Parking lots from hell

Value Village. The Ballard lot is tight with narrow spaces and little room to maneuver. Recently a voice over the intercom called a shopper to the checkstand, announcing, "Your car has been hit."

Trader Joe's. Both the University District and Capitol Hill stores offer a dark and crowded parking experience with little room to maneuver. Do not attempt when driving a Hummer.

REI downtown. A sloped parking garage with randomly placed cement columns combined with large outdoorsy vehicles competing for spaces make this one difficult.

"The downtown REI is the bane of my existence," says Heather Hawkins Weinland, who looked away for only a second when parking, to the detriment and permanent scarring of her minivan.

Red Robin. The lot for this restaurant on Eastlake Avenue has a vertiginous hill and stalls that require parallel parking. It's easy to feel that a few bad moves could send a car careening onto a houseboat below. Do not attempt with an unreliable parking brake or skittish companion.

QFC, Broadway Market. This parking garage has angled spots, but they are tight. Orange concrete pillars, a low clearance and loud ventilating fans that spew a toneless industrial whir can add a surreal aspect to parking here. Do not attempt while listening to '80s music.

Whole Foods on 64th Street. This is another grocery-store parking lot that can shake even the most patient, highly evolved shopper. The spots feel tiny, and if a large car parks over the line, there is a possibility of being trapped and having to eat all the groceries before the offending driver reappears.

— Diana Wurn