Parking??

I've given up on parking in the city. I always take BART whenever I go. If you can manage your away around MUNI there is just about nowhere you can't go. Its only inconvenient for night time activities, then I either go in groups or sponge off of a friends car so I dont' have to worry about it.

I tend to be a nervous city driver anyway.

Yeah, it's practically against my religion to drive a car in a city, but given that I live in a suburb I've had to change my ways a bit. I've found that the Mission is not too bad for parking at night, although it is not a neighborhood that I would want to walk in alone for too far. Although parallel parking will one day be the death of me...

Other suggestions?

I don't know about the city in specific, but when I used to live in Berkeley, I used to game the system a bit. Its a bit of a pain to pull off. In areas where there is permit parking and you are only allowed to park for two hours, you can usually get away with three hours without a problem. If you can get there just after a parking attendent goes by, then you know you have about four and half hours, since the attendent only checks after more than 2 hours have gone by (so they will mark your wheel in two hours and then only come back to ticket you in four).

I used to come back sometimes and wipe off my wheel. The attendents would put a chalk mark on the tire. Technically you were supposed to move your car every two hours, but this meant hunting for parking and I wasn't going to give up my space to do that. If the parking enforcement still does it this way, then that might be a possibility. It is however a pain to hike back to your care just to wipe off some chalk.
In a addition, I should confess that among my friend I was known as the Ticket guy because I had gotten so many parking tickets--so, you might want to take that into consideration when listening to my advice.

In North Beach, which also has tough parking, there are about 8 lots. Here are 5 that I can think of off the top of my head:

1. Columbus (between Lombard and Mason), perfect if you are going to Bimbos or Cobb's Comedy Club and walkable to the rest of Columbus.
2. Green & Grant Sts diagonally across from Amante,
3. North Beach Parking Garage at 735 Vallejo
4. Pacific (at Columbus)
5. Fresno alley (@ Romolo)

Cheers!

Good luck finding parking this weekend though with the Marathon and whatever it is they got going on in North Beach. I am low on funds this weekend, so I will not be getting around to the city or anywhere else for that matter.

@FlowerGirl - there is always BART, Caltrain or MUNI to get around and to the city.

Good call @Tracypie. I'm kind of hoping for the underground, free situations, but I know that those are few and far between :/

@Nightowl - Palo Alto is pretty much the same as Berkeley in that regard. I have gotten multiple tickets in the same DAY as a result of sticking around one spot for too long, and have flown completely under the radar on other days. So goofy and so subjective.

@Tracypie: I know, I never drive into the city any more. I either sponge off of friend or take BART. Things are so close in SF anyway, you can practically walk everywhere.

Also, I dont' like driving in the city, I tend to be nervous indecisive driver and the city does not take well to indecisive types. I need to have someone like George Bush at the wheel--a "decider" who just goes on gut instinct.

@StephSF: That is so true about the parking enforcement in Berkeley, some days its like they take the day off, then other days your five minutes late and they nail you. That is one thing I do not miss about living in Berkeley, the whole parking permit thing.

Okay, I just paid $38 for overnight parking in NYC in one of the less expensive garages. This is cheaper than some of my parking tickets. No more complaining for me.