Where are big empty parking lots around here?

[tealegirle.livejournal.com]

Hey y'all, I've finally consented to learn to drive my boyfriend's terrifyingly expensive stick-shift car, and so we're looking for big, empty parking lots where I can drive around and screw up a lot without having to worry about other cars.  Suggestions?

Comments

[mcary219.livejournal.com]

Costco, Sunday after 6pm in their parking lot. Everett is the closet one I think. Thats where I learned for the first time :)

[ron_newman]

The John F. Kennedy School parking lot on Elm Street, on a non-school day (such as tomorrow).

[ron_newman]

I think the parking lot for the Assembly Square Cinemas is largely empty, ever since the cinemas closed a year and a half ago.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yeah, in general one can count on Assembly Square being, well, empty.

[ron_newman]

I wouldn't go to the former mall parking lot, because it's now full of shoppers at Staples, Christmas Tree Shops, and a bunch of other strip-mall stores.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

The Burlington Mall has enormous parking lots. I think most of the stores open at 10, so if you get there before then, I'd think you'd find plenty of outlying space.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Even better, there are lots of office parks around there. Go on a weekend and you're set.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

They are filming a movie [Mall Cop, Kevin James is the 'star'] at the Burlington Mall in the off hours and part of the parking lot is dedicated to movie crew and tents. So that lot is probably not a good choice at this time.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

the "gateway center" strip mall of box stores over in everett has huge parking lots and the section directly behind the target is almost always completely empty (costco parking never seems to drift that far up in the lot)
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.398853,-71.071758&spn=0.008905,0.015042&t=h&z=16

closer to the square, if you don't need a huge lot, this parking lot at tufts is usually empty in the evenings and doesn't have lots of plants or parking light poles creating obstacles for you. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.408102,-71.114995&spn=0.002226,0.00376&t=h&z=18

[beezy515.livejournal.com]

You should try Mount Auburn Cemetery. There are lots of roads, a couple of hills, and usually few, if any, cars.

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

The parking lot at the big strip mall in Fresh Pond (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Fresh+Pond+Shopping+Center&sll=42.390755,-71.140552&sspn=0.007274,0.013819&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16), next to Alewife Station, could be worth a try. There's some office parks and stuff near there that might be about right too. Best of luck.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I learned to drive at the office parks on Cambridgepark Drive at Alewife, which are pretty deserted outside of business hours. Technically they're barred off, but you don't need a magical card to get in -- just say you're visiting someone. It can be anyone. The husband used "Jane Austen" a lot.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

This is much smaller than what other people have suggested but the parking lot right next to the stadium (Dilboy Staduim?) on Route 16 is pretty much empty all the time.

If you want do get adventurous, you can take a right out of the parking lot, and take a right at the first light (Broadway), you can do some empty neighborhood driving and loop back to the safety of the parking lot.

Also, the road along the east side of the Mystic river right there (much of it is Mystic Valley Parkway right along the lakes) has very little traffic, as does the adjacent neighborhood (bounded by Route 60, the river, and Boston Ave).

I've taken a beginner around there several times. The benefit is that when you feel comfortable you can branch out without being too immediately overwhelmed, and easily return to a "safe zone".

Good luck!

Mount Auburn Cemetery

[grateful1311.livejournal.com]

That is where I learned to drive stick. Better off going on a week day because they tend to have a lot of visitors on the weekend when the weather is nice.

[lesliet-ma.livejournal.com]

Using maps.google.com, I noticed there are several big parking lots near Meadow Glen Mall, near the intersection of Mystic Valley Pkwy (Route 16) and the Fellsway (Route 28). There's the mall parking lot, plus some others that might be empty on weekends...

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

The parking lots in the Arsenal office complexes in Watertown are big and deserted on the weekends. That's where my husband taught me to drive stick. There's a good hill for stopping and starting, too.

[dawneliz.livejournal.com]

Wahoo! Welcome to the club. I *also* just learned to drive stick, and I did my practice runs over at Tufts (there is a large parking lot off of College Ave past the railroad tracks).