More Parking Spaces are Becoming Available in Portland…At a Price

You may have seen these signs popping up around Portland near private parking lots that have normally been reserved for employees or tenants of nearby buildings. Now anyone can park in these places for the right price. 

Unified Parking Partners is a company which is teaming up with private parking lot owners to open their lots to the public when they might otherwise be empty with the use of automated pay stations

It's called Pay and Display and works very similar to the City of Portland's parking meter pay stations. One difference I've noticed at the places I've seen is the pay stations only take credit cards while the city's meters will take coins as well.

You swipe your card, select how long you want to park for, and the machine prints a ticket that you put on your dash showing when your time is up. If you're there after your time, you are subject to having your car booted.

There may be restrictions as to when the lot is available for public parking. It's not cheap though. The lot I saw at 2 Portland Square was $5 per hour. Not a place I want to spend a lot of time in.

There are cheaper options. Some garages are cheaper by the hour and don't forget after 6PM and Sundays and holidays, Portland's parking meters are free.

In a pinch though, when city parking is jammed for that event, this might be a good option. Here's a map of locations that offer pay and display parking in Portland.