Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog.net

Coincidence? Most Expensive Cities for Parking All Suspiciously Awesome

10:39 AM EDT on July 13, 2011

Is parking expensive because a city is attractive? Or is a city attractive because it has expensive parking? Whether cause or effect, there seems to be a clear correlation.

A new study featured in AOL's Daily Finance has ranked the ten most expensive U.S. cities to store a car (off the street). And wouldn't you know it, they're all the sort of places you might want to visit.

In Seattle, Erica C. Barnett at Network blog PubliCola says despite the city's relatively high rates, drivers are still getting a great deal -- maybe too good:

According to a new survey of parking rates around the country, Seattle ranks sixth in the nation in parking rates, at an average of $24 a day, or $294 a month. That’s behind Midtown Manhattan ($41 a day, or more than $540 a month), downtown Manhattan ($533 a month), Boston ($34 a day, or $438 a month), Honolulu ($38 a day, or $217 a month), and San Francisco ($26 a day, or $375 a month).

The silver lining, DailyFinance.com reports: “Nowhere compares to London, where monthly parking costs a whopping $1,084, followed by Zurich at $822 and Hong Kong at $745.”

Parking, like driving, is heavily subsidized in the US. In 2002, according to Donald Shoup, author of The High Cost of Free Parking, the total subsidy for off-street parking alone was between $127 and $374 billion in 2002. Take that, parking whiners.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Xing Columbus analyzes the connection between walkability and a metric called "income density." Mobilizing the Region reports that under Chris Christie, New Jersey environmental programs neglect the important role of transportation. And Bike Portland brings news that the Oregon Department of Transportation is planning to add an active transportation department.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Thursday’s Headlines Have a New Pattern

Working from home may have killed the commute, but people are taking more frequent, shorter trips instead. Whether this adds up to less or more driving overall depends on the city.

September 21, 2023

New Calif. Slow Streets Offer a Sampler Platter of Quick-Build Safety Strategies

The city has a sampler platter of quick-build temporary traffic calming installations to experience for the rest of the year.

September 20, 2023

Wednesday’s Headlines Go Carless

A Washington state advocacy group for the disabled is challenging everyone to give up driving for the week of Oct. 2 to find out how hard it is to get around in most parts of the U.S.

September 20, 2023

Study: How Low-Income People Really Use Micromobility

Shared bikes and scooters are meeting low-income people's basic mobility needs — but they're not being subsidized like it.

September 20, 2023
See all posts