-like area to take a leisurely walk and meet others doing the same.

"The promenade is a special subset of walking." 
~ Rebecca Solnit

Double-parked

The first building of what eventually became Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church was built in 1909 on "a triangular lot bounded on the east by Crawford Street [now Downey Avenue], on the south by Fifth Street, and on the west by New Street." Back then, they probably didn't worry much about parking space, at least for cars.

More than 100 years later, they are still located on that same small triangular lot. And even though there is a dedicated parking lot a block away, the few parking spots right next to the church must be a constant temptation for those arriving late. So remember—no double parking!

Inconsideration

I usually enjoy photographing the good in Downey, but today as I was in the Ralph's grocery store parking lot looking for a place to park, I saw that almost every space near the doors was occupied. Except for this one.

Someone decided that the 30 seconds it would take them to take this cart to the cart bin was too much for them. Either they didn't have the energy or they couldn't afford to get to the next place 30 seconds later.

And it wasn't just me. While I was taking this picture, three other cars drove by and couldn't park here but had to park further out. Oh well, I did find a spot to park and I got my groceries. All is fine now.

Hold that space

Downtown Downey is bustling late on a Friday night. All the restaurants are filled with couples dining and dancing, and the streets are filled with their cars. There's not a free parking space within blocks. All of wich has the valet parking attendant at the Mi Cielo restaurant keeping a watchful eye out.

I think I can

We humans have a hard time realistically judging size and distance. Whether it's the amount of dessert that makes up "one serving" or the proper distance between cars on the freeway, we always tend to over- or underestimate to our own advantage. This was made very clear to me the other day when I saw this line of large cars, all parked in the spaces marked for compact cars only.

In & Out's improved in & out

Why, you're wondering, am I showing you pictures of a parking lot?

Well, I'm celebrating the new expanded parking lot and extended drive-thru lane for our local In & Out. Before, these cars would have overflowed out onto Lakewood Blvd, where they would be blocking traffic and making it impossible to join the line.

Now, everything is streamlined, and all is well for In & Out fans.

Parking tickets

Back in October of last year, there was a letter to the editor of the local Downey Patriot asking why cars parked on Paramount Blvd outside the Saturday swap meet in a no parking zone were not ticketed. I thought I would see if I could capture this phenomenon for you.

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
~ Benjamin Franklin (1706-90)

Not even parking tickets.

Valet parking

Porto's Bakery not only brought crowds to downtown Downey, they also brought the only valet parking garage. For $4, you can avoid having to drive around and around the parking structure looking for an empty parking space. Or, heaven forbid, you could park on the street and walk off those tasty Cuban pastries!

Parking old and new

From the top of Downey's newest downtown parking structure, next to Porto's Bakery, you can watch a Porto's employee walk upstairs to take a break, or you can see the reflections of the parked cars and of Downey's oldest downtown parking structure in the background.

My, how downtown Downey is growing!

Going postal

These postal trucks were all parked in the lot across from my bank. I am a little curious as to why they are there. The post office isn't that far away and they have plenty of parking. Maybe they're just getting ready for all those Christmas packages soon to be on their way.