Families should think about parking when planning games

Last year, when I attended a Jets home game, parking was a nightmare. According to the Jets organization, the Xanadu project will be completed in 2010. But, last year was incredibly bad. Really, the only real parking option (meaning a normal experience) is only going to be possible by showing up many hours before the game.

I was talking about this with a friend who is going to a few home games with me during the season. Our plan is going to be something to the tune of showing up at about 7:30 a.m. on game day. We tried showing up three hours early last year. The lot was already over-filled, and parking became a major issue.

There aren't a lot of references about this online right now. But, for anyone interested in attending any games this is going to become a very big deal. Especially where it involves the game as a family event, it can be a strong challenge if the commute to the game and parking is not strongly factored into the plan.

The natural thought is that the organizers at the Meadowlands, or perhaps the teams, would really put a lot of thought into how to avoid this problem. Well, they didn't last year and I haven't seen anything giving me an inclination that there is any planning going into it this year. So, the planning part is going to be left up to those attending. And, as I see it, the only real plan is going to be showing up before the crowd hits. I have to think that means getting there obscenely early. I'll be checking this out more as the weeks click by and will blog more about this.

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