Free parking near lake at Foster/Bryn Mawr/Hollywood? (Chicago: homes, live)

[SloopyJ]

I'm wondering if it's reasonable to drive from north Evanston to the lakefront path and ride my bike the rest of the way downtown to work. The only way this would make sense is if I could find a free (or very cheap) place to park near the north end of the path, say at Foster, Bryn Mawr, or Hollywood. Parking at Foster Beach seems to be about $12 a day...not worth it. Any suggestions?

[Aleking]

you can probably find free street parking on winthrop/kenmore north or south of Bryn Mawr

[pidgeon92]

When did they start charging to park at the beach lots?

[jsk1983]

Lakewood Balmoral in Edgewater is single family homes. Should be plenty of parking there as long as it isn't zoned.

[SloopyJ]

@pidgeon92: I think it happened with the City parking contract. When I went last summer to scope out the Foster lot, I was surprised to see pay-and-display boxes that were (I think) about $1 an hour.

[berniekosar19]

I live on Winthrop between Foster & Berwyn, so I can tell you exactly how the parking situation is like in this area.
I wouldn't recommend looking in Lakewood-Balmoral for parking. You might have some luck with some spots freeing up for you on Berwyn/Balmoral/Catalpa, but generally not on a consistent enough basis. I walk my dogs there every morning, and I rarely see open spots, even in summer. As for Winthrop/Kenmore, you'd probably have better luck on Kenmore; most of the spots on Winthrop seem to be taken by 7am.
The problem is that most people park, and then leave their cars there for days, so there's just not a lot of turnover.
I have noticed that spots show up once you get north of Bryn Mawr, like around Ardmore/Thorndale; not sure if that would be too far north for you.
And yeah, it sucks that the lots at the lake are all pay, and they definitely police it; I've seen tons of peeps getting tickets (or even the boot)!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by berniekosar19

I live on Winthrop between Foster & Berwyn, so I can tell you exactly how the parking situation is like in this area.
I wouldn't recommend looking in Lakewood-Balmoral for parking. You might have some luck with some spots freeing up for you on Berwyn/Balmoral/Catalpa, but generally not on a consistent enough basis. I walk my dogs there every morning, and I rarely see open spots, even in summer. As for Winthrop/Kenmore, you'd probably have better luck on Kenmore; most of the spots on Winthrop seem to be taken by 7am.
The problem is that most people park, and then leave their cars there for days, so there's just not a lot of turnover.
I have noticed that spots show up once you get north of Bryn Mawr, like around Ardmore/Thorndale; not sure if that would be too far north for you.
And yeah, it sucks that the lots at the lake are all pay, and they definitely police it; I've seen tons of peeps getting tickets (or even the boot)!

Clearly berniekosar19's experience parallel what I have seen in that part of Chicago -- there are many more people that essentially "garage" their car on the street for days / weeks at a time. It would be very difficult to pull of a "multi-modal" commute and reliably get a space for you to use as a "transition" from car to bicycle...

[Aleking]

yeah i'm guilty of leaving my car on Kenmore for 1-2 weeks at a time