Finding a different way around Downtown Parking hassles

[ricco67]

My friend managed to get some tickets to an Astros game for last night's game.   Since getting there and finding a spot always seems to be a challenge, I decided to do something a bit different since he wanted to meet at 5:30 at Lucky's.

 

 

Parking near the stadium can be a roll of the dice,  particularly when people are still at work, and parking lanes disappear at rush hour.  There is plenty of street parking, but its a matter of finding an open spot or paying out the nose in one of the lots. 

 

I went looking for a spot where I can just walk over to the Green line, within a couple of minutes I saw a slew of open spots over by the Hyatt, paid two bucks for parking on the curb (Free after 6pm), caught the Green line (free) to the GRB.   From there, I got a B-Cycle, went to stand near lucky's, put away the bike, and proceeded to chill, then caught the shuttle bus to the game.  Parked the car at 4:30 and sitting at lucky's by 5.

 

The green line was there after only a couple of minutes and it had quite a number of people on it.  After only a few minutes, I was at the GRB at the B-cycle station and was surprised by how easy it was.

 

Yeah, I could have walked, but I used it as an excuse to use the B-cycle, esp since I knew there was a station so close to Lucky's as well.  I got the bike out and I was stunned on how shaky I was on it. It has been a number of years since I've ridden, so I don't know if the bike itself was odd or I'm that out of practice.

 

The bike itself seemed a bit cumbersome on the handling and how it behaves overall.  Again, I didn't know if I was THAT out of practice or not.

 

My buddy didn't get there until 6:30 because he had problems finding a spot and dealing with traffic.

 

Docking the bike was so easy, I didn't know if I did it right or not.

 

After the game, I walked over to the GRB, grabbed a bike, went by all the traffic (such as it was) parked at the Milam/Walker dock, walked to two blocks to my car and was gone within only 10 minutes after leaving the stadium.

 

Tell you what, it is far easier than circling the block forever to find an open spot on the street and I intend on doing this for future events.

[Slick Vik]

Smart. There are usually spots on the street toward I-10 and also on walker, close enough to walk. But your strategy works well too.

[Houston19514]

Great idea ricco!  Thanks for sharing.

[samagon]

Once the east and southeast lines open it will open a lot of options as well.

[ig2ba]

Great that you got to try out the new bikes, but that seems like an awful lot of work. Why park 10 blocks away and go through all those maneuvers when there are free and legal parking spots 4-5 blocks to the southeast the stadium? You could then leave going ESE on McKinney, and then go south on Scott/Sampson and hop then hop on the freeway of your choice (45 to 59, 45 to 288, or stay on 45).

[lockmat]

Great that you got to try out the new bikes, but that seems like an awful lot of work. Why park 10 blocks away and go through all those maneuvers when there are free and legal parking spots 4-5 blocks to the southeast the stadium? You could then leave going ESE on McKinney, and then go south on Scott/Sampson and hop then hop on the freeway of your choice (45 to 59, 45 to 288, or stay on 45).

I went to the game last night too and eastern downtown was bumping!

I can normally find a free on street parking spot just a few blocks away but the Astros game had surprisingly bigger crowd and discovery green was packed at 6:15 so I had to park all the way by root square park. I only checked out the south of minute maid, so maybe that's what my problem was.

[jt16]

How were you guys so lucky to score Astros tickets?

[samagon]

Great that you got to try out the new bikes, but that seems like an awful lot of work. Why park 10 blocks away and go through all those maneuvers when there are free and legal parking spots 4-5 blocks to the southeast the stadium? You could then leave going ESE on McKinney, and then go south on Scott/Sampson and hop then hop on the freeway of your choice (45 to 59, 45 to 288, or stay on 45).

People have figured out you can park on the other side of the freeway for free, you won't be only 5 blocks away.

[Slick Vik]

Yesterday CSN gave free tickets to thousands of people

[IronTiger]

I remember that when a (now former) teacher of mine went to an Astros game downtown, he felt it was cheaper to pay a homeless person to watch the car instead of paying downtown rates. Since his car wasn't on cinderblocks afterward, I guess it worked?

[kylejack]

I remember that when a (now former) teacher of mine went to an Astros game downtown, he felt it was cheaper to pay a homeless person to watch the car instead of paying downtown rates. Since his car wasn't on cinderblocks afterward, I guess it worked?

 

To watch it where? He gave them the keys?

[ricco67]

Great that you got to try out the new bikes, blah blah, blah

 

 

As I mentioned on the post, I got there BEFORE rush hour, so parking was still at a premium.  

 

additionally, I don't think it was a major hassle to get there.  I think that most people make parking close to the stadium a big deal.  

 

When I left, I got to my car in under 5 minutes and was on the freeway couple of minutes after that.

 

My poor idiot friend was still trapped in the parking lot after the game.

[totheskies]

As I mentioned on the post, I got there BEFORE rush hour, so parking was still at a premium.  

 

additionally, I don't think it was a major hassle to get there.  I think that most people make parking close to the stadium a big deal.  

 

When I left, I got to my car in under 5 minutes and was on the freeway couple of minutes after that.

 

My poor idiot friend was still trapped in the parking lot after the game.

 

And that's exactly why I'm always willing to park a little further away from all the action.  You have a slightly farther walk, but you're also able to get out of downtown faster and not sit in the garage, then sit in traffic while everyone uses the same two exits to leave.  A longer walk (or in your case, B-Cyle) saves a LOT of time overall. 

 

Also I'm so GLAD that you got to ride the Greenlink!!  I love those things, and they're especially good for a sweltering summer day in downtown.  I called them and inquired if they were ever going to expand the route, and they said they are planning on extending at least up to Market Square Park.  I hope they'll consider using the service for sports games too.  That would be mega awesome. 

Edited July 25, 2013 by totheskies

[ig2ba]

As I mentioned on the post, I got there BEFORE rush hour, so parking was still at a premium.  

 

additionally, I don't think it was a major hassle to get there.  I think that most people make parking close to the stadium a big deal.  

 

When I left, I got to my car in under 5 minutes and was on the freeway couple of minutes after that.

 

My poor idiot friend was still trapped in the parking lot after the game.

 

I think you are being unnecessarily dismissive and getting offended for some odd reason. And seriously, quoting someone with "blah blah blah" belongs at chron.com.

 

I'm not sure how parking (just for instance) on Lamar at St. Charles has anything whatsoever to do with rush hour. Or parking restrictions. My comment was just intended to be helpful. Despite the buildup of East Downtown, it's still unbelievably empty just east of the stadium.

 

But maybe someone who, after exiting a soccer game and even dodging traffic and waiting for a couple of traffic lights, apparently walks faster than I jog doesn't need any transportation tips.

[Houston19514]

I think you are being unnecessarily dismissive and getting offended for some odd reason. And seriously, quoting someone with "blah blah blah" belongs at chron.com.

 

I'm not sure how parking (just for instance) on Lamar at St. Charles has anything whatsoever to do with rush hour. Or parking restrictions. My comment was just intended to be helpful. Despite the buildup of East Downtown, it's still unbelievably empty just east of the stadium.

 

But maybe someone who, after exiting a soccer game and even dodging traffic and waiting for a couple of traffic lights, apparently walks faster than I jog doesn't need any transportation tips.

 

Lighten up, dude.  And pay closer attention.  ;-)

 

The OP was talking about Minute Maid Park, not BBVACompass Stadium.  Lamar at St. Charles is a lot more than 5-6 blocks from MinuteMaid.

[ricco67]

I think you are being unnecessarily dismissive and getting offended for some odd reason. And seriously, quoting someone with "blah blah blah" belongs at chron.com.

I'm not sure how parking (just for instance) on Lamar at St. Charles has anything whatsoever to do with rush hour. Or parking restrictions. My comment was just intended to be helpful. Despite the buildup of East Downtown, it's still unbelievably empty just east of the stadium.

But maybe someone who, after exiting a soccer game and even dodging traffic and waiting for a couple of traffic lights, apparently walks faster than I jog doesn't need any transportation tips.

The reason for the "blah" is because I didn't want to quote the entire msg.

Maybe you're just seeing to much into things.

The restrictions I was referring to are the streets that do not permit parking between 4 and 6pm.

Like I said, I wanted a place to park without having to worry about getting a ticket or towed.

As I was saying, I parked on the corner of polk and Milam.