Parking in DC

October 19, 2008 2:53 PM

Where can my friend leave her car in DC for the next few days?

My friend is driving to Washington DC tomorrow morning and would like to be able to park her car somewhere unzoned (or else in a safe lot at a Metro stop) for the next two or three days -- preferably close to Adam's Morgan. She saw this thread, but are there any other unzoned spaces in Northwest? If not, is leaving her car at a Metro stop for a couple days an option?

posted by ootsocsid to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

There's unzoned space up in Tenleytown near the Fort Reno Park
posted by sandmanwv at 3:23 PM on October 19, 2008

I don't know of any unzoned street parking in Adams Morgan. If she's visiting someone who lives here, the best option for her would be to visit the police station and get a temporary permit. Anyone with a DC drivers license can do it, and it takes literally 3 minutes. She puts that on her dash and she can park anywhere in the zone she wants for a few weeks.
posted by Inkoate at 6:00 PM on October 19, 2008

See here for Metro daily parking information, specifically -

"Multi-day parking is available at three stations: Greenbelt, Huntington, and Franconia-Springfield.These stations have between 15 and 25 spaces allocated for multi-day use of up to 10 days. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no charge for multi-day parking beyond the regular fee (paid with a SmarTrip card) on the day of exit, if exiting during collection hours (10:30 a.m. - midnight on Monday - Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. - 3 a.m. Friday).

These spaces, located inside the regular facilities and not at the metered (kiss and ride) spaces are at:
1. Level 1J at Franconia station
2. Ground Level Row 1B of the garage at Huntington station
3. Cherrywood Lane side at Greenbelt station"


Alternatively, (and this would be my recommendation) she could buy several days worth of daily parking permits in Bethesda or Silver Spring - Silver Spring is a steal at $5/day, and both are on the red line, so it's fairly easy to get to Adams Morgan from either.
posted by god hates math at 6:39 PM on October 19, 2008

it's a little far from adams-morgan, but the franconia-springfield stop is near the springfield mall, and there's a (free) macy's parking garage about a half-mile away that a lot of commuters park at. they also run shuttles from the macy's parking garage to the metro every 15 minutes or so in case she has luggage, and they cost a quarter. she'd have a pretty long trip in, though.
posted by kerning at 7:06 PM on October 19, 2008

I've got this one, there's a parking garage below the Giant supermarket right next to the Van-Ness/UDC station for $7/day. It's in a safe and busy neighborhood near UDC and Howard Law School. I've used it several times for 3-4 days and have had no problem, bonus points for being underground and somewhat more secure than an open lot, YMMV.
posted by limited slip at 7:34 PM on October 19, 2008

...and the Van Ness/UDC stop is just one/two stops up from the National Zoo station closest to Adam's Morgan
posted by limited slip at 7:35 PM on October 19, 2008

Van Ness/UDC metro go two blocks south to Upton St, follow Upton a ways down and around a corner to the left - there is a big unzoned stretch (or was, as of a year ago, last I was around there). Couple stops from the Woodley Park/Adams Morgan metro on the Red Line.

Alternately just drive a while up Connecticut Ave and you could probably find unzoned streets, though this is way up around Kanawha St where Politics and Prose is.
posted by citron at 10:32 PM on October 19, 2008

^^^^ btw that stretch of Upton fills up quick in the morning, Howard Law and UDC are there plus commuters, I would try getting a spot in the evening instead if possible.
posted by citron at 10:33 PM on October 19, 2008

Not that this is particularly timely (again), but for askers of the future: Temporary. Visitor's. Permit.

If that won't work for some reason, then you can check to see which blocks of a particular streets is zoned residential parking at this page on DDOT website.
posted by averyoldworld at 12:24 PM on October 21, 2008