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Old 01-03-2012, 07:16 PM
 
10 posts, read 18,492 times
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I am going to rent a car during my visit in Feb. to San Francisco. Can anyone provide some information about parking in San Francisco - we are going to stay in a hotel next to Chinatown. Since the car rental place closes around 6pm, we will probably need to park the car overnight in that neighborhood. Is street parking easy in that area, or nearby SOMA/Union Square? What kind of street cleaning rules does SF have? Do we need to move the car early morning? Also, if street parking is not a good option, are there any inexpensive parking garage around that area?

Thank you.
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Old 01-03-2012, 07:41 PM
 
11 posts, read 34,942 times
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SF parking is the worst on the planet! Theres meters everywhere and they cost a fortune. A quarter will only get you 2 minutes. A dime I think is something like 30 seconds. Anyone that doesnt pay is guaranteed a ticket. But theres never any street parking avail anyway.
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Old 01-03-2012, 07:53 PM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
1,148 posts, read 2,983,973 times
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Definitely do not leave any belonging in the car when parked as there is a high chance your window will get smashed and stuff stolen. Visitors do not seem to understand what sort of precautions to take in an urban environment such as SF and do carelessly stupid things like leave their stuff in their car to be stolen. Nothing should be visible to entice a would-be thief - no loose change, CD wallets, jackets, air fresheners. Take all valuables out of the car and less valuable stuff can be stowed in the car trunk.

As for finding parking, you should ask the hotel staff where you can park. I am surprised the hotel is not providing parking for you for free or to rent. Even if not, their customer service should be able to tell you where you can park nearby.
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Old 01-03-2012, 08:28 PM
 
Location: South Korea
5,242 posts, read 13,040,350 times
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Why do you need a car, aren't you just checking out neighborhoods in SF and maybe Oakland? If that is all you're doing, having to deal with a car would be more trouble than it's worth. Unless you're out by the beach it's hard to park anywhere in SF, and anywhere near downtown like Chinatown is the hardest part of the city to park in. Public transit isn't great in SF but it's better using it than having to find parking every time you need to go anywhere, and way better than having to park a car overnight. Just putting a car in a garage around Chinatown could easily be $20 to $30 for just a couple of hours. Since you're from NYC, I'd say if you're just spending time in SF it makes as much sense as having a car if you're visiting Manhattan and/or Brooklyn. Oakland and Berkeley are more spread out but just hop on BART and you can walk to a lot of places from the stations. If you really want to go to Marin or Wine Country for the day then just rent a car for a day, and find a car rental place that lets you return a car past 6pm, I'm sure there are plenty.
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Old 01-03-2012, 08:41 PM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
6,802 posts, read 9,004,509 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mayorhaggar View Post
Why do you need a car, aren't you just checking out neighborhoods in SF and maybe Oakland? If that is all you're doing, having to deal with a car would be more trouble than it's worth. Unless you're out by the beach it's hard to park anywhere in SF, and anywhere near downtown like Chinatown is the hardest part of the city to park in. Public transit isn't great in SF but it's better using it than having to find parking every time you need to go anywhere, and way better than having to park a car overnight. Just putting a car in a garage around Chinatown could easily be $20 to $30 for just a couple of hours. Since you're from NYC, I'd say if you're just spending time in SF it makes as much sense as having a car if you're visiting Manhattan and/or Brooklyn. Oakland and Berkeley are more spread out but just hop on BART and you can walk to a lot of places from the stations. If you really want to go to Marin or Wine Country for the day then just rent a car for a day, and find a car rental place that lets you return a car past 6pm, I'm sure there are plenty.
I'd echo what mayorhaggar has written. You should consider whether you really need a car. Public transit isn't perfect, but if you're in SF for only a day or two, you can get around pretty easily without renting a vehicle.
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Old 01-03-2012, 08:45 PM
 
Location: San Francisco, CA
15,088 posts, read 13,403,072 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xinyun View Post
Also, if street parking is not a good option, are there any inexpensive parking garage around that area?

Thank you.
Excuse me for just a moment.

bwaaahahahahahahahahahahaha.


Ok, sorry about that. No, good street parking and inexpensive parking garages exist here only in our dreams.
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Old 01-03-2012, 09:08 PM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
28,226 posts, read 36,741,222 times
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You could park at the Hyatt in Chinatown. IF I recall it is 40-50 a day. Probably the same price as renting the car for a day.
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Old 01-03-2012, 11:21 PM
 
Location: Baghdad by the Bay (San Francisco, California)
3,530 posts, read 5,113,648 times
Reputation: 3145
Don't rent a car. Take a shuttle from the airport and walk everywhere, once you get to your hotel. The entire city is 7 miles square. the main sights are in an area about 3 miles square. You can walk everywhere. Parking will run $20-$30 per day. It's not worth it.
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Old 01-03-2012, 11:47 PM
 
Location: San Francisco
622 posts, read 1,143,147 times
Reputation: 392
If you're sticking to the city, you're NOT going to need a car. Between MUNI and taxis, you'll be fine.

In the area where you're staying, Chinatown, good luck finding street parking. Like seriously. That's just a nightmare. You can see if the hotel knows of any pay lots nearby, and be ready to pay for it though.

Unless you're going to be not only touring the city neighborhood but also coming over to areas like Berkeley and Oakland, I'd not bother.
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Old 01-04-2012, 04:27 PM
 
457 posts, read 754,542 times
Reputation: 498
If you do end up renting a car, park at the Sutter Stockton garage overnight and you can swing it under $30/day.
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