How necessary is off street parking? (Madison, Monona: apartment, renters, neighborhood)

[Wyvern398]

I know I have read several threads that right around the capitol and university parking can be a nightmare, and an expensive nightmare at that! I have also read about the opposite sides of the street during the winter so the snow plows can go through. However, I am wondering if I should pretty much count on needing off street parking for our car no matter what part of Madison we are in, or if some areas are easier to find spots in than others?

We are mostly looking near east and near west, but have also looked at some properties on the isthmus up near Lake Mendota. How far from the capitol would we have to be to avoid the parking mess? I have a feeling that anything on the isthmus will be hard to find but I guess am looking for confirmation before I commit myself to the idea of maybe having to pay $125 a month for a spot if we like anything without a spot included.

Thank you in advance to all the wonderful people who give of their time and knowledge to help on these boards!

[MidwesternBookWorm]

The place you really need to draw that circle around isn't so much the Capitol as it is the university. It's the 40,000 or so students who want to be as close to the U as possible that really impact the parking situation the most. The area around the Capitol is tough to park in, too, but the university is what you want to look at in determining how bad parking is likely to be.

This page of the city's website: Streets & Recycling Department: City of Madison, Wisconsin provides a lot of excellent data about parking during snow emergencies. You'll want to pay special attention to the fourth section down, where the snow emergency zone is described. I'd recommend against living within that area unless you have off-street parking, or are willing and able to live without a vehicle (i.e., biking and/or busing).

Toward the east, once you get past First Street, the on-street parking pressure starts to lessen, though the area near East High will be packed from 7:30 to 3:30 during the school year. Once you're past Hwy 30, there is little or no problem with finding on-street parking.

Going west, you'll have to go a bit farther, probably almost to Midvale Blvd., to find easy on-street parking. West High on Regent Street will have the same kind of impact that East High does for a several-block radius around the school.

Do note, however, that I am referring to EASY on-street parking. You can live right on the isthmus, even very close to the university, and still park successfully on the street. It just takes time and patience, plus a willingness to move your car to the other side of the street every night from November 15 to March 15.

Good luck to you in your apartment search and move - hope you find a great spot to settle, both for you and your vehicle.

[subclavius]

You wrote "our car" so I'm guessing it's two people and one car. If it's only one car, that's going to make things a little easier, simply because you're only looking for one parking spot instead of two.

Some rental properties include one parking spot with an apartment or flat, some will come with a spot you'll pay extra for but it is more or less reserved for the apartment renters first, some will be on-street only, and if you move a little further out from the downtown core you can find an apartment with a fairly ample supply of spots for everyone, but then you're in the near-west-almost-Hilldale area. If you're looking at the near east and don't mind parking on the street it should be no problem, as long as you're on the Lake Monona side and east of Blair Street. North and west of that is more student housing where there's more cars on the street. The Willy Street neighborhood shouldn't be too bad.

If you look in the Vilas area, you will most likely want a place that has an optional parking spot to go along with it, which you will probably pay extra for. Vilas is one of the areas where street parking would take a little more effort every day.

The type of car you have is also going to make a difference. If it's a Smart car or Mini Cooper, parking will be easy. If it's an old land yacht or a minivan street parking will be a chore.

Personally, I'll pay more for a place with parking included rather than not knowing exactly when I'm going to be parking that night or messing with the snow plows in winter. In fact, I live on the outskirts of town now but one of the main reasons I chose the final apartment was because it had a garage. Not just off the street but out of the snow...

Edit: Even though there's a snow emergency zone, most areas around Madison have winter parking rules, even in the burbs well outside the Beltline, and whether or not a snow emergency was declared. And if a big snow falls outside the winter parking calendar dates you may have to move the car to make way for the plows anyway.

[Wyvern398]

Thank you both so much, you gave me exactly the information I needed! I will definitely check out the website about snow emergencies, and if we end up having to have on street parking will make sure to learn all the rules about when and where I can park the car - luckily it is a smaller vehicle though. For now however I think we will stick with trying to find a place with parking to avoid any difficulties.

Thank you again!