Balboa Park, never one to miss an artistic opportunity, has debuted its boldest new installation yet: “The Museum of Empty Parking Lots.” As paid parking takes effect throughout the city’s cultural crown jewel, previously teeming parking lots now exude a soothing, post-apocalyptic calm—a scene some call “Avant-Garde Urban Dystopia.”
“We wanted to provide guests a new park experience: the serenity of having several hundred square feet to yourself while pondering your car’s rising existential costs,” said museum curator Miles A. Way. “The emptiness is the exhibit. Some days, you might even see a lone tumbleweed rolling majestically towards the Zoo.”
The new exhibit replaces the retired “Museum of Frustrated Minivan Maneuvering,” which closed after visitors realized there were suddenly more spaces than people.
Interactive options abound. Guests are encouraged to wander the echoing asphalt, participate in the daily scavenger hunt for a vandalized parking meters, or simply stare longingly at the entrance to a museum they now can’t afford to visit.
Park officials say the artful installation is a somber metaphor for economic access but could double as a prime film location for the inevitable sequel to “I Am Legend: San Diego Edition.”
Meanwhile, the Museum of Empty Parking Lots expects record attendance in 2024—at least among seagulls, skateboarders, and the occasional lost Lime scooter. Admission is, ironically, free—but parking still costs $6 an hour.
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