All day parking options in Davis Square?

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I searched and couldn't find the answer...

If someone needs to park in Davis Square from 9am - 5pm and they don't have a resident sticker, what are the options? Running out and feeding a meter every 2 hours won't work in this particular situation I'm asking about.

I've heard about the "Buena Vista" parking lot and I think I know roughly where that is but is that only for Harvard Vanguard employees? Or can anyone park there? Does anyone know the rates?

I know... the T is the best way to get here! But humor me here... :)

Thanks!

Comments

[somer-villains.livejournal.com]

not sure about this, i believe willow ave is open to non-residents. at least, it was a few years ago. it's a short walk from davis sqaure, and when we moved here with out-of-state plates on our car, we parked there for a couple of months before registering our car here.

you may also want to drive around some of the nearby residential streets and see what other ones are open to non-residents. i'm pretty sure that as you get closer to a T station they all become resident-only, if not metered.

hope this helps!

[ron_newman]

If you park in the metered lots (as opposed to the street meters), you can pay for three hours of parking at a time. Otherwise, my suggestion is the Alewife garage ($5) and a quick T ride to Davis.

[marphod.livejournal.com]

Park at Alewife and take the T.

Or, find a friend near Davis and borrow their visitor permits.

Seriously, there are no all-day lots in Davis. And they are very fond of ticketing there.

Here's one option

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

Rent a spot in the neighborhood:

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/prk/445353078.html

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

What is the deal with the Buena Vista lot then? Do you have to be an employee of certain businesses to park there?

[ron_newman]

I think you have to be an employee or customer (mostly of Harvard Vanguard).

why not in somerville

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

In a Waltham they have a lot that you can pay for 12 hours at a time- but I am sure here that would cause loooooooooooooooong term parking, or maybe not

Re: why not in somerville

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

And some day and in some far off galaxy- Somerville/Davis Sq will have to come up with a solution for its parking "situation". And that solution should not be go to Cambridge/Alewife to park

Re: why not in somerville

[ron_newman]

That was very deliberately rejected when the Red Line was planned here in the early 1980s. Residents didn't want Davis Square to fill up with commuter traffic heading for the Red Line, parking in all-day garages like the one at Alewife.

Re: why not in somerville

[vonelftinhaus.livejournal.com]

I am sure it was very rejected, I myself, would not want the craziness that I see in and around the Alewife area. I only offer an example of the garage behind the Landmark theatre in Waltham, similar to Buena Vista- but alas our lot is only half accessible. Long Term parking would be a great option for those who really do need it.

Re: why not in somerville

[xuth.livejournal.com]

The problem is that the lot behind the theatre in Waltham is really only useful (with a relatively insignificant number of exceptions) for people going to the shops around Moody St. An all day lot in Davis would be useful to a much larger population than there is space to accomodate and Davis has trouble accomodating even the short term parking needs it has now. Furthermore Davis can't handle the traffic that already exists there (College ave already backs up to Powderhouse sq at rush hour). Can you imagine the extra influx of traffic if people came from the surrounding area (Davis would be the most convenient T stop for most of Medford and the most convenient red line stop for Everett and Malden) to take the subway?

Re: why not in somerville

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can totally see how davis doesn't have enough space for commuters who might park here and then hop on the red line. We're trying to help accomodate an employee who had some surgery and can't walk long distances. So we're just trying to make it easier. We'll figure something out though.

Re: why not in somerville

[ron_newman]

Can your employee get a temporary handicap permit?

Re: why not in somerville

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

Good question. Something to look into.

[ifotismeni]

for how long would this be and which days? i have a private parking spot in davis i'd be willing to rent out (since i'm gone from 9-5 at work anyway during the day).

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

This could be good! Thx! Let me figure out the exact details and I'll email you if we might want to take you up on it. I'll use the contact info on your LJ profile.

[ifotismeni]

my contact info is friends-only i think -- my email is m.photinakis at gmail.com

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

Ah. Thx.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I've seen some parking spaces marked as 'business permit' on the Brooks (Rite Aid?) lot, the lot by the playground, and by the VFW. I have no idea who controls those parking spaces.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

The VFW will tow you if you don't have a VFW parking pass displayed. Sorry.

[ron_newman]

Does the VFW rent spaces?

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

No, they don't.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Somerville Traffic & Parking controls those, and I believe the business permits are handled by application/lottery/something like that on a yearly basis. (One of the other offices that used to sublet from the same firm we do had one of those permits for their boss's car, but only got it partway through the time we shared space.)

[ron_newman]

If this is for an employee, you could ask the attendant what it costs to rent an all-day space in the 'PRIVATE PARKING' lot on Day Street (behind the new CVS).

[colour-trousers.livejournal.com]

The Day St lot's spots are all taken. My employer rents 8 spots there on a monthly basis and is on a waiting list to get a few more.

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

if you don't want to park at alewife, there's an all-day garage that's pretty cheap in central, right near the middle east... you can park there and walk 2 blocks to the T.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

The only pay garage in Central is the Green Street Garage, which costs $1 per hour with a $13 daily max. So it's not that cheap.

There's also a pay lot further west on Green Street. I think the daily max is something like $12, but you hit the max much sooner. Also, it's not attended at night or on weekends, even though it has rates posted for those times, and there's no obious place to put your money.

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

to me, $1/hour for garage parking is incredibly cheap, compared to some of the other garages in the area... $14/hour in downtown crossing makes me cringe.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

hi leah,

is this for you? I have a visitor's pass you can use.

--Roy