hahvahd pahking

so i posted harvard parking options in another thread but thought they might be useful for the larger elynah community come this friday.

as several have pointed out, parking by harvard square is essentially impossible, especially for times longer than 2 hours. the rink also has no parking lot.

however, you can park on cambridge sidestreets with the following signs:
(1) street cleaning (first monday of the month or whatever)
(2) cambridge residents only-- it has been my experience in the past year and a half that this is not enforced friday evening through sunday night. tickets are $20-30 which is the same as a parking garage for a day anyway

other options:
(3) park on western ave on the allston side of the river
(4) park on n harvard street by the rink/football field
(5) **** if you call in advance and request a visitor permit, you can park in the huge biz school lot for $5 a day. it's a 5 min walk to bright arena and a 10-15 min walk to harvard square.***

go staht the cahs, kids. seeya all in a few days.

-mike '04

(1) street cleaning in Boston (not sure about Cambridge, but I figure it's the same - although the rink is in Boston anyway) is once per week. The day of the week depends on the street. And it almost always starts at midnight. So want the sign and if it says street cleaning Saturday, 12 am til whenever, just be back to your car by midnight.

(5) do we still have time to do this? how/when do we pick them up?


Other suggestion:
(6) Avoid parking anywhere near the center of Cambridge/Hahvahd Square. Park at the Alewife station at the end of highway portion of Route 2. The website says parking is $5. Not sure if/when they close. Then take the Red line from Alewife to Harvard (all of 3 stops) for $1.25/person. Just make sure to get back before the T (subway) stop running. According to the MBTA stop, the last train starting out starts at 12:15 am. Still, I'd be back by midnight at the latest.

If the weather sucks, we usually use the garage that's at Eliot and JFK, near the square. It's multi-level and we've always found a spot. The downside is that it costs $21 for the evening. A number of the local eateries will validate your ticket, saving $2.

Another option that works for free, though it involves a decent hike, is to go down Brattle Street away from the square. Somewhere around 1/2 mile down, parking becomes unregulated. Some of the side streets seem to do the same.

Good luck.

Mike,

Are there alot of street cleaning spots available usually?

[Q]A-19 Wrote:
the rink also has no parking lot.[/q]That's a bit of an oversimplification. There is a small amount of parking past the arena (I guess it's to the south?) towards the football stadium. If you're there early enough (as in, park there before going to John Harvard's), you should be able to snag a space. (It may be illegal, but I've parked there for at least the past three years or so without any problems.)

And they allow parking in the lot around the football stadium for hockey games. At least they have in the past. Not sure if you can park there before game time though.


Oh, one more thing about street cleaning. Yes, they do tow. And they tend to tow for street cleaning around 11:55. So if you do happen to park in a spot marked for Saturday street cleaning starting at 12 am, TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.

park in davis square, in somerville. there's plenty of street parking (and a few lots) with meters that end at 5. it's 2 stops from harvard on the red line. plus, when you have to take the midnight train back, you can still go out in davis.

As much as I like Boston (the city, not the baseball team), it's still pathetic that the trains stop running before 1am.

[Q]KeithK Wrote:
...it's still pathetic that the trains stop running before 1am.[/q]Yes. Yes it is.

I'm not sure of the current situation, but I know people who parked in the lot by the business school (I think that's where it is---across the street from the football stadium, etc), perhaps paid $5 day of, with no advance purchase. That was a couple of years ago. Not sure how it works now.

[Q]Robin L. Wrote:

I'm not sure of the current situation, but I know people who parked in the lot by the business school (I think that's where it is---across the street from the football stadium, etc), perhaps paid $5 day of, with no advance purchase. That was a couple of years ago. Not sure how it works now.[/q]

see above.

for more info, here's the harvard parking link: [www.uos.harvard.edu]

apparently you can get the permit in advance, paying online.

-mike

Regarding the Business School lot, they usually allow "event" parking. I generally park there and I've rarely had to pay (I've never gotten a permit in advance). But it may be different if you need to park before 5:00 on a weekday. There's also a limited amount of parking on the street near the rink.

I attended a figure-skating event at Bright just a few weeks ago, and the lot attendant gave me a ticket (no charge) and made sure I understood how to insert it in the machine as I left (he was very insistent about this). I also discovered the back way out of the lot.

Just as a general warning, in addition to parking issues around Harvard square, the Allston/Cambridge exit off the pike can be a traffic nightmare after 5 on fridays. This caused us to miss the first period of the game back in 2002. I recommend leaving as much time as possible.

If I had to give advice, as a local, about parking, I would bear onto the "Allston/Brighton" ramp at the exit (as opposed to the Cambridge direction.) This will put you going west on Cambridge St, where you can easily duck onto a side street to the right and park in Allston. See enclosed map for this area. It is an easy 10 minute walk to Bright from here.

Of course, all the usual about checking signs applies. No need to add the cost of the impound lot to the weekend budget.


[maps.google.com]

Go Red!

Good point. Actually the Cambridge direction off exit 18 can be a nightmare during afternoon rush hour any day of the week.

Even if you don't want to park in that area, I would still recommend getting of the exit going towards Allson. Then instead of parking, just turn around at Windom St (there's a light there, so it's easy), and then come back up Cambridge St towards Cambridge. It'll usually save you a good amount of time if the cars on exit 18 are backed up onto the off-ramp (which they usually are).