On its surface, the Trader Joe’s located in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood seems like a solid place to pick up weekly groceries or a couple of last-minute items before dinner. For starters, it’s a stone’s throw from several major freeways. The outpost is further surrounded by cleaners, coffee shops and a postal service, so one could feasibly knock out a few errands simultaneously. There’s even a soft-serve joint (with lots of vegan options, naturally) and a taco stand nearby, should the need for a treat arise.
Yet there’s a major snag preventing this Trader Joe’s from actually being a useful market for most: Its parking lot is uniquely horrible, even by Los Angeles standards.
Tiny and nonsensically designed, this Trader Joe’s parking area often features rows of cars waiting for spots, with no one readily able to get in or out. It has the misfortune of butting up against the major artery of Hyperion, so would-be parkers and those looking to exit each spill out onto the street — causing the already-clogged lanes to get backed up even further. Street parking isn’t exactly plentiful in the area, so drivers are forced to wait it out in this manmade purgatory…