… in Chicago.
I have been driving to Chicago every weekend so far. As everyone knows, parking is hectic in the loop. To help my wife’s move-in and settling down, I paid for the first month’s parking in the apartment’s garage. At $210 a month, it’s still below the market rate. Now that we are settled down, and decided not to pay the exorbitant charges, so looking for a parking space has become our favorite pastime (with monetary reward). This weekend we had to do it twice, on Friday night and Saturday night. Fortunately, there are a few street parking spaces that open up for the weekend. Boy, did they fill up fast! Also, near where we live, there are a couple of streets with free all-time parking, a rarity in the loop. I even saw a space open today after I parked my car on my way home. Within 10 seconds, a car pulled over and backed into the parallel space. I figure for every ten cars in the area, there must be nine looking for parking, and the remaining one just pulling out. Garage parking costs over 30 dollars for 24 hours, and meters are a quarter for five minutes. No wonder people are willing to circle around forever to find a free spot, and stay there as long as they can.
For us, instead of paying the garage, we decided to park on the street. There’s always one available on weekends if we are willing to go farther. It just means a little more exercise. For us, this is the perfect solution.
If you ever need to park in the loop in Chicago, let me know and I’ll share with you my experience.