Free / Inexpensive Parking - Downtown (HELP!) (Milwaukee, Wells: city hall, price, bus)

[EnjoyEP]

All -

I work Downtown. My office is situated roughly in the area near Wisconsin Ave. and Plankinton (near the Mo's places, the Borders Books, the Riverside, etc.).

My problem is that I need a place to park. I am currently parking at Veteran's Park by the lakefront, but that is a daily one-way 25 minute walk. The reason? It is the right price - FREE.

I could utilize the Grand Avenue parking garage, however, it is a $110 monthly charge to park there - just simply something my budget cannot stomach.

Two things:

a) My job necessitates that I have a car convenient - I drive to-fro meetings quite a bit. Thus, I cannot generally take public transit (eg: the bus)...I need access to my car (and meetings can come up rather late minute).

b) I don't necessarily mind the walk some days from the lakefront - it is good exercise - however, a) when the cold, snowy winter hits, it may be an even bigger pain, and b) on days (this is becoming the norm it seems) when I have a meeting in the morning, then another in the afternoon, etc., it makes getting to-fro my car a major pain.

Bottom line - is anyone aware of some good places near(er) to this area Downtown that parking is - if not free (a nice gem like Veteran's Park...but closer) - then more like $50 / month for monthly parking than $110?

I would welcome anyone's advice.

Thanks!!

[Nuclear_Art]

The few times I have needed to park I used the city parking structure between Plankinton, 2nd, Wisconsin and Wells and that is $4/day. For free parking you may want to look in the Walker's Point area off of 2nd. It may be closer than Veteran's Park but I'm not sure what the restrictions are on that area during the day.

In the summer you can take advantage of the free trolley to get to a more remote, free spot but it may take some planning. It's a tough area to find cheap parking and there is lots of competition for those few spots. I take the bus or the motorcycle.

[adam76]

Many are not aware of the website Park Milwaukee. I've found it useful in the past.

Looking in your area, I found a lot on 460 N Plankinton for $68 a month. The open air lot underneath the freeway at 423 W Clybourn is $3 a day. No monthly rate or pass though. I've done the under freeway parking in the winter time and sometimes the snow plows on the freeway above will leave you with an unpleasant surprise. I also used to use a parking structure off of Wisconsin Ave, between 6th and 7th street. They have a good early bird rate of I think $3, but that won't help you if you need to leave and come back.

Veteran Park is a long walk! If none of the above alternatives sound good... how about spending $100 on a nice close lot for the six months Nov-Apr, and then doing your Veterans Park walk May-Oct. That would average $50 a month then .

[dkmisol]

How about by the public market? I don't recall that being too expensive (maybe I'm mistaken).

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

Well I work about a block away from you, and luckily my employer pays the $120 a month to park. Before that I worked closer to City Hall in a job where I didn't have to travel much for meetings. I took the city bus in every day and it worked great.

Several ramps and lots around downtown have an "early bird" rate, where you pay a lower daily price if you park before 8am and are out before 5pm. The problem with this arrangement is that if you leave and come back, you'll need to pay again to re-enter.

One thing you could do is take the bus in on days when you don't have meetings, and drive in on days you do have meetings.

I would also recommend ParkMilwaukee.com - The Downtown Milwaukee Parking Resource. When I'm going to the Third Ward or something on the Summerfest grounds, I often use free on-street parking on South Water Street, which intersects with Milwaukee Street right as it turns into Pittsburgh immediately south of the Third Ward (Where Moct is). But unfortunately that's quite a hike to Wisco/Plankinton.

[EnjoyEP]

Thank you for all of your awesome suggestions. That Welcome To Central Parking! site is really helpful, and the $68-month lot seems fairly reasonable all things considered. Awesome info in here, thanks a ton!