15 Places You’re Absolutely Banned from Parking in City of Boise

When you go downtown to have dinner, drinks, see a hockey game or go to a concert, do you find the parking situation to be absolutely maddening? You're not alone.

We'll never quite understand why projects like the Saratoga Apartments on Front Street, Hotel Renegade at 11th and Grove (which is starting to look pretty darn complete) and the Sparrow Hotel were all approved to be under construction at the EXACT SAME TIME. That’s on top a project to replace a lot of the underground infrastructure from the 1950s. Then there are dozens of parking meters that seem to have no parking signs or hoods over them with no rhyme or reason. 

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The construction projects have greatly reduced the amount of public street parking. The parking situation has forced a lot of people who normally wouldn’t choose to pay for parking in downtown garages into those structures. If you’re lucky enough to get a spot, you may find yourself there for a LONG time if there’s a major event wrapping up. 

For example, we parked in the Hotel 43 garage for a Saturday night Steelheads game because the BoDo, Main + Marketplace and Hampton Inn garages were totally full. The game and another large event happening downtown ended at about the same time.

KEEP READING: YES! IDAHO LAW MAKES PARKING LIKE THIS IN YOUR OWN DIRVEWAY ILLEGAL

It took nearly an hour to pay for our parking and finally exit the garage. Do you know what the solution was? A parking attendant raised the gate and just let everyone out whether they had paid or not. 

Situations like this may make you think about creating your own parking space because you just don’t have time to circle Downtown looking for parking. We hear your frustrations, but you can’t just park anywhere you’d like. The City of Boise has a lengthy list of prohibited parking areas not just downtown but throughout its limits. 

Where are they? How much will it cost you if you get caught parking there? We jumped into the most recent Fee and Fines document from the City of Boise to find out.