Moving to San Diego means you’re now living closer to one of the most exciting downtown areas in the United States. While you might be anxious to start visiting the venues, you should know that any trip to the downtown area requires you to understand how to handle the parking meters. Whether you own a condo in downtown San Diego or you’re just visiting, these tips can help you avoid fines and get the most out of the time you’ve designated for parking.
Know When Meters Are Enforced
Parking meters aren’t meant to punish you for visiting the downtown area. Instead, they’re meant to regulate the flow of traffic to and from specific areas. For instance, people might be tempted to leave their cars parked in spaces all day if they live nearby. Requiring a fee to be paid deters people from taking advantage of public parking areas. For this reason, the parking meters are only enforced during the busiest hours of the day. Currently, you can expect to feed the meter between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. at most locations. Meters in certain parts of the downtown area, such as the “Hospitality Zone,” remain operational until 8 p.m. To avoid a citation, your best bet is to check the sign before you leave your vehicle.
Be Prepared to Pay the Minimum Fee
Newcomers to San Diego are often confused as to why meters charge their cards more than a dollar when they’re only using spaces for 15 or 30 minutes. This is because there’s a minimum charge that must be paid to use this parking service. In most cases, it’s still well worth paying the charge to have convenient access to the location you’re visiting.
Remember that Even Moving Vans Must Feed the Meter
Moving day is always busy, and it’s easy to overlook things you’d normally make sure to do. Unfortunately, the City of San Diego doesn’t let you reserve a space where you can park your moving van. However, you can pay the meter as you would for any other vehicle, provided the van fits into the space.
Respect Parking Time Limits
At times, you may come across parking meters with signs stipulating how long you can remain parked in those spots—most often, it’s for two hours. While it may seem fair enough to simply keep paying the meter, you should be conscious of the other people who need to visit businesses in the area. These time limits are meant to encourage turnover, so try to find a parking spot without a limit if you plan to be parked there for longer than allowed.
Use ParkMobile
Life gets busy when you’re enjoying yourself downtown, but the ParkMobile app helps you easily pay for your spot without having to hunt for change or pull out your card on a busy street. You can also use the app to find your car if you get lost, and it’ll send you an alert 15 minutes before your time expires so you never forget.
Finding a parking spot in downtown San Diego can sometimes be challenging, but the active, welcoming downtown lifestyle is definitely worth the time and trouble. For information about any aspect of downtown living in America’s Finest City, call on the downtown San Diego real estate agents who have in-depth knowledge about the area. Contact the friendly team at 92101 Urban Living today at 619-649-0368.