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Parking

You [[transit|do not need a car]] to get to the space.

Having a vehicle can be useful for moving people and equipment, but if you don't need to take a vehicle, we recommend you [[transit|avoid it.]]

Especially if you're coming in from afar: use [[transit]]! It really is the easier, cheaper, cleaner and safer option all around.

If you do park in the area, make sure to check on your vehicle on a semi-regular basis (once every few hours).

If you are new to the place and have been acquainted/adjusted to east-coast/NYC style "alternate side law" parking: We don't do that here.

Load and Unload

If you need to load or unload something to/from your vehicle, there are load/unload zoned spaces (yellow curb) on the side of 12th Avenue in front of [[..:building|The Building]].

Do not park or stop in front of the SPD precinct or its driveways! These are clearly indicated with "SPD EXEMPT VEHICLES ONLY" signage.

You may also use the center lane for loading/unloading only.

Free Parking

Our recommendation for free parking, is to avoid parking near the space if you can. See below for [[#transit]] park-and-ride lot options.

Night Parking, 10pm-8am

Street parking on the block where our [[..:building|Building]] is located (Pine, Pike, 11th, 12th) is free all nights after 10pm until 8am.

Sundays

Street parking is free on Sundays from Saturday at 10pm until the following Monday at 8am.

Holidays

Parking is free from 10pm on the night prior to a major holiday, until 8am the morning following.

If the date falls on a Sunday, the Monday that follows is a free parking day.

For a list of free parking days, see at seattle.gov.

Transit

We are [[transit]]-accessible via the 1 Line at Capitol Hill station. Connections can be made from park-and-ride facilities at Sound Transit stations. Parking at these locations is usually limited to 24 hours.

Paid Parking

Street Parking

Locations

A list of some city parking spots that you can try:

• The street side right in front of the building, on 12th Ave (but NOT the yellow curb). This is the golden spot, but unless you're coming in early, you're probably not going to find anything here.
• From 12th Ave, turn right and circle the block. There's a slightly higher chance here unless it's Friday night.
• Near the Bank of America lot, but not the lot itself, which is private. This is a block away from the space and is far enough from the bar spots that it shouldn't be crowded most of the time.

Payment

To pay for street parking, use the PayByPhone app ((seattle.gov info page)), available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone(?!) and the web.

Times and timing restrictions

On the block where our [[..:building|Building]] is located (Pine, Pike, 11th, 12th), you can only park for a maximum of 2 hours during the hours of 8am to 5pm. After 5pm, this restriction is no longer in effect.

Between 4am and 8am, you can pre-pay for up to 2 hours of street parking at a time, effective at 8am, if you have already parked in a street parking zone overnight. You will then need to move your vehicle, at the latest, at 10am.

There is a citywide 72-hour parking ordinance - a vehicle cannot remain parked on the same block or public lot for more than 72 hours at a time.

Rates

Note: Parking rates vary by location and time of day.

We recommend you double-check at the Seattle Paid Parking Map, as linked to from their parking information website.

Our local block (including the north face, Pine Street, both sides) is in the Pike-Pine parking rate zone.

Immediately north of this is the Capitol Hill South parking rate zone. This zone is slightly cheaper in the midday and evening, but usually more crowded.

Further to the north and east (around Olive/Howell/Denny going north, and 13th and up going east), you enter Restricted Parking Zone territory. Most of these locations are no-parking zones, or restricted to local RPZ permits. Permits from other zones will not work.

Rates for our local block:

• Morning rates
  • are in effect from 8am to 11am.
  • $1.00 per hour.
  • Maximum 2 hours.
• Midday rates
  • are in effect from 11am to 5pm.
  • $4.50 per hour.
  • Maximum 2 hours.
• Evening rates
  • are in effect from 5pm to 10pm.
  • $8.00 per hour.
  • No maximum, but up to the whole 5 hours can be paid for.
• Night parking is free, [[#night_parking_10pm-8am|as mentioned above.]]

Private Parking Lots

Some private lots, such as Diamond parking lots, may require different parking apps/services. Here's a list of some private parking lots:

• Bank of America parking lot, about a block away from the space. This spot usually has 4 fast charging stations available.
• Diamond Parking next to Cal Anderson Park.

Notes and citations

Disclosure: Valid as of time written.

All information on this page should be valid as of the date this page was written/checked:

December 30, 2025

While we make every effort to ensure the correctness of information on our Wiki, this information is provided at best effort and is NOT guaranteed for correctness, recency or timeliness, nor valid against changes by the city government, police, permit work (e.g., filming or construction), or utility work/emergency no-parking zones after posting.

We urge that you verify this information against posted signage, or the Seattle city government websites.

County and state parking regulations are largely out of scope.

If you notice something is incorrect, please take the time to [[?do=edit|correct it.]]

Our references include:

• Signage on streets and feedback from parking pay stations/apps.
• Seattle's Parking Program home page
• SDOT's Public Parking Map
• Other maps and GIS data provided by the City of Seattle and SDOT.

TODO:

• gotchas (lot parking)
• nearby lot parking rates
• enforcement, fines, boots, towing/impound et seq.

~~hero-subtitle Where's your car?~~