ParkingAnyTime

It’s that time again when millions trek to cram onto the shores of Lake Michigan near North Avenue Beach and enjoy the wonder of America’s air supremacy at the annual Chicago Air & Water Show. Besides being the oldest and largest free show of its kind in the US, this year is a especially cool because it marks the Air & Water Show’s 50th Anniversary and because the shows organizers added an extra day – Friday – to watch.  

The city of Chicago estimates over 2 MILLION people will be in attendance this year, rivaling only Independence Day’s Taste of Chicago.  That many people will surely create some parking demand and push parking rates into the stratosphere with “special event” prices. Although using ParkingAnyTime will make you a parking insider, don’t be fooled into thinking driving is the best mode of transportation to the show. Parking at North Avenue Beach is closed and parking in the very local vicinity is extremely limited on any given day. Taking public transit like Metra and the CTA should make you’re life easier and save some dough so you can spend it on better things like treating your family to the awesomeness of homemade ice cream purveyor, Bobtail, in Lakeview. 

The show begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday & Sunday and continues until around 4 p.m. The Air Show doesn’t start until 11. I’ve heard the Water Show is cool, but I’ve never gotten close enough to see it because the beach is usually too packed by the time I get there.

If you can take public transit, the 151 Sheridan is the most direct bus route to the festivities. According to the city’s official “Getting There“ web site, the 151 will begin additional service at 7 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. It begins at Union Station and heads north along the Lake. On any normal day, it takes around 25 minutes to 30 minutes to get up north to Lincoln Park. Budget doubling that this weekend.

If you take the 151, which is also within walking distance of Millennium Station, Ogilvie Transportation Center and the LaSalle Street Metra station, get off at Stockton and La Salle, Stockton and Fullerton, or Sheridan and Diversey for the shortest walk and best viewing. If you’re willing to walk a little further, try the 22 Clark, 36 Broadway, or the 146 Michigan/Inner Drive Express to Belmont. For viewing near Oak Street Beach, the 145 Wilson/Michigan and 147 Outer Drive Express buses are suitable alternatives. Their last stop before going express is Michigan and Delaware.

The CTA has a couple new tricks up its sleeve to help you plan the trip to the show. Use The CTA’s new Trip Planner powered by Google Maps, just like ParkingAnyTime, to look-up bus stops, routes and estimated transit times. The CTA’s new Bus Tracker can help you look-up in real time the position of some of the buses, but not the 151.  

The El is the best way to avoid the traffic because you’re either underground on the Red Line or above on the Brown Line. You’re best stops on the El are North/Clybourn, Armitage, Fullerton, and Diversey. Each stop is serviced by an East/West bus – respectively # 72 North, # 73 Armitage, # 74 Fullerton, # 76 Diversey. What intimidates some newbies on the El is only the Red Line services North & Clybourn and only the Brown Line services Armitage and Diversey. Fullerton is serviced by both trains. If you’re brave, take the Blue Line to North & Damen and transfer to the # 72 bus, which also has increased service. The 72 will take you directly to North Avenue Beach (terminates at North & Clark for the show though). Trains are operating at additional capacity too. I saw a sign yesterday saying the Brown Line will be running 8 cars (it usually runs less than 6 on weekends) and trains will arrive every 7 minutes. The El may be an option for drivers too. Some CTA stations are designated Park and Rides. ParkingAnyTime has more information about parking pricing and the CTA’s Park and Ride locations. 

If I haven’t convinced you yet NOT to drive, ParkingAnyTime is your best tool for looking up parking locations and comparing parking prices and amenities. Most garages nearest the Chicago Air & Water Show will be charging higher than standard rates – they call them “special event” rates. It might make you mad, but it also discourages others from driving, keeping supply and demand in check. Like I said before, parking on any given day is tough near North Avenue Beach. Although Oak Street Beach has no parking lot of its own, it is closer to the massive parking structures operated by Central Parking, Standard Parking, and InterPark along Michigan Avenue and nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Streeterville. 

If all else fails, try a hybrid approach and park in the Millennium Park or Grant Park Garages and take the CTA’s 151 the rest of the way. These garages seem to be always empty – even during big event days like today. The four garages (Millennium, East Monroe, Grant Park North and Grant Park South) have over 9000 spaces combined! I used the garages to escape the crowds and crisscross the park after Chicago’s fireworks on the 3rd of July. I was shocked at how empty the garages were that night and took pictures. (It’s no wonder why the Park District sold them to a private operator) I’ve been meaning to post the pictures from that night and will do so in my next post, so stay tuned.

We don’t post rates for special event parking, but ParkingAnyTime can help you locate alternative parking near Millennium Park if for some reason the official garages fill up or don’t meet your fancy.  Save time and save money – use public transit today – but if you must drive, ParkingAnyTime is your tool for finding parking near this year’s Chicago Air and Water Show. Enjoy the show! 

With ParkingAnyTime’s parking map, you’re a parking insider. 

- the ParkingAnyTime team

Some of you may have noticed we have quietly added some new features to Livado ParkingAnyTime in the last two weeks. Internally, we call the latest update Livado ParkingAnyTime 2.0 and we’re launching the beta just in time to find the best parking near some of Chicago’s biggest summer events and concerts like:

• The Taste of Chicago
• Independence Day Chicago Fireworks on July 3rd
• Navy Pier Fireworks (most Wednesdays & Saturdays - see schedule)
• Lollapalooza in Grant Park (August 1-3, 2008)

User feedback and our passion to improve Chicago parking drove the major update. Since we started work on the Chicago ParkingAnyTime project in March 2007, and launched version 1.0 of Livado ParkingAnyTime last September, we have been devoted to creating the very best web site for parking information. Now with thousands of Chicago parking locations, there is nothing else like it for Chicago parking!

In initial development, we thought street parking information would be the biggest draw to ParkingAnyTime, so we defaulted search results to on street parking and focused on acquiring parking information in neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and Lakeview. Analytics data shows most searches are for parking downtown Chicago and downtown Chicago parking is dominated by off-street parking garages. Consequently, we changed gears and this release’s biggest improvements focus on off-street garage parking with an emphasis on completeness in the Loop, River North, and around the Magnificent Mile.

Parking garage results were an afterthought in the original design, so results only included location and operating hours. With the focus on street parking, we developed the original interface without any regard to time, an important variable for garage parking. The design still works well for street parking because parking is free or near free, but for destinations where garages are really the only parking option, price drives decisions.  Searches now require a planned stay.

Drive + Park or Metra + CTA or Stay near Home: Decision Making with ParkingAnyTime

With gas prices skyrocketing, a suburban mom going shopping on State Street with her girlfriends has had to start comparing the cost and convenience of driving and parking to the cost and convenience of taking Metra and riding the CTA. When gas was cheaper, decisions were easier and for many driving was the obvious choice. Parking convenience and price are playing a larger role now and are likely the two largest determinants that swing a decision toward or away from driving downtown, especially if a mall like Woodfield, with free parking, is just a short drive away. Only with ParkingAnyTime you are empowered with all information you need to make her drive vs public transit decisions quickly and easily.  ParkingAnyTime will locate garages near your work, near your apartment, or near shopping and even that restaurant your girlfriend hinted last week she’d like you to take her. Then for each search we evaluate, based on the time you plan to park, how much each garage will cost you. We don’t make you click on ten garages, look at rate charts and then make you compare the specials to find the best rate. We do it all for you, in seconds, and only for garages within a short convenient 7 minute walking distance or less. For most garages, every Early Bird Special, Weekend Special and Afternoon Discount is factored in so you can narrow in on your best options.

We think you will appreciate how much the latest improvements will save you money on parking and time planning your favorite summer day trips to downtown and along the lakefront. Now with ParkingAnyTime you have the tools to get there smarter. Start comparing parking options and rates all over Chicago including near the hot summer destinations:

• Millennium Park
• North Avenue Beach parking
• Oak Street Beach parking
• Lincoln Park Zoo (Stockton entrance) or Lincoln Park Zoo (Cannon entrance) 
• Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
• Michigan Avenue Shopping parking

I waited to post until today so no one would think my post was an April Fools joke. My post’s title really says it all folks. Those pesky signs that kept us from parking on streets like Canon Dr, Division St and many others no longer apply because the city acknowledges winter is over.

Unfortunately, with the end of winter, comes spring cleaning, spring street cleaning that is. Some neighborhoods are scheduled to have their streets swept only once per month. Others every other week or even weekly. For now, check for those pesky orange signs usually attached to a tree or light post. The city recently announced they’re going to be color coding those signs for greater awareness, but we have not witnessed any newly colored signs posted thus far. In any case, be on the look-out.

Our ParkingAnyTime street parking search does note street cleaning on some streets in some neighborhoods, but the street cleaning notes were only partially implemented and some may also be out dated. If you live in Alderman Daley’s 43rd Ward (much of Lincoln Park) she has a very handy email alert system available on her website. Right now, if you live in the other 49 Wards, we recommend you rely on the City’s Street Sweeping Schedule or contact your Alderman or Ward Streets and Sanitation Department. We’ve found the City’s 311 service helpful too, but try those other methods first.

Tell us how you’d like to learn about Street Cleaning in your neighborhood. Is the City’s website good enough? Would you like to see us develop a street cleaning map? Are you interested in alerts by email, text message, phone, etc? What’s it worth to you — in other words are you willing to pay for alerts? Email us at feedback@ParkingAnyTime.com or write a comment below.

Happy parking!

Technorati Tags:
street cleaning, overnight parking, winter snow ban, Chicago street parking, Ward 43, street sweeping schedule

December 1 is the start of the magical season in Chicago when many of the main streets do not allow overnight parking. The period extends until around April 1. Please pay attention to these signs or you will find your car towed.

Another type of snow related parking rule in Chicago is no parking when snow on the ground exceeds 2″. Many drivers confuse the two rules.

So, please be careful and save your money for Christmas Shopping!

In mid September, many large cities from Miami to the Chicago Land area to Munich practiced Parking Day. Thousands of frustrated drivers and urban planners setup parks on metered spots. The organizers braced for angry words and in some cases parking tickets as they lounged on blankets and chairs on scarce parking spots. The intent of the demonstrators was to tout about parking issues and lack of available parking plaguing many urban cities throughout the world. As the number of cars being driven to cities increases and the number of parking spots decrease amid rapid construction of new commercial and residential buildings, parking has become a key issue for many cities.

30% of traffic in cities is caused by drivers looking for curbside parking. I estimate that an average driver in Chicago spends at least 3-4 minutes looking for a street parking spot. Over the course of a year, in the Chicago business district, I estimate drivers travel 700,000 miles, burn 36,500 gallons of fuel and emit 567 tons of carbon dioxide just looking for parking.

Drivers traveling to Chicago have two primary options for parking their car in the city. They can look for street parking or find a Chicago parking garage (topic of my next blog entry).

Chicago parkers searching for street parking need to pay close attention to parking restrictions that can vary by time, days, holidays and special events. Many streets, particularly in the business district, do not allow street parking. Streets that do allow parking are most commonly metered and can have rush hour restrictions from 7-9am and 4-6pm to reduce traffic congestion from cars entering and exiting the city. The meters are typically valid from 8am to 7pm, although there are some meters that are enforced until 9pm or even 24 hours. Outside of these restrictions, drivers can find periods of time to park for free. There are also streets that have free parking all day but they can be difficult to find. ParkingAnyTime.com makes it easy for drivers to locate street parking options.

Outside of the business district, in Chicago neighborhoods such as Streeterville (Gold Coast), Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville (home of the Chicago Cubs) and South Loop (home of the Chicago Bears and soldier field), many streets are permitted during part of the day or all day. The permits can only be purchased by residents living in the area. Some permits are only enforced during Cubs games, Soldier Field events and other special occasions. The season and weather also have an impact on Chicago Parking options. During summer and fall, street cleaning is in effect on certain days. On such days, the street must be free of all cars. Otherwise, you will find yourself making a $50 donation to the parking police. Additionally, during snow fall, certain streets have no parking restrictions while on other streets you cannot park at all during peak winter months.

After you have navigated the complex maze of parking restrictions and located a street with parking, be considerate of segments of street that can be loading zones, handicap parking or for valet use only.

After personally logging in over 100 hours of driving and recording parking rules on Chicago streets, I have found that there exists plenty of low cost parking options in Chicago. The trick is to find them. ParkingAnyTime.com helps you to find those streets and garages; thereby saving you time and gas while making a small contribution to keeping our environment green.

- Saqib, Founder & CEO of ParkingAnyTime