William F Poe Garage

I’m being completely object with this review despite my dislike of downtown traffic, my dislike of being late due to traffic and no parking, and my dislike of having to pay for parking.
I get that all of the above are necessary evils if you want to live and or/​play downtown. There is just not enough street parking to accomodate the throngs of folks in this very popular area near Curtis-​HIxon Waterfront park; that being said, this garage has some pretty big issues that kept it from getting an average rating.
One way or no way. You have to ensure you come near this garage from the correct direction, because if you miss the turn, it will be nearly impossible to get back in. You have to turn around, go past it, way past it, and then give it another go. There is no left hand turn into this garage.
Bring your Seguey. That’s about the only thing that’s going to fit into the parking spots here. I have a compact car, and I had to try 3 different spots before I found one where I could actually get out of my car, even with the side mirrors folded.
Corner confusion. There are parking spots along a 2 way corner. I saw a near crash where an SUV (how the flip did YOU get in here!!!) came around a blind corner and almost hit a car backing out of a corner spot.
Valet. A huge swath of prime parking spots are marked «valet only.» So, a parking garage has valet? Defeats the purpose. Unless you mean I could be at an event elsewhere and my valet is going to have to run up here, extract my car, and then drive back to me after making a U-​Turn.
Mad dash. You pay at a bizarre kiosk thing, not at the exit. Here’s the kicker: once you pay, the clock starts! You have a certain amount of time to get to your vehicle and leave, or you get a penalty. If you forgot something back at the bar you were at, such as your car keys or a friend passed out in the bathroom, get ready to pony up a bit more coin.