San Francisco, CA

I admit it, as a local who doesn’t have a car here, I am glad that parking is so difficult to find in San Francisco. I think it limits the amount of traffic that there is in the city and encourages people to walk. And I happen to love that San Francisco is a walking city, that you can be out and about among the people who live around you, interacting with your world as part of your daily activity.

But, at the same time, I admit that I like having access to a car when it’s convenient. I don’t exactly complain when friends pick me up to go out for the evening if we’re headed out of the city or to places across the city that aren’t as easy to get to on public transportation. And when we get back to my neighborhood, it’s never particularly fun looking for parking. Still, overall, I think the parking sacrifices are worth it to live in a walking-friendly city … but of course I can say that because I never do the parking.

Having often been in the car with people who do, I’ve picked up a few tips about parking in San Francisco:

1. Practice your parking. If you can’t parallel park, you can’t get good parking in San Francisco. And if you aren’t confident enough to parallel park in a small space on a hill filled with tourist traffic, you severely limit your parking options.

2. Look for free parking first. Many people go straight to the lots and garages where you have to pay, but if you’re not afraid to look around, you can often find free parking even in popular neighborhoods. Look on the side streets.

3. Be willing to drive around for awhile. Free spots open up but you have to be patient sometimes.

4. Notice the time limits. It’s two hour parking in most locations. If you think you’re going to be longer than that and don’t want to get ticketed (but are willing to take your chances for the free spot), park on a steep hill. While it’s certainly not guaranteed that you won’t get ticketed, the parking police seem to check the steepest hills the least often while flat places get picked on.

5. Look for the chalk marks. The meter maids mark your tire with chalk and then they check back when the time is up. If the chalk’s there, you haven’t moved your car and might get ticketed. So if you’re walking around the area in which you’ve parked, make a point to pass by your car and see if you need to move it.

6. Know when it makes sense to pay for parking. Sometimes, searching for free parking is in vain. If it’s a holiday, if there’s a festival in the neighborhood, or if it’s clearly a particularly busy weekend night, you’ll probably drive around for a long time trying to find the free parking. In that case, it might make more sense to just pay. (Or to plan ahead and take public transportation from a different neighborhood).

7. Don’t over-stay at parking meters. While you can often get away with parking for longer than two hours at the free spots, the parking meters get checked and ticketed regularly.

8. Choose lots instead of garages. They tend to let you pay by the day or half day and are cheaper as a result.

9. If you’re near several garages, find one that offers a few hours free. Usually this just requires going into a store and getting validation on your ticket.

10. Challenge your tickets. If you parked and then got a ticket, challenge it. It doesn’t always work, but it sometimes works, especially if you can come up with a valid argument as to why you shouldn’t have to pay. Or at least delays paying. And if you do have to pay, think of how many times you parked in SF and didn’t pay and see that it probably evens out. It’s a small price to pay, really, for living or visiting such a terrific city.