im currently in Seattle. lol @ parking rates. (Tacoma, Vancouver: home, neighborhoods)

[YoungTraveler2011]

jesus. u might as well be in Manhattan.

how do people who live here get around? say you want to go to this restaurant thats 4 miles away, what do u do? do u drive then pay 15 to park? do u walk and get there after 30 mins? do u take the bus and get there in 40?

also, why it called the evergreen state if all the grass is dead? FALSE ADVERTISEMENT!

[jimmywoods]

Grass is dormant not dead. Most people here don't water knowing it'll be lush and green again once the rain returns. The evergreen state is a reference to the (evergreen) trees, not the color of the grass. There are plenty of options for getting 4 miles away. Most of us here use the problem solving skills we're equipped with as adults and figure it out.

[perigee]

The trees are still green and yeah take public transportation or be prepared to pay for parking, the city found all my former free spots many years ago

[flyingsaucermom]

See, this is why we're so butt ugly up here... we have to send all our monies to pay for parking and not being beautiful!

Sorry, I just had to


The grass is not dead. If you want green grass and green trees you will need to come back in a few more months.

We don't frequently drive into Seattle (I'm in the burbs), but I would say half the time we are paying $15. The other times we either go on Sunday or after 8pm on weekdays.

[Hemlock140]

Go to Bellevue and other Eastside cities for free parking. Seattle is "anti-car" and has a huge parking tax that drives up rates, in addition to the shortage of land. Many surface lots of the 90s-2000s are gone for new high rises. As for the grass, people here don't waste water like in other places, most let it go dormant in July and August, then it greens up with the September rain. We only have to mow a few times in spring and fall that way.

[GraceKrispy]

Public. Transit.

Pretty much the only way I get around in the downtown area, and often in other areas if I can find routes that are remotely convenient. Luckily, I live outside the city but near a few decent transit options.

And it's usually greener in the summer (and it'll definitely be greener all winter than most places), but we've had a lot of really dry, hot days. We're just glad it's not burning up (literally.... the temps do make it feel like it's burning up).

[RotseCherut]

What I have done is to park in a residential street not too far away from the area you want to go. Unfortunately, the city is turning even timed and free parking areas into paid parking now, From there you either exercise your leg muscles and walk, get an Uber or take the bus. Many neighborhoods are quite dense and compact, so even though you think you are parking far away, in reality, at worst you just have to walk 20-30 minutes to get to the area you need to go. From there, you just kind of spend the day in the neighborhood you are aiming for.

Commuting 4 miles during rush hour (2PM to 7PM) from one part of Seattle to another is a daunting task anyway and you will blow more money on wasted gas than on parking.

If you think Seattle is bad, Portland and Vancouver, BC have become much worse. They have paid parking until 10PM, 7 days a week now in both these cities. It's ridiculous. Seattle's parking rates are very high around Capitol Hill, Belltown and downtown.

Neighborhoods like Ballard, Fremont, Ravenna, Green Lake you can usually find some free all day parking, but prepare for that 20-30 minute hike to where most of the shops and businesses are located.

By the way, walking is good for you, I don't mind the walk and actually enjoy parking farther away sometimes..

[leastprime]

Ans. We have a son who chauffeurs us around. Otherwise we either hoof it or take a LINK/streetcar/bus for $1, within 2 hours .

For your distance, take either a zipcar/car2go or uber/lyft/taxi. Spend some $$ and quit complaining.

Tourists should be quite and uncomplaining.

BTW, what restaurant is this? and we'll tell you if its worth the travel time and expense.

[DutchessCottonPuff]

My husband paid $50 to park when we went to see the Seahawks ONE time.
This was not some guy with a sign scamming cash either , we used the card on the parking pass machine for that lot. Now he schleps me onto the bus(es) out of Tacoma to Century Link Field .
Before that - Everett .
Once we conducted an experiment from Everett to Las Vegas and back to our door and we did it . We ran some of the way but we did it . I took a cab part of the way in Vegas because I was just too tired to figure out the bus routes for only 3 days .

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by DutchessCottonPuff

My husband paid $50 to park when we go see the Seahawks ONE time . Now he schleps me onto the bus(es) out of Tacoma. Before that - Everett .
Once we conducted an experiment from Everett to Las Vegas and back to our door and we did it . We ran some of the way but we did it . I took a cab part of the way in Vegas because I was just too tired to figure out the bus routes for only 3 days .

Last preseason home game I went by and saw the Safeco field garage was charging $60 for the Seahawks game. For Mariners, it's easy to go to the Eastgate Transit Center and take the 554 bus. Fortunately for me, I have free garage parking in Belltown for work, but I still take the bus most days just because of the traffic and I enjoy the mile walk from Westlake to the office, always a mild adventure and good exercise.