Want to land on Free Parking.

July 13, 2009 1:06 AM

How would one find the most affordable options for long-term, 24/7 access parking in urban areas? For me specifically, downtown Portland.

I wish I could go without my car, but unfortunately my job involves driving out to clients that are far away pretty often. ZipCar would cost a lot more than it costs me to own and drive my car.

So, I'm interested in any strategies you guys know of to locate the most affordable long-term parking in urban areas possible. The big garages have pretty bad monthly rates unless there's some trick to make the prices go down. Haven't seen hardly anything pop up on Craigslist. There's got to be people that aren't large expensive parking businesses that want to rent some area they've got to my small vehicle.

I'm hoping to drum-up some good general advice that'd be applicable in many places to many people, but if anybody knows anything pertinent to my specific situation, I'd certainly take it. I'm looking around SW Portland. Even more specifically, something within reasonable walking distance from here. 24/7 access is a total requirement, as I'm living here and need to get to places that aren't here on short notice at odd hours. I'm not just parking it while I commute here from elsewhere at certain hours. I am a student at PSU but the University's rates for parking are pretty atrocious even compared to the market.

Thanks!

posted by floam to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

Shop around for monthly parking and have your job pay for it. City Center Parking doesn't seem to think it important to list prices, but Smart Park is $100-150/mo. Your boss might see it as a perk, so you might have to negotiate for this. ~$1500/yr might be doable in terms of your overall compensation.
posted by rhizome at 1:49 AM on July 13

I'm self-employed.
posted by floam at 1:58 AM on July 13

Find some students sharing an apartment with an unneeded garage/car spot. In Sydney every second lamp post has adverts for sharemates, ring a few and ask about parking.
posted by bystander at 3:30 AM on July 13

$150/mo seems high, even in Vancouver BC which has higher rents and greater urban density in the downtown core than Portland, you can rent a parking spot in the west end (west of Burrard) for about $65 a month. People who live in condo buildings or apartments sometimes rent out their spot, or you can rent the spot directly from the building management. You might try finding if there are any large rental apartment buildings near where you want to park that are managed by a professional property management company.
posted by thewalrus at 7:38 AM on July 13

Everyone I know who lives in downtown Portland and has a car is paying $110+ a month for parking, or they live in a building that provides it (a condo building, for example, where parking spot is purchased).

This is a factor in why some people choose to live just outside of downtown - in Goose Hollow or NW, for example - where they pay for a yearly neighborhood street parking permit... but that puts them at the mercy of what spots are available. With major league soccer coming in 2001 (?), parking in Goose Hollow will probably get much worse.
posted by 2oh1 at 10:51 AM on July 13

Look along the MAX line in the fareless square areas. I am in Old Town and our rates are anywhere from $99-$150 a month for semi-secure (garage but no real security) to open lot. $150-200 more in the centra core, but those lots usually have a full time security guard.

Look maybe along Lloyd Center too. You can ride MAX for free to the spot in 10-15 minutes then hit the road.
posted by karmaville at 12:13 PM on July 14