Short-term overnight parking near Central Square, Cambridge, MA?

October 2, 2016 8:31 PM

I'm driving to visit some friends in Cambridge, MA next weekend, near Central Square. I'll need somewhere to park my car while I'm there (3 nights). How hard is it to find parking for a few days within, say, a 30-minute walk from Central Square?

I've lived near there myself so I know the area very well, but I never owned a car at the time, so I'm not in tune with parking issues. Street parking is fine and I know there's a fair amount of it, but I hear you have to have a resident sticker to use it? Is that true for all street parking, or only some?

I'm willing to move the car once a day if necessary, but not more than that. I'm also willing to pay a small amount for parking. As a last resort, I'm willing to park near another T station on the red line and take the train into Central Square. What are my options?

posted by mekily to Travel & Transportation around Cambridge, MA (8 answers total)

Tell them to get a guest pass. Or the Green St garage.
posted by sammyo at 8:41 PM on October 2, 2016 [4 favorites]

Visitor Parking Permit. Your friends might already have one. Or, if you have friends in the area, its worth asking around. I feel like they are sometimes treated like Netflix passwords, shared between good friends and family.

Alternatively, ask your friends if they have a neighbor with a driveway who will let you park there. Depending on where around Central Square, they might have one.
posted by troytroy at 8:52 PM on October 2, 2016

If the others fail, you can park at the Alewife garage and take the T in four stops. But don't leave anything valuable in the car.
posted by praemunire at 8:58 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's a more expensive option, but you can park overnight at the Charles Hotel parking garage in Harvard Square. (You can take the red line for one stop, walk, or bus to get from Harvard Square to Central.) It looks like it should be $40/day if you park overnight. (I know for a fact that the parking lot is open to guests of the hotel and whoever else wants to pay to park there, but you may want to call and double check that non-guests can park overnight.)

As far as street parking, I'm pretty sure almost all of the street parking is either resident permit or metered, and the meters will have usually have a 30 min - 2 hr limit. If you can get a visitor parking permit, that would be the best and cheapest option. If you can't get the permit, then I would probably just park at Alewife, especially if you aren't planning to use your car at all during your visit.

The only exception I can think of regarding the metered parking is that it's usually free and unlimited all day on Sunday and on holidays. Also, most meters only run from like 8 am to 6pm, so I think in theory you could park overnight at them if you are willing to move your car by 8am.

Oh, also, if you park on the street, make sure you pay attention to the street cleaning days. I think they are pretty aggressive about ticketing and towing.

One last option is you can try something like parkopedia. Basically, you give them a general location, and they give you parking options, including individuals who rent out a spot in their driveway and that kind of thing. They also show parking garages, etc, but I wouldn't necessarily trust their info about the garage rates etc. (I've checked out the site several times, but never actually followed through, so I can't vouch for the site based on personal experience.)
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:30 AM on October 3, 2016

I visit a friend in Central Square and park there sometimes. It's really hard to find something that isn't metered or residential. It's also very easy to just park at Alewife and take the T in if you don't need your things. I think it's $7/day? If your friend has a parking pass you should be all set except for street cleaning.
posted by jessamyn at 7:00 AM on October 3, 2016

Visitor Parking Permit. Your friends might already have one.

Definitely. To give a bit more detail, Cambridge residents can apply for a visitor parking permit that will allow their visitors -- i.e., you -- to park in particular areas of Cambridge that are normally for residents only. The exact area is based on where the Cambridge resident lives.

If your friends already have a Resident Parking Permit, they should have 1 complementary Visitor Parking Permit. If they do not have a RPP, the visitor permit will cost them $25 but it's good for a year (well, they expire on 1/31 but after that you can just get a new one once a year), and plus with $40/day rates, even if you completely subsidized the $25 fee, you should still come out ahead.

You may have to move your car once a day -- I don't remember if that is the case.

Otherwise I'd park at Alewife, Quincy Adams or Braintree, depending on where you're coming from, as all those Red Line stations permit overnight parking at roughly $15/day. Although if you're arriving on the Friday before the evening rush hour crowd departs, those garages can get pretty full.
posted by andrewesque at 7:55 AM on October 3, 2016

Speaking as a former Cambridge resident:

Your friend can get a visitor parking permit; City Hall Annex (where they issue them) is open late on Mondays, so they can go after work. You go in with payment and proof of residence (utility bill or the like), and you leave with the permit; no wait.

You'll have to move your car as they don't want you to park in one place for more than 24 hours, but I've had a car in the neighborhood for multiple days without incident. Sunday parking is free everywhere, so you shouldn't have to move your car from Saturday to Sunday.
posted by explosion at 8:46 AM on October 3, 2016

Green Street Garage, permit, or, if you're lucky, I think there are still some unmetered spots on Broadway between Prospect and Inman that don't require a permit, and possibly on Hampshire between Columbia and Prospect. Carefully check signs.
posted by ldthomps at 9:03 AM on October 3, 2016