Long(ish) Term Parking in D.C.

[GailV]

Older dd is doing an internship at the Smithsonian this summer.  She would dearly love to drive there, but would need to find a place to park her car for 8 weeks.

 

She's staying at George Washington Univ in the intern housing, but thought the parking fees there were pretty high -- it would be $630 for the time she's there.  

 

Any thoughts on how else to find parking for the summer?  She said something about people subletting their parking spots, but how does one go about finding that sort of thing?

 

For that matter, does anyone in the area want to rent a spot at their house?  I'm totally open to suggestions.

 

 

[KungFuPanda]

Why does she WANT to drive? Metro would be so much easier and cheaper.

 

Oh wait. I read it wrong. For just the summer it wouldn't be worth the expense. This is one of the few places in America where you really don't need a car to get around. She'd be better off with a bicycle and a metro card. She won't feel trapped or run out of things to see or do in just eight weeks. Is there a reason she needs her car?

Edited May 11, 2017 by KungFuPanda

[GailV]

We live in St Louis, and she wants to take more stuff than she can easily get on a plane/public transit from airport to housing, plus possibly drive to Massachusetts to visit BFF.

 

I was the same as you --  why would you want to drive into D.C. ever in your life?  What would possess you to choose that willingly?  She and dh think it would be so much better to have the car available.

 

Edited to add:  In other words, what she'd like to do is park the car somewhere she could leave it sit for a couple of weeks at a time, use the Metro to do most of her local travel, then just have the car available on the weekends.  

Edited May 11, 2017 by GailV

[KungFuPanda]

I'd be pushing traveling lighter and taking a train or plane to see the friend. It'll be a traveling and learning experience all around. A couple plane tickets to Boston will still be much cheaper than paying for parking for a car that will just be parked all the time. She could always ship a box to herself if that helps.

 

Eta: How bad is the traffic where she drives at home? DC and Boston can be horrific for experienced drivers.

Edited May 11, 2017 by KungFuPanda

[Paige]

Could she rent a storage unit somewhere out of the immediate area like in Alexandria or Fairfax Co? She'd need to take a taxi or uber to get to it, but it's probably cheaper than anywhere in DC. 

 

I would tell her it's a poor choice and she should go without the car. I wouldn't pay for the car myself, but if she has the money to burn maybe she has to make this decision herself. 

[Storygirl]

Wouldn't it be cheaper for her to rent a vehicle to get her possessions there and back home again? And then rent a car for the weekends that she would want one.

Edited May 11, 2017 by Storygirl

[Mrs_JWM]

I would definitely consider just renting a car or using Zipcar when she needs one and taking the train up to Boston.

 

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[gingersmom]

Ask anyone who lives there, you don't want a car. The traffic is beyond insane.

[umsami]

If she's at GW, she's on the orange/blue line....goes straight to the Smithsonian. Depending on her dorm, she can either walk to Foggy Bottom/GWU station or Farragut West. 

 

Not worth having a car in DC, but those rates do not seem high at all to me.

Edited May 12, 2017 by umsami

[Χά�ων]

 

Eta: How bad is the traffic where she drives at home? DC and Boston can be horrific for experienced drivers.

I can say that St. Louis rush hour is NOTHING like DC. DC area on a Sunday afternoon is still significantly more congested than St. Louis during peak rush hour with half the lanes shut down for construction. I have experienced both, St. Louis is a breeze!

 

It has been 15 years since I drove in Boston.

[GailV]

FLIGHTS HAVE BEEN BOOKED!

 

Thank you all for saying what I had been saying -- you really don't want a car there.  As soon as she saw the comments coming in she started rethinking her position.  

 

I've never driven in D.C. -- when we lived in the area we parked in Annapolis and rode the train -- but the comments about it being like Boston really brought back memories -- specifically about flying from Boston to Chicago and realizing how wide the Chicago streets are and how polite the drivers are compared to Boston because I used to think Chicago drivers were crazy until we moved out east. 

 

For the record, her friend is interning in western Mass at one of those summer stock theatre groups there.  So Boston isn't on the "tour" anyway.  I think they might all meet in NYC where a friend has a sublet for the summer -- easy to get a train from D.C. to NYC.

 

I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER ABOUT THIS!!!  You know how you don't want your kid to do something, but you suck it up after offering your advice because they have to make their own mistakes?  So much of that going on this summer for me.  Thank you all for holding my hand.