The Pike & Shoreline Drive Lots Add Big Expense To Restaurants & Entertainment Tab
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Blogger
I had lunch in Long Beach, CA, the other day.
And it cost me $9 to park.
Adding to the frustration was the fact the sign said $7 and noted that area restaurants validate the tickets. Which the restaurant did, so I expected to pay $4, $5 tops. But the gate would not go up unless I stuck in my credit card and paid $9
That’s ridiculous.
But that’s a common issue in Long Beach, an otherwise fine city and good Los Angeles destination.
My lunch tab at Gladstone’s, right on the water overlooking the harbor with the Queen Mary over my shoulder, was close to $20 with tip. That’s pretty expensive for lunch, a definite “splurge.” Adding another $9 to it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth about going to Long Beach.
Parking prices have long plagued Long Beach. If you go to its most vibrant area for tourists, the Pike Place area downtown (it has shops, lots of restaurants, the Aquarium of the Pacific, harbor boat tours and one of my favorite bars in Los Angeles, the Auld Dubliner) all walking distance of the Convention Center, you will pay at least $9 to park.
Head up the hill to Pine Street (more restaurants) and it’s pretty much the same story.
Oh, you can find cheaper parking. But you have to drive around and know where to look. The day of my lunch, I instinctively pulled into what is traditionally one of the better-priced lots in the area. It’s on the corner of Seaside Way and Pine Ave.
Well it TOO, was expensive: $7 for 2-4 hours. That’s the same posted price as by Gladstones and I figured I would get a validation discount but, of course was somehow charged $9.
My lunch guests felt the same way; the parking situation will cause us to go elsewhere the next time we meet in Long Beach.
And we’re not alone, either; people have been complaining for years about downtown and Pike parking in Long Beach. Suggestions are to go for street parking instead of the lots.
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