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Likewise inadvisable. Try parking on Potrero, though, in front of SF General Hospital. Potrero is a busy street. You can take the 9 bus downtown. Pay attention to street sweeping signs, but it's not on weekends. There's also extended weekend parking at all BART stations, but BART parked cars can be targets too. Trinity Garage on Market has some relatively low rates, maybe $20 for a day, but don't quote me. Check with them first. At least it's secure.
I was asking about New York, sorry if I didn't clarify--I have plenty of parking-in-SF stories (personally I prefer the Japan Center lot off Geary.) For me, the annoying part about cars and San Francisco isn't parking, it's driving to and from and through. There was no getting around it back when I was lugging band gear around the Bay Area, and as a result I didn't care for SF very much. Now I just go for social visits, and generally don't buy anything I don't mind lugging home in a bag, which has helped me avoid some injudicious purchases.
Stop with the snow pictures! Y'all are making me shiver.
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Originally Posted by nei
I suppose I'd be happy with resident parking if the city gave visitor parking.
That's what I very much dislike about resident parking stickers or permits. A two-hour limit is fine if you're visiting for lunch, but if you're spending the weekend?
I don't know what the alternative is; residents need to have someplace to park reasonably near their homes. But parking garages are pretty rare in residential neighborhoods.
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When driving, don't hesitate when the light turns green or you'll get pedestrians crossing in front of you.
You do that in Philly and you'll get T-boned by the car on the cross street running the red light, who will then be rear-ended by the car behind it, who is also wanting to run the red light. And so on. I like to count the cars as they run the red lights, just for sport; my record is six.
You do that in Philly and you'll get T-boned by the car on the cross street running the red light, who will then be rear-ended by the car behind it, who is also wanting to run the red light. And so on. I like to count the cars as they run the red lights, just for sport; my record is six.
Just gotta be quick about it. In my younger, stupider days, I liked to jump the lights and go in between cars running the red making a left near my house on my motorcycle. Good times.
Stop with the snow pictures! Y'all are making me shiver.
That's what I very much dislike about resident parking stickers or permits. A two-hour limit is fine if you're visiting for lunch, but if you're spending the weekend?
Where I live, residents get one "guest parking pass" per household that they can lend to visiting friends, and we can also get multiple one-day passes if we are having multiple visitors, from the counter at city hall.
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I don't know what the alternative is; residents need to have someplace to park reasonably near their homes. But parking garages are pretty rare in residential neighborhoods.
You do that in Philly and you'll get T-boned by the car on the cross street running the red light, who will then be rear-ended by the car behind it, who is also wanting to run the red light. And so on. I like to count the cars as they run the red lights, just for sport; my record is six.
I noticed that in Los Angeles: Drivers tend to wait a second or two for the people who invariably "pink light" through the intersection at high speed just after the light turns red. Although in much of Los Angeles there aren't many pedestrians.
I also like Los Angeles more by transit than by car: on my last two trips there, I got around primarily by public transportation or on foot, and found it pretty excellent. Buses are great for a sightseeing tourist, you can enjoy the architecture and street scene instead of having to focus on traffic, and the LA subway is very convenient and fast.
Just gotta be quick about it. In my younger, stupider days, I liked to jump the lights and go in between cars running the red making a left near my house on my motorcycle. Good times.
My city had its own share of parking bombs too--I have a big aerial photo of our downtown in the early 1970s, basically the nadir of downtown Sacramento. There are a couple dozen blocks of parking lots that used to be blocks of businesses or neighborhoods. Some are still parking lots today, but the most interesting and successful parts of town are the ones where things have been built in the interim--admittedly, including several parking structures.
I do hope to visit New York someday, but don't plan on driving. I used to hate San Francisco, primarily because driving there was such a hassle, but since I stopped driving there and started taking the train, San Francisco is a pleasure to visit. Between Muni and my own two feet it's convenient to get around, and with the price of gas, tolls and parking, the round-trip Amtrak ticket and a couple of Muni fares is actually cheaper.
Is it safe to leave your car for a few days in a poor neighborhood? In our poorer neighborhoods (and some of the not-so-poor ones) leaving a car unattended for days is inadvisable.
I bring up NYC a bunch not only because it's the large city I'm most familiar with but also because of its high transit usage and low car usage (and automobile unfriendliness) make for interesting examples.
Driving into NYC isn't too bad. As long as you're not going near rush hour or driving through the CBD (mostly midtown, but downtown can be interesting) the traffic is manageable. Once you get on local roads, it's slow because of all the intersections but I'm just trying to park, not drive around the local roads. Once you park, the public transit is good. And I'm fine with parking a 10 min walk if I have to. The other boroughs of NYC street parking is easier to find, often 5-10 mins max, sometimes less. The poorer northern part of Manhattan has somewhat easier street parking.
I think it's safe to leave your car in a poor neighborhood. There's some risk. But some locals in poor neighborhoods do own cars and the cars manage to survive. I had friends that were living in a poor (supposedly gentrifying but not by much) neighborhood and some had cars that they street parked there. NYC might be a bit better than most cities because of the high volume of pedestrians mean that there are more people watching.
I parked close to here once in this somewhat mixed-income area. About 10 blocks north of where I wanted to be, but easier to find parking.
You might find this an interesting view because it shows a contrast between the old pre-war housing and the "tower in the park" public housing project on the other side of the street. I remember parking about half a block (east) of the housing project. Note the project has more greenery and a parking lot. You won't find parking lots in too many other spots in Manhattan.
Manhattan has the reverse of a "parking bomb". I read an article saying gas stations are fast disappearing because developers like to buy them and build on them; gas station aren't an economical use of land. And someone was quoted as saying a parking lot is a developer's dream.
Parking lots are often "ground cover": a temporary, short-term use until the market reaches a point where other uses are economically feasible. A brownfield site in my neighborhood was a gas station 20 years ago, it sat vacant waiting for an apartment project that fell through before the crash. It was recently paved for a parking lot, and actually gets quite a bit of use from the large music venue that just opened next door (I see band tour buses parked there all the time now.) But the long-range plan is to eventually put a multi-story apartment building on the block--across the street is a recent apartment building constructed on a block demolished in the sixties that was a community garden for about 30 years.
That's what I very much dislike about resident parking stickers or permits. A two-hour limit is fine if you're visiting for lunch, but if you're spending the weekend?.
Here residents in permitted zones also get permits for visitors to display.
I noticed that in Los Angeles: Drivers tend to wait a second or two for the people who invariably "pink light" through the intersection at high speed just after the light turns red. Although in much of Los Angeles there aren't many pedestrians.
I was referring to the fact most New York pedestrains (including myself) will cross as soon as there is a gap in the traffic regardless of the light. Slowly inch into the road looking to cross as soon as possible. If there's no traffic (or the car don't go) when the light changes, the pedestrians will keep crossing and as a driver you might be stuck for a bit.
I was replying to Ohiogirl, who remarked that drivers who hit the gas when the light turns green are likely to get T-boned by people who consider the first couple seconds of a red light to not apply to them. Again, maybe it's an East Coast vs. West Coast thing, but crossing the street in front of a car when the light turns green in California is considered only slightly less suicidal than actually slitting your wrists. And people wonder why I think sidewalks are important for pedestrians...
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You do that in Philly and you'll get T-boned by the car on the cross street running the red light, who will then be rear-ended by the car behind it, who is also wanting to run the red light. And so on. I like to count the cars as they run the red lights, just for sport; my record is six.
