Parking around Kenmore Square

Hi and thanks for reading.

Briefly lived in Boston when I was tiny, tiny, but this will the first trip back in 25 or so years. Coming at the end of this month for about a week.

The first couple of nights, I wanted to get close to town and ended up with the Buckminster. Say what you will, but I%26#39;m going to risk it for the price, location and the fact that there are no Sox games that weekend. Also, the reviews seem to be steadily improving.

Anyway, the clerk (who was actually crazy nice on the phone) said that parking is $18/night. But that, I assume, is a garage nearby. I realize that I don%26#39;t need a car, and wasn%26#39;t planning on even attempting to drive in Downtown Boston, but, because of the way weekly rates work, it%26#39;s actually about the same to get the car for the full week versus once we%26#39;re done with staying inside the city. And it would be nice to get down to the hotel from the airport by our own car rather than by T.

My question: what are my chances on finding street parking around Kenmore Square and the Buckminster? Is that totally stupid? We%26#39;ll be getting there about 10:30am on Sunday and will likely not move the car until we leave on Monday morning.

Also, I was planning on getting the day pass for the T on the days that we%26#39;re tramping around Boston. Are those available at all stations?

Thanks in advance.

Colin

Parking around Kenmore Square

Hi,

So if I understand you correctly, you are only staying for one night at the Buckminster, and it%26#39;s a Sunday night? Also, it%26#39;s a weekend when the Red Sox are not in town? I%26#39;m sort of confused about your plans, because then you talk about getting a day pass for the T.

You could park your car on the street at a meter on Sunday morning (meters are not in effect on Sunday), and move it before 8am Monday morning, and not get a ticket. Since the Sox are not in town that week, you should be able to find a metered space along Commonwealth Ave on the BU campus, or along Brookline Avenue or Beacon St., heading out towards Brookline. Keep in mind that you need to stay inside the Boston city limits, because Brookline doesn%26#39;t allow overnight parking at all.

What else do you need the car for? Certainly it is not a good use of money to rent a car just to get from Logan to Kenmore Sq.?

Parking around Kenmore Square

Thanks for the quick response!

%26gt; So if I understand you correctly, you are only staying for one night at the Buckminster, and it%26#39;s a Sunday night?

No, sorry. We get in Saturday morning and leave Monday morning. The plan was to park the car, drop the stuff off at the hotel, then take the subway into the city and maybe sit around in front of the water or something.

%26gt; I%26#39;m sort of confused about your plans, because then you talk about getting a day pass for the T.

The plan is to get a day pass for the T on both days.

%26gt; You could park your car on the street at a meter on Sunday morning (meters are not in effect on Sunday), and move it before 8am Monday morning, and not get a ticket.

Hmm. I was hoping that Saturday wouldn%26#39;t be enforced either, but I guess that was overly optimistic. Is there unmetered neighborhood parking somewhere? I%26#39;m not adverse to walking 1/2 mile or so once the luggage is dropped off. Maybe even parking and then taking the T back to the hotel?

Thanks for the FYI on Brookline. I would have never known (and gotten a ticket).

%26gt; What else do you need the car for?

We%26#39;ll be staying out in the %26#39;burbs for a few nights as well as taking a road trip up to Maine and an overnight to Connecticut for an awkward relative meeting.

%26gt; Certainly it is not a good use of money to rent a car just to get from Logan to Kenmore Sq.?

It%26#39;s like $40 cheaper to rent the car the day we get in versus the Monday when we actually need it. Makes no sense, I know, but it%26#39;s just the way the car rental companies work with the weekly versus daily rates.

Thanks again for responding.

Hi,

As you%26#39;ve probably noticed from reading this forum, bringing a car into Boston is a bad idea. Usually I try desperately to discourage it. I only thought it made sense in your case because it was a Sunday.

However, meters ARE enforced on Saturday, between 8am and either 6pm or 8pm in the evening. I believe in the Kenmore area, it%26#39;s 6pm, but you have to read the directions on the meter itself, to know for sure.

So you could park your car without a problem from 6:05pm Saturday night, until 7:55am Monday morning (they will pounce on you at 8:00am sharp, if you haven%26#39;t moved it...). I suppose you could just park it in a garage on Saturday and then move to the street, to save some money.

OOPS,

Sorry, I re-read your original question...there is some un-metered parking in the Kenmore area, but if you do find one of those spaces, I%26#39;d immediately go and buy a Mega Millions ticket, because you%26#39;d be bound to win with that luck :)

The un-metered parking is called ';visitor'; parking, and it%26#39;s located in the resident permit parking areas up along the Park Drive and Fenway areas and the side streets such as Queensbury, Peterborough, Jersey, etc. If a street has 100 resident permit only spots, they may reserve 2 for this special ';Visitor'; parking. Also, technically the visitor parking is only for 2 hours, not all day. Although I haven%26#39;t heard of anyone getting a ticket for parking all day in Visitor parking, it is technically possible.

That%26#39;s funny, but kind of what I had assumed about the unmetered parking in that area. Would Cambridge be better? Using Google Street View, I saw a lot of ';Permit Parking Only'; signs in Cambridge, so maybe not.

I%26#39;ve got this plan now: drive to the hotel, drop off the stuff, drive to Boston College, park (apparently, the garages are free on the weekends), then take the T back to the city. Saturday evening or Sunday morning, pick up the car from BC, since pay parking starts at 2am on Monday versus 8am in the city, and drive it back to the hotel area to park it for the night.

Maybe a little crazy, but I%26#39;m excessively cheap (never paid for parking before when staying in a city) and it would give me a chance to see the Boston College campus, which I had wanted to do anyway.

What do you think?

Your total parking bill for the two days would be $36. I agree that you are probably overreacting, if that%26#39;s the right word, to that cost. And then you%26#39;ll waste a couple of hours getting to and from BC. And who knows if parking is really free. Guess I wouldn%26#39;t do that.

AlanM

I would take the $36 rate for parking and run with it. Most places charge more than that for one night. Now, don%26#39;t get me wrong, I hate paying for parking ANYWHERE, but Boston is a tough place to park legally if you don%26#39;t have a permit. The going rate for a ticket if you illegally park in a ';permit only'; spot is $40. Now, let%26#39;s say you have the bad luck of finding a spot on a Street Cleaning day. Then you%26#39;re in for $40 for not having a permit, $40 for not obeying the street cleaning, and $55 for a tow. Is it worth the risk? If it were me,I would spend the $36 and enjoy the peace of mind.

BC has free parking? I guess you could try that, but I%26#39;d triple check it before counting on it. It%26#39;s a long T ride to BC...the trolley stops every block or so takes a long time to get out there... the BC campus is a pretty college campus but...it%26#39;s a lot of time out of a short trip.

Plus if you rent a car, it%26#39;s a toll out of the airport plus t fare to BC and back, plus the time spent, plus gas getting over to BC and if you don%26#39;t know your way, that can be a challenge and use gas if you get lost, plus there%26#39;s traffic...

Personally if I were doing it (and I%26#39;m a huge cheapskate when it comes to stuff ilke parking), I%26#39;d take the T from the airport and rent the car via Priceline starting whenever you want to laeve the city or even let the rental car company keep the car for those days rather than spend all that time and trouble dealing with it. Seriously, ask to pick it up later.

And if you try funky street parking arrangements, read signs carefully. CAREFULLY. I made a mistake I%26#39;m not soon to forget. Tow Zone really means that they%26#39;ll take your car away and charge you big bucks to get it back and you have to take a cab to this tow lot and...it%26#39;s a nightmare. Tickets are easy to come by too. Boston is CRAZY when it comes to tickets and towing. I assume Cambridge is the same.

Having your car towed in Boston can come to a total of 200- tow charge plus fine.... plus a very unpleasant experience of not finding your car and having to go to the tow lot...

BC Garages have free parking without a student id? That%26#39;s gotta be the best kept secret around. Although I agree w/ the others ... it%26#39;s a long trip to BC on the greenline.