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We're number one!

A new study by Colliers International, a commercial real estate consulting firm found that Midtown and Downtown Manhattan are the two most expensive parts of the United States to park your car in a parking garage.

The average monthly cost to park in a garage in Midtown Manhattan is $491.80; Lower Manhattan comes in slightly under that at $444.40. Compare this to the national average, which is only $148.30. The runner-ups to Manhattan in this undesirable category are Boston at $425, San Francisco at $350 Philadelphia at $317.50 and Chicago at $289. NYC also has the highest daily national parking average. Some parking garages in Midtown Manhattan charge as much as $76 for 24 hours of parking, while West Palm Beach, is at the other end of the spectrum: $8.

What to do next - an example of "beating" the system

So what are we, who live in or near the most parking-challenged City in the nation, to do? Knowledge is power. It's often possible to avoid paying for a parking garage at all by knowing where (and equally important, when) it's free and legal to park on the street. Of course, when it comes to monthly parking, this doesn't usually apply, but knowledge can still save you lots of money. Author Erik Feder gives this prime example:

"Recently, I had to be in Times Square at 5:30pm on a Friday night to give a presentation about my parking books to the NYC Hotel Concierge Association. I knew that street parking wouldn't work at that time (6pm would've worked, 5:30pm - no way) so I researched parking garages in that area. I ended up parking in a garage that was a ten-minute walk from Times Square for 5 hours - from 5pm-10pm. It cost me $7."

Copyright 2006 Rhythmo Productions