Street Parking in South Beach? (Miami, Miami Beach: car rental, rentals, credit card)

[sav858]

How easy is it to park your car in South Beach? I am considering renting a car for my entire stay in South Florida (11/13-11/17) but don't want to pay $30/day to park at our hotel since that is almost how much the rental itself is. So I was wondering how easy it is to park in some residential neighborhood in SoBe.

We are staying at a hotel at 18th St and Collins Ave. I don't mind walking a little distance to park my car. Does Miami Beach have residential permit parking at all? Doesn't seem like it does but just want to make sure. Are quieter streets easier to park on? It seems like there are streets w/o meters within a decent distance I could park on.

[doggiebus]

Its not easy to park in South Beach. There are strict rules about street parking there, after a certain hour if you don't have a resident sticker on the car, you will get ticketed or worse towed. So read the signs very carefully when you park on the street without a meter, and make sure you move the car before you need to. There are some garage parking options close by, but they are going to be close to the cost of the hotel parking. There is automated parking meters which you can park and slide your credit card, not sure for how long though. This link explains the costs of parking a little better http://web.miamibeachfl.gov/parking/....aspx?id=30862

How much driving around Miami are you planning on doing? Maybe just rent a car for the days you will be leaving South Beach.

[sav858]

We are going to Key West Sunday and coming back Monday, so we'll have a car for that time. On Saturday we need to head up to North Bay Village at 2p then go to the Heat game at 7p, so I figured a car would be good for that day. So that would leave Friday and Tues w/o a car and I figure a cab from SoBe to the airport on both Fri and Tue would be just as much as renting a car (parking excluded). So I figure might as well just get it the whole time.

But I don't really want to deal with a ton of restrictions like permit stickers, resident only parking, parking garage fees, etc..

We could just take the bus on Saturday to get to NB Village and Downtown, it's just a little longer and I don't want to be late. I know Broward County's bus system has horrible on-time performance and just wasn't sure what MDT's system is like.

[doggiebus]

One night in Key West, not much time, can you stay two nights? You will feel less rushed if you stayed an extra night. Remember it takes a minimum of 4 hours to get to Key West if you don't stop and there are no traffic issues. Try Priceline for car rentals (check betterbidding.com for what rates people are getting on Priceline), maybe you can save some more money there and then just valet.

[sav858]

I know it's a bit far for just one night but we're only in SoFla for 4 nights total, we gotta fly out Tues evening so I don't want to get caught in a traffic jam trying to get back on the day we fly out. I heard the drive is pretty cool along the way though, so that's kind of why I don't mind the long drive.

After spending a little time using Google Street View I think I am just gonna get the car for the Key West trip b/c every street seems to either have meters or residential parking permits in SoBe and I don't want to run around moving my car all day.

Just read today they are starting bus service from MIA to South Beach, just too bad it won't start till next month. Can't believe they don't have direct service yet given all the foreign tourists that visit and probably don't drive.

[tallrick]

When the beach made sense, you could park just about anywhere. Now the greedy government craves parking fees from suckers foolosh enough to go there. When the time comes that people get tired of the hassle, Miami Beach will go back to its 1970's levels of spending and the whole parking issue will be irrelavant. My advice is to avoid the car and avoid Miami Beach entirely.

[noland123]

Originally Posted by sav858

I know it's a bit far for just one night but we're only in SoFla for 4 nights total, we gotta fly out Tues evening so I don't want to get caught in a traffic jam trying to get back on the day we fly out. I heard the drive is pretty cool along the way though, so that's kind of why I don't mind the long drive.

After spending a little time using Google Street View I think I am just gonna get the car for the Key West trip b/c every street seems to either have meters or residential parking permits in SoBe and I don't want to run around moving my car all day.

Just read today they are starting bus service from MIA to South Beach, just too bad it won't start till next month. Can't believe they don't have direct service yet given all the foreign tourists that visit and probably don't drive.

South Beach is a beautiful place but parking as has been stated prior is not cheap or is a hassle,because a lot of tourists and foreigners fly in and just use public transportation or cabs to get around.

[unradical]

Originally Posted by tallrick

When the beach made sense, you could park just about anywhere. Now the greedy government craves parking fees from suckers foolosh enough to go there. When the time comes that people get tired of the hassle, Miami Beach will go back to its 1970's levels of spending and the whole parking issue will be irrelavant. My advice is to avoid the car and avoid Miami Beach entirely.

I'm sorry, Moderator cut: Personal Attacks Not Allowed Miami Beach will never return to how it was in the 1970s.

Only reason I go to South Beach anymore is because it's close enough to my place in Brickell, and I have a lot of friends that live on the beach, so parking usually isn't a huge issue for me. Even then, I prefer going to the beach in Las Olas or further north.