apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Clearly this is an AT:LA post and not from AT:SF or AT:NY...

I'm lucky - I have an assigned covered parking space. This is kind of a dealbreaker for me when I look for apartments just because the situation above would drive me nuts. Guest parking in my complex is a pain, though, because each apartment only gets one assigned space. So tenants take up guest parking spaces. If someone is coming to visit me, I snag a guest space and they park in my space.

My old apartment building charged us $25/month to park under the building in a dark and totally unsafe parkade. It was gross and I was very glad we didn't have a nice car since there was a break in almost every day.

Now we rent a house in an older neighbourhood. We have free parking on the street and a pad at the back which where we usually let our downstairs neighbour park her truck. Parking on the street in front of the house is great. Especially since we bought a new car and I like to keep an eye on it. Plus its free.

We rent a Streng duplex just outside Sacramento. The front door is at the back of the carport so our car is parked literally right outside our front door. I've had my car broken into too many times while living in SF, Berkeley, LA, Seattle, and downtown Sacramento. The worse the economy gets, the more I worry that it still isn't safe enough. I'd never go back to street parking or parking at a remote assigned carport. If I had to, I'd sell my new car and buy a total clunker. But then again I might get rid of the car completely since we bike everywhere now as it is.

While I don't live in LA, technically Culver City now, I did in 2002 for 6 months and had to park on the street and while it was not too bad where I was, we did have to contend w/ street cleaning so at least once a week, we had to move our cars to the other side of the street by 7AM on the day of or we got ticketed.

I live in Seattle and it's unregulated parking where I am and it sometimes is a pain but usually during the day there is always a spot somewhere not too far from my building and many times I get to park right next to it or close to it. However by 8PM in the evenings, it's usually full and finding a place nearby can be indeed a challenge. My building does have off street parking, but it's extra on top of the rent and when I feel I can afford it, I'm going to get a spot if I can. Had one there but when times were tough, I had to forgo it.

I understand in those areas where zoned parking exists, it helps a lot and the fee, paid I think every other year (or is it yearly, I forget) is nominal and more parking enforcement officers patrol for violators in most areas with zoned parking, but alas, I don't have zoned parking where I am. Zoned parking in Seattle means 2 hours for outsiders during the day and no overnight or evening parking at all after 6pm unless you have the appropriate parking zone sticker on your vehicle.

I recently moved to LA from the midwest and for me parking is a big problem too. We moved into an older apartment building but into a beautiful place. Could use some updates but were dealing with the quirks because the space is so cool. But the biggest problem is the parking. We have none! As you say, street parking is getting harder and harder the more the area around us gets hipper and hipper. New bars, restaurants, clubs are opening everyday around us making it busier at night when I'm coming home from work. My guy doesn't mind, being a guy and all. But as a female I don't like parking too far away cuz there are some sketch streets in the near vicinity near our place. I've been checking sites like Parkinghunter.com and Parkatmyplace.com, but no luck in my area. There is a parking garage 2 blocks away with monthly paid parking but again being a female alone at night sometimes, I don't feel that secure in parking in a garage and walking back to my place. We're torn cuz we love our apartment and it's a great price but the parking is a huge issue in our deciding whether or not to move out in the near future.

I live at an apartment and there are parking spaces, but they are not assigned. If you get home late, you have to drive around looking for a spot and walk a ways to the apt. I live on the 4th floor, so I have to also walk up a bunch of stairs which isn't fun at all. I would much rather have a distance to walk than to go up so many stairs every time I left and came home.

When i moved to dc in 2001 (Mt. Pleasant neighborhood in NW DC), street parking was okay. There were parking spaces available within a 2-4 minute walk to my apartment so long as I was there before 11 p.m. After 11 p.m., you were screwed - you had to drive around and around the 'hood and wait for someone to pull out, OR park illegally, and get up early before the police started ticketing cars. Having moved out of that neighborhood in 2002, I heard that parking in Mt. Pleasant has just gotten much worse, especially during the week day evenings.

No parking was definitely a deal-breaker for me while apartment hunting in LA (in specific, Koreatown). I just moved into an amazing early 60s building with a carport, which allows us to park our 2 cars. It's a wonderful feeling! A nice move from living in Silver Lake (my particular area did not have residential preferred parking, unfortunately!)

Good observation, Cynthia. I assume you mean it's clear because it has "Los Angeles" printed in the bottom corner, because my friends in SF were just having this same conversation last night.

I don't drive much, but I do own a car so no assigned parking is definitely a deal-breaker for me apartment-wise. Having to park a few blocks away and then not needing to drive for several days is a good way to get the car towed. Boo to that!

Clearly not a Chicago post either.

We have an assigned space in the building garage on the bottom floor. It came with our apartment for no extra fee. If you're going to the car, you can take the elevator straight down & it's very nearby. We hardly ever drive though, so we usually walk out through the lobby & hop on our bicycles. (We're in The Netherlands though.)

I lived in the Miracle Mile area of LA for for years. Had a great apartment in a late 1920s building, cheap rent, built-ins, charm, etc. What I didn't have was parking, and permit parking barely helped. There was a parking structure two blocks away with monthly parking, but it seemed sketchier coming home late at night and parking there, where it was unattended and pretty dark at night, then just trying to find street parking. I finally had to move after a girl down the street got mugged right outside her building. After that I felt a lot less secure walking two or three blocks back to my place alone at night. Now assigned parking is a must for me.

I live in Beverly Hills, and they have some pretty strict permit parking. It works out pretty well, though recently the red curb was extended taking away about 4 spots. However, there's always something on the block, and usually right in front of the apartment.

I have what I consider the worlds smallest garage. I didn't even use it to park my car for the first 8 years I owned my place because of its size. Finally I bought a very small car (Miata) which will fit through the door with 6" to spare. That is 3" on either side! The garage is long enough to also accomodate my scooter and snow tires on the end, but the car has to first be backed out and parked when I ride the scooter. Take a look at this picture and you'll see what I mean! http://www.flickr.com/photos/orngcatstudio/2652881525/

I do feel lucky to have it and I added overhead storage for seasonal stuff. I do have to walk out of the building and down the alley to reach it and in the winter months the building across from it has a sump pump that dumps into the alley and if it is cold for long periods it creates so much ice I can't back out so its not ideal.

As a former car owner, I love love love not having a car in DC. Some places I've lived in DC (Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant) were parking nightmares. On the rare occasion that I have to park a car in my neighborhood (Dupont/U), it can also be bad, esp. on weekends, but not as bad as in those neighborhoods.

I know that it's hard not to have a car in many places, including other places I've lived, but it's so easy for me in DC.

Usually, when I take a Zipcar, I'm taking it out to the burbs and parking is not a problem. When I come back, it's got its own parking spot.

I just got flashbacks of driving up and down Com Ave for 40 minutes after work looking for a spot when I used to live in Brighton. Unfortunately I needed a car for work ever though I was very close to the T. It was horrible and it made me want to cry.

I live in a four-unit building in Glendale, CA. It's the first time I've ever had a parking spot. My husband and I each have a spot and our apartment is a one-bedroom. It's one of the things I love about our pad. I've lived all over the SF Bay Area where it's just assumed that you have to park on the street. I lived in Hollywood for a while and we had one parking spot for three people. That got tired fast.

at school i had to park far... a 10 minute bus ride and 5 minute walk to my car... definitely made me think about how badly i needed to drive.

I live in a carriage house.. so while my apartment is under 300 square feet, the only way I could have a closer parking spot would be to move -into- my car.

I live in NoHo (oh the valley...) and the "first floor" of my apartment building is essentially a gated parking lot.

When I lived in West LA, there was a subterranean parking garage and two gated parking spaces in the alley (read: SKETCHY!) behind the apartment building. My roommate and I of course had the 2 parking spaces in the alley.

When I move in a couple months, I'm going to be more focused on proximity to a metro stop than parking since I can always keep my car at work and just hop on the metro.

When I lived in Northridge, we were terrorized by the "street cleaning". I mustve gotten at least 5-8 parking tickets. When i moved to Glendale, I had to find an apt with its own parking (my car has been stolen in the past). Lucky me i found an "old fashioned" apartment that comes with a lil garage for my car.

I recently moved to Inglewood to share a one-bedroom with my boyfriend. It only comes with one spot so we'll be alternating who gets to park there. I can usually find a space on the block but occasionally I'm stuck on a cross-street. He worries about me walking alone at night but so far it hasn't been scary.

For the first time ever in my apartment living life, I have an assigned, covered spot in a gated garage under our building. It's very nice to not have to worry about it.. especially in parking challenged Westwood.

If street parking isn't an issue in the area that I look, I don't mind it but if it's difficult to find a spot after work, it could be a deal breaker.

Every once in a while I think how keen would it be to have a car. I live right outside the permit parking areas in Boston, narrow unplowed one-way roads in winter. That is the hell. Managing something I hardly would use. Paying for registrations and inspections when I could do without? I don't even have a Massachusetts Driver's License, it's so expensive to change from another state. I just signed up with Zipcar, after a hassling fell-through experience this past weekend with a conventional rental agency's corporate policies and their local management, so my car is ... at the end of my street most of the time.

i park on the street right outside where i live, it's not a pain distance-wise but it is pretty irritating when i forget street-sweeping day and wake up to a parking ticket!

Hey Pixie -- here's to living car-free in DC! Parking in my neighborhood isn't that bad, but I don't see the need to have a car (esp now that there's Zipcar).

The parking situation in my area (NYC) is, you can't park. Literally, at all during the week. You risk a ticket just pulling over to load or unload something, although when the cops realize we live on the block (it's a commercial district), they're pretty nice about it. You can park on some side streets on the weekend, and that's it.

Needless to say, we don't own a car!

I live in Baltimore City and parking is a nightmare. If you get home after 7pm (with work gym grocery, it happens often) you're SOL. You find yourself driving around, stalking people who, most likely, are just taking a walk. You park multiple blocks away which, after dark, is downright frightening. Walking from car to house, I pretend to be on my cell and say, "Yep! I'm almost home! I'll be inside in two minutes!" The most unnerving thing is knowing you have about half a mile to go and hearing the search helicopters circling above. Great! I'm out here with a wanted person!

In addition, there are all these funky rules - street sweeping Monday on one side of the street, Thursday on the other side; towing zone 3:00-3:15 - aye ye ye. I've been towed once and ticketed... I can't even count.

Most of Philly has a serious parking problem but we bought our house partially because there is a community garden and a municipal unmetered lot across the street. I think we've had to park on the next block twice in the past 2 years, and in the lot (not right in front of our house) maybe 6 times. We often come home after midnight from gigs, so it's not like we're in early to grab spots.

Totally off the subject but.. i knew the picture was taken in Sweden (my native country)! The house in the background is a veeery typical swedish house. And yes, I can see that i was right when I see the name of the photographer. It made me smile. Sorry :)