Chicagoans Pay Some Of Nation's Highest Parking Rates
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago's parking rates rank among the highest in the nation, both for daily and monthly parking.
As CBS 2's Kris Habermehl reports, commuters all need somewhere to leave their car each day if they don't take public transportation to work. A new survey by Colliers International says Chicagoans are paying the fourth highest rate for that privilege on a daily basis, and the seventh highest for monthly parking.
The median daily parking rate in downtown Chicago is $32, up 3.2 percent from a year ago.
The median monthly parking rate is $289, but that figure is actually down 9.7 percent from 2010.
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But if Chicago's parking rates seem expensive, the sticker shock is far more severe in many U.S. cities.
The highest parking rates are found in Midtown Manhattan – with an average of $41 for daily parking, and a staggering $541 for monthly parking. Downtown Manhattan, where Wall Street and the financial are located, comes in second for monthly rates, at an average of $533.
Also outranking Chicago for monthly rates are Boston at $438, San Francisco at $375, Philadelphia at $304, and Seattle at $294.
For daily parking, Honolulu and Boston outrank Chicago, averages of $38 and $34, respectively. Daily parking is actually cheaper in downtown Manhattan than in Chicago, with an average of $30.
On average, rates across the country are fairly steady compared with last year, Colliers said.
But average rates are up significantly in Canada, by an average of 3.0 percent to $241.59 USD. In Canada, parking is most expensive in Calgary, at $486 USD, followed by Toronto, $342 USD, and Montreal, $305 USD.
On the cheap end of the spectrum, monthly parking in Reno, Nev. is only $45, in Phoenix $50, and in Bakersfield, Calif., $53.
Worldwide, commuters in London pay the most for parking. The average monthly parking rate in there is $1,084 a month.
