Free parking spots in DC?
Hey guys! I'm moving to DC with my car from NY and I am looking for a parking spot from beginning of June until late July. Do you know any spots where I could let it? Or a garage that I could rent for this time?
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I would suggest looking on Craigslist for parking spacing for rent, as that might be cheaper, than a formal garage.
It is next to impossible to find free parking spots in DC. Coming from NY, you shouldn't come as a surprise that monthly rental spots are outrageously expensive in DC. Apart from obvious things you could find, something to think about is to find parking spots in Arlington, VA. It is 10 minutes away from DC and you might find something cheaper. Another option is to park for free on the streets of Arlington, VA. For instance, a lot of spots are free near 1901 N Veitch St, Arlington, VA 22201, and you could find a lot of spots in surrounding areas. Good luck.
If you have a lease or something similar you can go to your nearest police precinct to obtain temporary street parking permit in your zone. You should be able to park on the street like local residents do.
This. You need a driver's license and proof of address https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/parking-permits-visitor-parking-permits, but it's super easy. I think they give them out in two week intervals, so you'd have to go back, but it takes about 2 minutes to actually do once you're there. They can start ticketing you if you have out of state plates and have been here for more than a month though (I think they give you a warning first).
I second trying in Arlington- there is a cul de sac across from my house that you may park in for that time. 2357 S. Arlington Ridge Road, Arlington , Va 22202
Yeah, sometimes there are a few spots just in Arlington that dont have signs. I've left my car there for weeks.
Alot depends on what neighborhood of DC you are talking about. Also depends on how much you will use your car and at what times. I drive Uber and am all over DC, often parking or waiting in spots while waiting for rides. There are many lovely residential areas that have tons of spots available at nearly all times, however, if you don't have the residential sticker you have only two or three hours free parking during work week working hours. Usually these neighborhoods are unrestricted on weekends. If you get the temporary residential sticker for the area as people have suggested you can leave your car unrestricted in that neighborhood at any time. This might work in an upper (north) wisconsin neighborhood and there may be spots in that neighborhood without much searching even if you are coming in and out frequently. I have a good friend in NW DC off Wisconsin who I visit alot and at all hours and it's generally no problem to find a spot within a half block of her house. But during the work week I could only park for 3 hours at a time in that neighborhood since I do not have the residential sticker.
If you are in Dupont, NOMA, near the White House, etc., very different story and you probably want to find a garage outside the area. But there are some areas near the center that I have stayed in hostels with a car and I didn't have to pay for parking. I generally would leave the area before 8 AM on weekdays and return after working hours and parking restrictions allow you to park overnight. But it is a hassle and I didn't always find parking within a few blocks of that neighborhood when I returned after hours.
So the worse case is if you need your car to sit most of the time in one spot particularly. That's when you're most likely to get a ticket. Then again if you don't need to use your car frequently I assume it would be okay to garage it further out maybe walking distance to a metro line. In that case the metro you would choose might depend on what activities you anticipate when you do use your car. There are many places in Arlington VA, which I am familiar with, with no parking restrictions at all. I took a 3.5 week trip to SE asia and parked my car near a school in Arlington and walked to the metro with a backpack. Three weeks later, no ticket no issues. There is the possibility that a resident could report your car as abandoned and I don't know the exact regulations for that so best not to park right in front of someone's house.
Hope this helps a bit.
I live in DC and here's the trouble with long term street parking: There are VERY VERY few places where you can park and leave your car 24/7 for a week straight. Almost all streets have either daily rush hour restrictions and/or weekly no parking times for street cleaning.
Since it sounds like you need to leave your car a bit too another good option is renting a parking spot from a hotel. here are some sites that offer rentals at various hotels. They're mostly geared towards travelers leaving via airport, but I've used them and usually in and out is no problem.
http://www.pnf.com/ http://www.parksleepfly.com/
And, there several other sites too.
If you do decide you want to rent a space, some people do list spaces for rent on Craigslist or you can check out spothero.com, it allows you to reserve parking spaces and typically at a discount.
Thank you guys for all of your answers! I found a place where to leave it near someone's place
At first I was going to say hahaha because there's no free parking in dc; there's metered parking, parking garages (typically about $10), and residential street parking requiring a permit, and there are some lucky residents who have actual driveways or garages. Some metro stations towards the outskirts of the city have parking lots (like shady grove or fort totten), but you may need to pay with metro card when you leave. But then I remembered on Sundays they do not ticket. So on Sundays you can park in metered spaces for free, and you can get away with parking in residential spaces.
I've left my car at shady grove over night and taken metro to the city and slept in the city. Not sure how many days in a row they'd let you leave it there though.