(UN)RELIABLE SOURCES: 0007
TOP TEN WORST PARKING SPOTS

by FRANK O'DONNELL
JULY 2006

I'm calling my councilman to make a suggestion.

We need an addendum to the "Welcome to North Providence" signs.

It will read: "If you don't already have a place to park, fugedabowdit!"

Outside of downtown Providence, I've never been so challenged to find a place to park as I frequently am throughout North Providence.

Earlier this month, I was watching my son play at the North Providence East Little League field on Ivan Street. I made the mistake of parking in the upper lot. Mistake, because I had to leave early.

I was in a perfectly legal spot, having arrived 15 minutes before the game.

But when I needed to leave, virtually every inch of the tarmac was taken up. What little room remained did not allow passage for even a Vespa, let alone my Odyssey.

There was really only one way out, and it was blocked by a big white pickup truck. My daughter checked the stands, but no one fessed up to owning it. Finally, we had to ask the kid at the public address system to make an announcement. 

Cartoon by Charlie Hall (originally appeared in the Valley Breeze and Observer)

Turns out, the trucker was the umpire. He had to delay the game to move his truck so I could get out. My son never had a call go his way the rest of the season.

Naturally, I told everyone I knew all about it. And they started telling me their parking lot horror stories. Which is when I realized, you can't park anywhere in this town.  

So I took a very quick, very informal, completely unscientific poll of my ten closest friends in North Providence, asking them to tell me the worst parking spaces in town.

So with apologies to David Letterman, here's my list of the Top 10 Worst Parking Spots in North Providence.

10. Each of these first three got only one vote, but I found it interesting that they're parking is no good only sometimes. TWINS RESTAURANT on Mineral Spring Avenue, but only on Friday night, "especially during Lent." CVS on Mineral Spring Avenue, but only on the weekend. And SAINT ANTHONY'S CHURCH on Mineral Spring Avenue, but only on Sunday – which I suppose makes some sense.
           
9. DOUGLAS COMMON PLAZA at the intersection of Douglas and Mineral Spring Avenues. There are five or six business in the big building – three food-related, one hair place, a mattress place and a shoe store. On busy days, you sometimes have to park across the street at Brooks, and take your chances on not becoming an MSA speed hump.

8. NORTH PROVIDENCE HIGH SCHOOL. I was reminded just how difficult it was to park there on a recent Sunday, when I was 15 minutes late for my daughter's dance recital. When I saw what the lot looked like, I turned around, went home and called a taxi.

7. PAULEY PENTA'S DELI on Mineral Spring Avenue. Food - great food. Atmosphere – good. Parking – not so much. As one of the polled responded, "You can't get out if you ain't not facin' the right way already."

6. DUNKIN' DONUTS on Mineral Spring Avenue. Yes, I know, you have to be more specific. It was interesting how two different folks located it for me. One referred to it as the one next to Julio's. The other said it was across from Spardello's. Fine Italian food versus fine Italian clothing. And both locations, at least according to my poll, have adequate parking.

5. MANGIARELLI'S FRUITLAND at the corner of Lexington and Mineral Spring. One of the respondents actually counted the spaces. "Ten spots along the side of building, but on a Saturday or a holiday weekend, people park up and down Lexington. They even park in the car wash and hike over!"

4. NORTH PROVIDENCE EAST LITTLE LEAGUE FIELD on Ivan Street. One respondent referred specifically to the upper lot. "There should be four rows of parking, plus a way to get around and a way to get in and out." All I can say is, ha!

3. CENTERDALE BUSINESSES, especially the ones in between the Route 44 Rotaries. Impossible to find a spot, and most of the places don't have lots. Maybe that's what the rotaries are for – to let you circle while you wait for a spot to open up.

2. MAC SHORES, A.K.A. LITTLE SHAWS. The name confusion has not as much to do with the fact that they're both grocery stores, but that in North Providence, they're pronounced exactly the same. And rather than risk pronouncing an "r," we make Mac diminutive – even though Mac's been here far longer than the Big Shaws. I'm told the lot at Little Shaws is particularly bad on Saturdays. "It makes demolition derby at Seekonk Speedway seem tame," said one respondent.

And the Number One Worst Place to Park in North Providence? NORTH PROVIDENCE TOWN HALL. I guess the Town Planner doesn't spend a lot of time there. If we even have a Town Planner. I actually went to Town Hall to find out – but I couldn't find a place to park.