Downtown Street Parking Gets More Expensive In 2010

“The commercial area surrounding the Verizon Center has extended hours until 9:30 pm during the week and including Saturdays.“ What does that mean? Do meters that were previously free after 6 or 6:30 now have to be paid until 9:30 (ie those bordering the Building Museum)?

My PQ parking garage has also increased its monthly rate to $240/month.

Hilary: Yes, that’s what we understand it to mean

Unfortunate for some, but for those of us who shelled out for a ridiculously expensive parking spot in our condo buildings, the property value just went up.

Good. Free parking at 6:30 meant that people who want to drive into PQ for a Saturday night on the town had to compete for spaces with people who are just treating the neighborhood as a free parking lot. I think most of my friends who don’t live near the Metro will find the couple of dollars well worth it if it means that they actually have a chance of finding a parking spot outside my place when they come to visit!

I’m with @tom veil on this one but I also think there should be some consideration for zoned residential parking after all the appropriate numbers are crunched/studies have been done. maybe that’s been done already and I’m just unware of it.

Good luck with residential permitting in the hood. Our building had 100% participation signing the appropriate paperwork for DDoT. We are the only residential building on the block and were turned down. We tried to negotiate for special times (6p-7a) and were turned down. All of PQ is a C1 zone — commercial — and there is nothing anyone is willing to do.

I noticed on the green parking meter/ticket machines west of 9th street that the text change from saying 2 Hour parking 7AM – 6:30 PM to 2 Hour parking 7AM to 10PM. That is a pain for dinner guests. I wonder if they will start enforcement for those hours. Previously, only Georgetown had regular parking enforcement on duty after something like 7PM or 8PM.

I still recall angry neighborhood meetings in Shaw where people were continuously upset that they couldn’t find a spot when they got home from work even though they paid for a residential permit, and Church goers were parking for several hours in residential zoned spots without a residential sticker, but were never being ticketed. People like Councilman Evans always had to explain they simply didn’t have people to enforce the parking rules at night.

I don’t know if more RPP is really the appropriate answer. The RPP only costs $15/year. That price point might make sense in an otherwise sleepy neighborhood close to metro like Brookland to keep commuters from parking on their streets all day. In the downtown CBD where hi-rise residents purchase parking spots for $30K or rent spots for $200/mo, and businesses need parking to thrive, it’s an entirely different beast.

Pobrecitos! It’s beyond me why most residents of this neighborhood even want to own a car, much less have the audacity to complain about how much their precious parking costs. Agree with @tom veil that this will likely open up more parking on the streets since garages will look more competitive for those who want to go to dinner AND a movie (or whatever).

But here’s a little secret: I’ve never seen parking enforcement in my neck of the woods after about 6:00 pm, regardless of how long the meters are supposed to last (many have long been till 9:30pm on weekdays). Nighttime parking rules appear to be just another of the many laws and regulations this city does not deem worthy of enforcement. Just don’t tell the people in the ‘burbs.

The other secret (and problem in my humble opinion) is that the parking tickets are so inexpensive. Maybe $30 or so. If it costs $10 or $15 to park in a garage, why bother, just take the chance and pay the tickets every once in a while.

jpq — people have cars in this neighborhood because it makes life much more pleasant. The Metro is a commuter transit system. It doesn’t run with great regularity on the weekends and a car opens up a host of options that aren’t available on foot or via public transit.

@DCZen – I don’t doubt that using a car makes living in Washington more pleasant, which is why I use Zipcar. A lot. Several hours of use every weekend costs less than $200/month, way less than I would spend on gas, parking, and insurance to own a car (not to mention maintenance and the cost of the car itself). For roadtrips I can get a car from Enterprise or Hertz for around $40/day, though I do have to pay for gas. There are dozens of zipcars in downtown… I guess I just don’t understand the mentality of owning a car when renting is so much cheaper and easier, but I realize we all have different preferences.

I shop in the burbs anyway. This doesnt affect me.