Predictably, SF’s most ticketed neighborhoods see a mix of commercial, commuter, and tourist traffic along with heavier enforcement, including the Financial District, SoMa, the Marina, and North Beach, garnering the majority of citations for street-cleaning and expired meters.

The Chronicle went down a bit of a SFMTA rabbit hole and came up with the most ticketed neighborhoods in San Francisco by category. Overall, for every 100 residents, the Financial District, the Marina, North Beach, and SoMa received the most parking citations in 2025, the majority of which included street-cleaning and parking meters. As the Chronicle notes, these neighborhoods are tourist, commuter, and nightlife hotspots, which require heavier parking enforcement.

“Consistent enforcement helps ensure turnover in busy areas, maintains access for residents, and keeps buses and emergency vehicles moving,” said SFMTA spokesperson Erica Kato, in a statement to the Chronicle.

When broken down by category, the Chronicle reports that street-cleaning tickets are the most frequent citations drivers received in 2025, with the Marina, Presidio Heights, Pacific Heights, and Hayes Valley receiving the most per resident.

Next up, about 56 for every 100 Potrero Hill residents received tickets for exceeding residential time limits, which the Chronicle says is due to an influx of tech commuters working nearby, followed by North Beach, Russian Hill, Presidio Heights, and Castro/Upper Market, due to a large mix of restaurants and shops alongside residences.

Marina had the most tickets for blocking driveways, as many spots in the neighborhood contain so-called “mirage” spaces, which aren’t quite large enough but give the illusion they are, with runners-up being Pacific Heights, Haight Ashbury, and the Mission, per the Chronicle.

Regarding blocked sidewalks, the Chronicle reports that the Bayview had the most tickets, followed by the Excelsior and the Mission, and SoMa to a lesser extent. Kato told the Chronicle that factors such as sidewalk width contribute to the frequency of citations in certain neighborhoods.

Double-parking citations are the most frequent in the Mission, North Beach, the Financial District, and Nob Hill due to being denser commercial areas with a higher demand for curb space, per the Chronicle.

Naturally, residents in some of the hilliest locales received the most tickets for failing to curb their wheels, including Nob Hill, Potrero Hill, and Pacific Heights, as well as the Financial District and South Beach, which the Chronicle notes have sloped areas.

Back in 2017, the last time SFist wrote a post like this, the Financial District and North Beach were at the top of the list as well, along with the Inner Richmond and Civic Center, neither of which appeared on the current list.

Image: Edward/Wikimedia

Related: Local App-Maker Makes Viral App to Track SF Parking Cops

Where In SF Are You Most Likely To Get A Parking Ticket?

The next autonomous vehicle scandal likely to start causing some noise in the new year is this: idle Waymos parking in coveted curbside parking spaces while waiting to be hailed for their next ride.

There are few things that get SF residents' as fuming mad as transit meltdowns and street parking being removed — well, and also the closing of thoroughfares by the ocean to turn them into parks. And after a couple years in which Waymo managed to avoid any real scandals or cause widespread outrage, the company might do just that if its cars start hogging much coveted street-parking spaces in neighborhoods where permit holders can leave their cars for a week or more — until the next street-cleaning day.

Anyone with a car, or anyone who's ever borrowed or rented car for that matter, in San Francisco, knows the sometimes painful exercise of hunting for a parking space in their neighborhood when it's time for a street-cleaning day, or when returning to town from a commute or a trip. Residents learn the tricks, like particular windows of time after a street-cleaning session when it's open season on entire blocks.

And now, as the Chronicle reports via local resident Kyle Grochmal, Waymos have been observed tucking themselves into these curbside spaces, albeit obeying any one-hour or two hour limits — not while waiting for a pickup, but while in between fares. Grochmal observed not one but two Waymos, one after the other, come to occupy the same one-hour parking spot on York Street in the Mission on Monday, staying for around 20 minutes while waiting to be summoned somewhere.

One Waymo sat, sensors whirring, in the spot on York, and when it left, another Waymo soon arrived and took the same spot — so clearly they've been programmed to know where such convenient idling spaces may be.

This is nice for Waymo, in terms of conserving battery life on its cars, and it's nice for the cars to not be clogging traffic while doing circles around town with no one inside. But Waymo has its own designated parking lots and recharging stations, and residents looking for parking are not going to take it lightly if robocars start hogging these street-parking spaces.

Tellingly, Waymo hasn't commented on the matter. But it's an issue likely to become a big one in public conversations about self-driving cars, and Grochmal raises another potential, down-the-road problem with this, speaking to the Chronicle.

"Say Tesla gets to self-driving, so people have personal AVs. So then do people from Palo Alto get dropped off in San Francisco and let their cars drive around all day searching for free parking?" Grochmal asks.

Eek, right?

Cue the Board of Supervisors telling Waymo, and all AV companies, that street parking is for humans only, but will there be legal fights over this later on?

Take this issue on top of the recent revelation about how the cars behave in a power-outage emergency, and the Waymo in LA that drove through a police standoff, and the recent outcry over the Waymo that killed a beloved bodega cat, soon followed by an unleashed dog, and Waymo might be looking at some growing pains in the near term.

Related: Waymos Were Looking for Human Remote 'Confirmations' at Intersections During Blackout, Company Says

After a media dust-up over an SF couple who got fined $1,500 just for parking in their own driveway, the SF Planning Commission just approved Mayor Lurie’s proposal to simply allow people to legally park in their own SF driveways.

There was a mini-viral “only in San Francisco” story in the local news in 2022 where a Noe Valley couple was fined $1,500 for parking in their own driveway. Yes, this is technically illegal in much of the city — even if your vehicle is not blocking the sidewalk —  though people still do it like mad, and the rule is rarely enforced. Though according to the SF Planning Department, there are currently 135 active complaints against people parking in their own driveways.

Mayor Daniel Lurie took this up in early September as one of his "common-sense reforms" so people could legally park in their driveways. Because the law, as it exists, is confusing.

What you see above is illegal in San Francisco! Current law “prohibits parking in driveways located in required front setbacks and yards,” unless there’s a screen or a fence on both sides of the vehicle. Lurie’s new proposal says “parking of operable vehicles in the front setback of a property would be permitted in driveways located in front setbacks, side yards, or rear yards.” No screen or fence required.

The SF Planning Commission unanimously approved Lurie’s proposal in a 7-0 vote Thursday afternoon, with Planning Director Sarah Dennis Phillips saying this would “legalize a widespread practice that is happening.”

Remember, this is a separate issue from cars parked in driveways that block the sidewalk. It is still illegal to park in ways that block or encoach upon the sidewalk.

The move allows for people to park “up to two operable vehicles” in their driveways.

There was some concern over vehicle sizes, with commissioner Kathrin Moore noting, "There are SUV type vehicles that look like delivery truck-type vehicles these days,” which are sometimes “taller almost than the house itself.”

But the legislation does not prescribe specific dimensions for vehicles. Planning Department staffer Lisa Gluckstein said that “the vast majority of the cases where it’s someone’s run-of-the-mill car in their driveway, and we’re trying to legalize that.”

There are still some restrictions, like the maximum of two cars in a driveway. Owners do have to move the cars, the vehicles must be operable and not permanently dumped there. You still cannot park a boat, trailer, mobile home, or bus in an SF driveway.

And of course, the vehicle cannot encroach on the sidewalk or right-of-way.

While the Planning Commission unanimously approved the legislation Thursday, it still must go before the SF Board of Supervisors. Though they just may rubber-stamp the arrangement, with no discussion whatsoever.

Related: SFMTA Employees Are Nervous About Becoming Targets of Backlash Against Parking Crackdown [SFist]

Image: SF Planning Commission

If you thought car-free JFK Drive was controversial, wait til you see the next dispute coming down the promenade, as free parking might soon be eliminated in Golden Gate Park to chip away at the city’s budget deficit.

Golden Gate Park is more than 1,000 square acres in size, and so it should not be surprising that the park is also home to more than 3,000 parking spaces. And most of them are free! But as the City of SF struggles with a massive budget deficit, the Chronicle reports that SF Rec and Parks Department officials are considering charging money to park in Golden Gate Park, potentially creating about $10 million a year that would help the department avoid making cuts to maintenance, custodial work, and summer camp youth programs.

“Our focus is making sure that we can protect our core services,” SF Rec and Parks Department director Phil Ginsburg told the Chronicle. “To do that, we need to better align the money we earn with the costs of what we deliver.”

This is not a final decision, it’s just one thing the department included on a list of recommended cuts or revenue increases that the park’s oversight commission agreed to send to Mayor Daniel Lurie. Other items on that list include a $5-an-hour fee for using tennis courts, or leasing out the city’s golf courses to private operators.

The proposed parking fee would be "up to" $3 an hour, according to the Chronicle. And some people on the Rec and Parks Commission are not happy with this idea at all.

“We already closed roads in Golden Gate Park,” Commissioner Larry Mazzola said at last week’s meeting. “And now we’re going to charge people. It just seems like we’re driving cars out. That’s not something I want to do.”

Mazzola was already pretty outspoken about hating the car-free Great Highway in his remarks when the commission named the new park last month. So he’s pretty sympathetic to the driver community, and his remark “We already closed roads in Golden Gate Park” refers to making JFK Drive car-free in 2022. This proposal might be as controversial as those car-free thoroughfare efforts, and there could be some more serious anger from the motorists of SF.  

Related: Big Eucalyptus Tree Comes Crashing Down On Cars In Golden Gate Park [SFist]

Image: SFMTA

A plan to begin issuing $40 tickets for parking along unmarked curbs due to a crosswalk "daylighting" law has been nixed, with the SFMTA acknowledging that it might be unfair to force drivers to pull out their own tape measures.

A controversial new law that took effect last year, requiring people parking in San Francisco to stay 20 feet away from a crosswalk — in order to allow drivers on the street to better see people entering a crosswalk, i.e. "daylighting" the pedestrian — regardless of whether that section of curb was painted red, is going to remain without penalties.

The SFMTA was planning to begin issuing parking tickets on March 1, dinging drivers $40 if they park in an unmarked daylighting zone, and $108 if they park in a red-painted one. The $40 tickets were a compromise after pushback from the public, and after the agency admitted they didn't have the budget to paint all the curbs red that they need to. And the agency had initially planned to begin issuing them on January 1, with citations starting to go out back in November, but they pushed the ticketing launch to March 1 so they could do more public outreach.

Then there was also the embarrassing issue of vigilante curb painters going around and supplementing the the SFMTA's work last month — but doing it incorrectly and making the daylighting zones too large. And yet, parking enforcement officers still issued at least two tickets for parking in these fraudulently painted zones.

Acting Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum put out an announcement Monday saying that only warnings will continue to be issued for cars parked alongside unmarked curbs, as the SFMTA continues its process of painting more curbs red in those 20-foot zones.

"Our highest priority is keeping people safe — not issuing citations," Kirschbaum said in a statement. "Since I became the Acting Director of Transportation at the SFMTA, I have made it a priority to listen to community members, and I have heard repeated concerns about how we planned to implement the state’s daylighting law. Daylighting is an incredibly important tool for street safety, but I want to make sure when we roll it out citywide, we do it fairly."

Kirschbaum added that Supervisors Connie Chan and Shamann Walton both pushed the agency not to start fining drivers for parking along unmarked curbs.

"We appreciate the balanced approach of advancing pedestrian safety and fairly implementing enforcement," Chan said in a statement.

The Chronicle also suggests that new Mayor Daniel Lurie also played a role in getting the fines nixed.

The SFMTA is continuing to paint more curbs, adding more areas in town where the daylighting law will be enforced — and where people should be avoiding the red curbs. Still, the process of completing this project is expected to take several years.

As the agency notes in their release, studies have shown that by creating these daylighting zones at crosswalks, pedestrian collisions are reduced by 30%.

Previously: SFMTA Has Issued at Least Two Wrongful Tickets to People Parked in the Fake ‘No Parking’ Curbs in the Richmond

Some renegade fake “no parking” curbs in the Richmond District seem designed to fool motorists into thinking they can’t park in these legal spots. They’ve apparently fooled some ticket agents too, as SFMTA has issued a couple of tickets they’ve had to rescind.

We all had a good laugh Thursday morning when news broke that someone was painting fake red “no parking” curbs in the Richmond District, complete with a very convincing-looking SFMTA logo on them. The fake paintjobs come just as SF prepares to start enforcing a new “daylighting” parking law that prohibits parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk.

But a few motorists are not laughing, as the Chronicle reports that the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has issued at least two wrongful tickets to drivers parked in zones that the outlaw curb-painters had painted red. While the daylighting law prohibits parking within 20 feet of the crosswalk, the fake paint jobs extend the red paint back as far as 35 feet from the crosswalk.

Once SFMTA became aware of the situation, they ordered a review of tickets issued in the areas with the bogus red-painted curbs. “So far, we’ve identified and dismissed two,” SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte told the Chronicle.

But they may not have gotten all of them. A Richmond resident named Justin Lee said to the Chronicle that he parked his car in an unpainted area last week, and returned the next morning to find the curb painted red, and his car ticketed.

Lee says he tape-measured the curb, and it was painted red well past the 20-foot mark. The Chron reports that SFMTA “has declined his protest,” but that the agency “was not immediately able to determine whether the agency had overruled the ticket amid its review of fake red curbs.”

The fake red curbs have been spotted on Balboa Street between 17th and 19th avenues, and on Cabrillo Street between 15th to 19th avenues.

It’s frankly unknown whether these vigilante curb-paintings even have anything to do with the new daylighting parking laws. And either way, SFMTA says they will not start issuing the $40-$108 fines until March 1, according to KQED.

Related: Parking Vigilante Paints Fake ‘No Parking’ Curbs In Richmond District as Daylighting Laws Kick In [SFist]

Image: NagyLebowski via Reddit

As the new daylighting laws preventing parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk are in effect, SFMTA has not painted all of the necessary curbs red. So some joker went and painted some counterfeit red “no parking” curbs, but got the dimensions completely wrong.  

We’ve known for a full year now that the new California parking law called “daylighting” would prevent parking within 20 feet of a pedestrian crosswalk. The law technically took effect on January 1, 2024, though the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) started issuing warnings in November, and will begin giving actual costly parking tickets in a little under six weeks.

But in true SFMTA fashion, not all of the new no-parking spaces have had their curbs painted red, so it’s basically up to motorists to eyebell whether they are parked in a legal space.

Some anti-parking vigilante took matters into their own hands in the Richmond District, and painted fake “no parking” red curbs, according to the Chronicle. The fake red curbs were spotted by a Redditor at Balboa Street and 18th Avenue, and the renegade paint job has a fairly convincing version of the yellow SFMTA logo font. But this is not really helpful vigilantism, because the fake red curb stretches 35 feet from the crosswalk, compared to the 20 where parking would actually be prohibited.

Fake Daylighting Curb Paint in Richmond District (SFMTA confirmed)
byu/NagyLebowski insanfrancisco

“Posted these pics here a few days asking if these paint jobs that popped up overnight on the Balboa corridor were real since they go for 35 feet rather than the Daylighting statutory 20 feet,” Redditor NagyLebowski posted Wednesday. “But SFMTA has now confirmed they are not [real] and they are aware of these popping up in the Richmond and asking for any info on seeing it elsewhere.”

Another pic shows someone spray-painted green over the fake SFMTA logo, indicating we have a pro-parking counter-vigilante working against the anti-parking vigilante. The Chronicle reports that “Within hours, SFMTA had restored part of the curb on Balboa Street to its normal gray,” which implies the green splotch was not the work of SFMTA.

SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte just gave a vague response to the Chronicle that this serves as “an opportune reminder” to call 311 if you see any suspicious parking markings on curbs.

The real tickets and citations for violating the daylighting parking rules will start getting issued on March 1, according to KQED. The fines will be $40 if the curb is not painted red, and a hefty $108 if the curb is painted red.

Related: SF to Start Enforcing New ‘Daylighting’ Parking Law for Parking Within 20 Feet of a Crosswalk [SFist]

Image: NagyLebowski via Reddit

You’ll soon be looking at a $40 citation for parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk, as a new state law is kicking in requiring 20 feet of “daylight” between parked cars and crosswalks, though they won’t be handing out the fines until January 1, 2025.

The state of California passed a new traffic law that took effect in January of this year, but it hasn’t actually taken effect yet. We noted in January that the new “daylighting” parking law would prohibit drivers from parking within 20 feet of a pedestrian crosswalk in hopes of keeping a 20-foot buffer from that crosswalk. But the traffic ticketers have not been enforcing the new law all year.

They will be soon. The SF Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) announced today that they will start enforcing the “daylighting” parking law this coming Monday, November 11. They’ll only be issuing warning citations at first, but they’ll start issuing $40 fines for parking within 20 feet of the crosswalk starting on January 1, 2025.

"Daylighting increases the visual field of both pedestrians crossing the street, and drivers pulling up to an intersection,” SFMTA said when the law was passed. “For pedestrians, daylighting means that they don’t have to venture into the intersection and peek around parked cars to see if they have a clear path to cross. This is especially important for children, who are less visible at intersections.”

The law only applies to parking “in the direction of approaching traffic,” per SFMTA. Or as they explain it more specifically, “On a two-way street, only the space on the right-side approaching a crosswalk as one is driving is affected. However, on a one-way street, both the left and the right curb areas 20 feet from the crosswalk are no parking zones.”

This is to comply with a California state law on daylighting that passed in 2023.

In the SFMTA’s most recent announcement, they note that “This law applies to all crosswalks, whether the crossing is painted or not.”

That’s fair enough, but shouldn’t anyplace you can’t park have the curb painted red, to help motorists avoid this mistake? SFMTA seems to admit that not all of these now-banned parking spaces will have their curbs painted red.

“If the curb is not painted red, park at least 20 feet – about one car length – away from any marked or unmarked crosswalk,” the agency says. So it seems like they’re expecting motorists to just eyeball the 20-foot rule, and that’s likely to lead to some frustration.

This might strike you as signature California nanny-state rule-making. But in reality, most states already have this rule. Per SFMTA, “Over 40 states currently have laws that require vehicles to keep a distance of generally 20 feet from crosswalks.”

Related: New California Parking Law Could Trip Up Car Owners In SF If They're Not Paying Attention [SFist]

Image: SFMTA

Some fairly sophisticated scam artists have been slapping QR-code "Pay by Phone" stickers on SF parking meters, and the SFMTA just caught on last week.

The SFMTA put out an alert on Friday that it had found five parking meters near Fisherman's Wharf that had phony QR-code stickers on them, leading users to a fraudulent website purporting to collect parking fees.

That site has now gone offline, but, the agency says, "We the public to be aware of this scam."

SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte tells SFGate that this was not just isolated to Fisherman's Wharf. A similar scam had been found with stickers appearing around Beale Street and Embarcadero over the summer. It's not clear how many people fell for the scam.

The QR-code stickers appeared on curbside "Pay by License Plate" meters. You can tap your phone to pay at those meters, but they do not use QR codes or external websites. The video below explains how these meters work.

The SFMTA does not use QR codes, but it does use the PayByPhone Parking app. Typically along curbs where these fancier meter machines don't exist, drivers are instructed to download the app and type in a pay station number as indicated on a curbside parking sign.

In many cases, including the license-plate meter machines, the SFMTA still accepts coins and cash.

This sophisticated, technology-based scam is similar to one that we heard about this past spring, in which area residents were getting scam texts claiming to be from FasTrak, demanding payment for express lane usage and sending unsuspecting victims to a scam payment site.

A new law that took effect on January 1 in California is going to mean that more feet of curb space in San Francisco is likely to turn red in the coming year — and even if it isn't painted red, drivers parking their cars will be expected to respect a 20-foot buffer zone near every crosswalk.

The new statewide parking law is focused on "daylighting" around crosswalks, or removing visual barriers in order to increase pedestrian safety. This means that drivers approaching a crosswalk will have fewer things blocking their view of waiting pedestrians — especially children — at intersections. And it requires that about 20 feet of buffer space be created in the parking zone in front of every crosswalk.

The tricky part here is that across the state and even in corners of San Francisco, curbs may not always be painted red, and crosswalks may not be clearly designated — but the law applies regardless, even for "unmarked" crosswalks, whatever those are.

As the SFMTA explains, thanks to Assembly Bill 413, which was passed in October, drivers will be held responsible for staying clear of all 20-foot zones of crosswalks when parking — at least on the right-hand side of a two-way street, and on both sides of a one-way street — even if the curb isn't painted red.

In San Francisco, no fines will be issued until January 2025, only warnings. But, if the SFMTA has already gotten around to painting the curb red, you can, obviously, be ticketed for being a red zone.

"For pedestrians, daylighting means that they don’t have to venture into the intersection and peek around parked cars to see if they have a clear path to cross," the SFMTA says on its website. "This is especially important for children, who are less visible at intersections. At the same time, drivers get a clearer view of the intersection and can easily see if someone is waiting to cross from well in advance."

The new law allows local jurisdictions to paint red zones that are longer or shorter than 20 feet, depending on the context. So, as the SFMTA says, "When you see a red curb or parking prohibition sign next to a crosswalk just follow that distance. If there is no paint or signs, the 20 [foot] distance applies."

So, will parking enforcement be out there with measuring tape? That seems unlikely. And SF's curb-parking streets are already pretty well covered with painted curbs. But this could still create new ticketing opportunities in the future for eager parking cops.

As the Chronicle notes, San Francisco launched its Vision Zero iniative in 2014, with goal of reaching zero traffic deaths by 2024, but that clearly hasn't happened. There were 25 traffic deaths in 2023, and 39 the year before — and in the last year alone, 17 pedestrians were killed in SF.

The New York Times recently reported on the alarming trend of rising pedestrian fatalities nationwide, with the bulk of these deaths occurring at night. This trend is unique to the U.S., and one theory is that more pedestrians are getting killed due to distracted drivers looking down at their phones at night — combined possibly with pedestrians who are also looking at their phones. The investigative journalists on the case noted that in Europe, cars with automatic transmissions are far less common, so far fewer drivers have an extra hand free to be fiddling with a phone while driving.

The fine for parking in a red zone in SF, even a little bit in the red zone, is $108.

It's not yet clear what the fine will be for parking in a non-red, "daylighting" zone near a crosswalk.

Related: Whoa! You’ll Have to Pay SF Parking Meters ‘Til 10 p.m., Starting In July

Photo via SFMTA

The SFMTA is literally trying to nickel-and-dime its way out of a $130 million deficit, as drivers will have to feed the meters at SF parking spaces until 10 p.m., starting in July in some neighborhoods, and free Sunday parking will be a thing of the past.

In February 2020, just about one month before the pandemic hit, we reported that the SFMTA was planning to extend parking meters hours after 6 p.m., and also completely eliminate the free metered parking on Sundays. But that plan was put on the back burner once COVID-19 came along and and basically ruined everyone’s life, and on top of that, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) actually reduced the price of parking for a few months.

But now that the SFMTA is looking down the barrel of a $130 million deficit, the Chronicle reports the plan is back on. Paid parking meter hours will be extended all the way to 10 p.m., plus noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays, per the Chronicle. The extended hours will start this coming July in a few  neighborhoods, and citywide implementation will be staggered by neighborhood, with every neighborhood’s parking meter hours extended to 10 p.m. by December 2024.  

The Chronicle calls these “The most significant parking meter enforcement changes in almost 70 years.”

The SFMTA prefers to refer to the increased meter-charging hours as “Modernizing San Francisco's parking meter hours.”

“Without new revenue, the agency will be forced to cut the equivalent of 20 Muni lines,” the SFMTA says. “Additional revenue from extending parking meter hours can help prevent these cuts, which would disproportionately impact people with limited incomes, people of color, older adults and people with disabilities.”

Like we said, this will not all happen citywide in one fell swoop. “Beginning in July 2023 and continuing in phases through December 2024, the SFMTA will extend parking meter hours until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and add Sunday meter hours from 12:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.,” SFMTA says.

The first neighborhoods that will have to feed the meter until 10 p.m. will be Dogpatch and Fisherman’s Wharf, with several other neighborhoods getting the increased meter hours in September.

The change is not expected to hit areas like Bayview, Chinatown, 24th Street and others until December 2024. You can see a complete list of when SF neighborhoods will have their parking meters extended until 10 p.m. on the SFMTA website.

Related: SF Parking Meters May Start Charging on Evenings and Sundays [SFist]

Image: SFMTA

SF’s latest cost-of-living outrage comes in the form of a standard parking space one block from Oracle Park, as a parking space that currently costs $300 a month has had its listing jacked up to $90,000 for permanent ownership of the space.

Whenever there’s a big event at Oracle Park, say, a Giants playoff game or tonight’s Lady Gaga concert, it is not at all unusual to see parking spaces going for more than $100 to park there. So yes, the economics of this area are unique. But that may not prepare you for NBC Bay Area’s shocking discovery that a parking space is on sale for $90,000 near the ballpark, inside the 88 Townsend condominium parking lot.

SFist looked up the listing, and yes, the $90,000 parking space is real. It is listed through Compass Realty, who last year notched the most expensive home sale in SF history for $43.5 million. So yes, they have the audacity to list this, and likely the connections to actually fetch that price.

“This is a PARKING SPACE ONLY,” the listing states, “It is currently leased for $300 per month. It is NOT a condo but a single parking space near the lobby. Can be used by non-resident and is located 1 block from oracle stadium.”

Okay first, it’s Oracle Park, but you already know this. Secondly, I’m not a math major, but my smartphone calculator indicates that “currently leased for $300 per month” means that the spot costs $3,600 per year. So it’s going to take 25 years to realize make up the value. But for the wealthiest San Francisco property owners, I guess trees do grow to sky, and maybe some recent completely IPO-flush sap will come along someday and pay you even more for it.  

NBC Bay Area spoke to a listing agent (not the actual listing agent, but someone with Compass Realty who is familiar with how the game is played) to assess whether this is lunacy or just how a smart SF realtor does business.

“We saw a lot of people holding their listings until after Labor Day, so this is really kind of the kick-off, the start of the market,” Compass Realty’s Kelli Johnson told NBC Bay Area. “I do think we’re going to have a pretty good fall season. Rates have kind of stabilized a little but, which certainly is going to help buyers right now.”

Of course, this has happened before, pre-pandemic, when we saw a $100,000 parking spot listing in February 2020, on the same street, and what may even be in the same building. So from a glass half-full perspective, to folks who drop this kind of money on conveniences, one could argue that prices are coming down.

Related: A Parking Spot In South Beach Is Selling For $100K [SFist]

Image: HBO

Another local law that was temporarily tossed out during COVID went back into effect Monday, and your car could now again be towed if parked in restricted peak-hour areas.

Maybe you have a sign on your street that says “No Stopping 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.,” or “No Stopping 7 a.m. - 9 a.m.,” or something that threatens to tow your car during a weekday time that can be construed as Rush Hour. And maybe you’ve been ignoring that sign for the last year and a half, because like many parking laws during COVID-19, the city has been just flat-out not enforcing the laws.

But another law went back into effect Monday, and as SFMTA explains, they are towing cars parked in restricted peak-hours parking zones again.  

“We’re bringing back the enforcement of peak hour tow-away zones under the SFMTA Transportation Recovery Plan (TRP) as the economy reopens,” the SFMTA says in their announcement. “Tows help the SFMTA facilitate the flow and safety of transit and traffic, support economic activity and maintain safe streets.”

There are some exceptions, like in the cases of streets with several parklets, which render that not useful as a traffic lane. “The reinstated tow-away enforcement will accommodate changing conditions on city streets,” according to the transit system. “For example, enforcement will not apply to Shared Spaces that allow merchants to use sidewalks, full or partial streets and other nearby outdoor spaces under San Francisco’s Public Health Orders.”

And all the other towing laws are still in effect. You can still get towed for violating the 72-hour overtime parking limit. If your tags are more than six months past their expiration, you can be towed then too. And the so-called “poverty tow” practice, where five or more delinquent parking citations means you’re getting towed, has been reinstituted — though SFMTA did change the threshold from three delinquent citations to five.

Related: SF Street Sweeping Tickets Set to Resume on June 15 [SFist]
Image: SFMTA.com

Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

One windfall of the pandemic has been unmetered, ticket-free street parking in many Bay Area cities. But now, just like in San Francisco — where street sweeping ticketing will resume on June 15 — the City of Oakland is set to start enforcing certain parking regulations soon.

Fun fact: in 2014, it was estimated the City of San Francisco makes north of $130M per year — or $433K, daily — in parking meter and citation revenues. That same year, $2.7M in parking-related tickets were paid to the City of Oakland. Suffice to say that these parking meter and citation models are sizable cash cows for the two Bay Area cities. And in the near future, they'll again be milked for funds.

As noted by KRON4, Oakland will still maintain standard pricing at all street meters and in city-owned garages and lots, but parking meter enforcement is starting up again on July 6; each car in violation of the new rules will get one courtesy warning ticket before being officially cited. Though, the news outlet acknowledged that all other "[temporarily suspended] parking regulations" announced when the Bay Area started sheltering in place will exist unchanged.

The City of Oakland will not enforce the following, per KRON4:

• Time-limited parking

• Residential permit parking

• Street sweeping parking *voluntary compliance is recommended

However, violations like double-parking, obstructing a bike lane and/or wheelchair ramp, and parking at an unpaid metered will merit a ticket that could be in excess of $265, depending on the citation.

So, yes: if your car has sat motionless along an Oakland street or inside a city-owned parking lot for weeks on end, now cloaked in a thin sheet of dust and bird droppings, it’s time to think about where you'll move it next.

Related: SF Street Sweeping Tickets Set to Resume on June 15

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Image: Wikimedia Commons