Parking: beancurd in beantown

July 14, 2012 6:55 AM

Any tips for parking near Boston's Chinatown?

I'm driving up to meet people for dinner and wondering if there are good places to find cheap parking near Chinatown. I don't mind a walk. It's a borrowed, niceish car, so safetey could play into suggestions.

posted by spbmp to Travel & Transportation around Boston, MA (7 answers total)

I belive the garage under the commons has a weekend rate of $10 or $12 a day.
posted by phil at 7:07 AM on July 14, 2012

Best answer: Searching on my phone but I'm pretty sure this is my favorite site for figuring this stuff out in Boston. If it's the site I remember, it frequently has coupons for pretty good discounts, and the map-with-prices thing is pretty handy.
posted by range at 7:47 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'll echo the advice to park in the Commons Garage. It's a flat rate of $11 an evening on weekends. It's a short walk from the garage to Chinatown, and the garage is very clean and safe, with ample parking.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 7:57 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The Common garage is probably the simplest option, but you could also park in the big surface lot across Fort Point Channel from South Station and walk from there. I want to say it's $5? There are garages over there, too, but I don't know what the weekend rates are.

There are also a few surface lots in and around the Theater District and Chinatown itself. It looks like the site range recommended has them all covered.
posted by Kosh at 8:12 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

There is a surface lot on Kneeland, just past corner of Kneeland and Washington. I'm sure it costs more than the commons lot, but it is closer.

do not park in the Tufts/Floating Hospital garage (it is also public parking for theaters/clubs); it is v close to Chinatown, but I would not consider it safe at night.
posted by maryrussell at 8:21 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

There's a parking garage at 40 Beach St that's $10 on weekends. How big is your car? The garage is safe but skinny.
posted by mkb at 6:31 PM on July 14, 2012

I've always parked in the Beach St garage that mkb mentioned and always had good luck with it. But yeah, if you drive a huge SUV or if you're not a very good driver, it'll be a challenge.
posted by Plutor at 11:29 AM on July 17, 2012