Smart Park

Great little parking lot close to Chinese Gardens.
Felt safe, and the pay station at the entrance by credit card is a good addition.
Clean and the staff were helpful. Rates were reasonable…

Wow. I park at Smart Park because they don’t USUALLY extort you for a parking space. Any of the street level parking lots would have probably charged me $ 12 to park on a Friday night. I went to Smart Park because I know that the normal deal is $ 1.60 an hour and daily maximum they’ll charge you for. That keeps it pretty reasonable.
Only if you roll up on a Friday (or Saturday) night they just charge you the max amount outright. Yup, I got to pay $ 6 for one and a half hour of parking in a Smart Park.
I’ve never been charged this kind of rate at any other Smart Park on a weekend night before in any other part of town. Next time I’ll just drive around for 40 minutes to find a parking spot on the street 5 blocks away.

Parking in Downtown Portland is all about strategic moves. Moves that take some practice… like the old guy a few pews behind me at church last week who was able to dodge the advances of geriatric bachelorettes with the line:
«Sorry ma’am, I’m saving that seat for the second best looking blonde in the place.»
Ok. So it’s strategic moves and shameless flattery.
Though sweet talking yourself into some of the lots and street parking in our urban core can be infinitely harder, which is why I almost hate to give this tidbit away. I’ve found the best place in town to drop off my car when I actually have to drive in close to the city center.
Part of the chain of Smart Parks, this relatively little garage is located in Old Town, off the radar from the majority of traffic congestion. Regardless of hour there’s always a ton of spaces available. It’s safe and secure, well lit, and kept up nicely. Even though this neighborhood has its moments, I have no fears in walking to my car alone once inside. It’s located adjacent to the Old Town /​Chinatown Max Stop (that serves all 3 lines) so you can easily park here and hop right on a train to go the rest of your merry way.
And because it’s a Smart Park, it’s cheap. $ 1.25/hour for the first 4 hours, then $ 3.00 an hour after that to the daily maximum which is $ 6 on the weekdays and $ 5.00 on the weekends. If you get your ticket validated at certain places in town your first two hours are free. Can’t beat the price and there are no worries of having to run back to your spot to plug those green payment kiosks every 90 minutes.
Can’t argue with a line of attack like that.