In This Guide
In this guide you’ll find everything you need to know for parking in Mid-Market. These pointers include:
- About Mid-Market
- Things To Know
- Best Places to Park
- Lots and Garages
- Top Tips
- Street Parking
- Resources
- Attractions
About Mid-Market
The Mid-Market neighborhood is in the north eastern corner of SoMa. The region has seen a renewed interest in recent years, with several major tech startups popping up in the community Most notably, Twitter moved into the neighborhood during its early days. Other major companies found within Mid-Market includes Uber, Dolby and Square.
Things to Know
Most of Mid-Market is comprised of commercial buildings. There are parking structures toward the edges, both north and south of the community. Two two large public parking lots rest in the middle of the neighborhood.
Many people reach Mid-Market via the trolley system, which runs directly down Market Street.
To park here, arrive very early in the day (7am or earlier) to beat the crowds and get your first choice on parking. With the large tech firms in business here, most of the parking structures fill up quickly. Should you arrive later, you’ll likely find completely filled streets and “lot full” parking garages (or you’ll be forced to park at the top of the garage).
Find more on general parking information for all of San Francisco, like the details of the curb/meter colors, how to retrieve a towed car, and of course, how to park on a hill.
Best Places to Park
The Holiday Inn Civic Center Garage and the SOMA Grand Garage are great locations for those visiting the area. They’re known for being well maintained garages and have great access to any destination Mid-Market. For those working in the area or looking to save, the two parking lots at 1066 Mission St and 1270 Mission St are great choices. Street parking on Mission St is a great place to start your search for metered street parking, though nearly all of it is metered with a 1-4 hour time limit.
Lots and Garages
View the map below or directly on Google for off-street parking lots and garages in Mid-Market. Expand the map to find more options outside of the neighborhood.
1066 Mission St Lot
1066 Mission St
486 Jessie St Lot
486 Jessie St
Holiday Inn Civic Center Garage
50 8th St
Fox Plaza Garage
1390 Market St
Soma Grand Parking Garage
1160 Mission St
1270 Mission St Lot
1270 Mission St
Top Mid-Market Parking Tips
- You can park like shopper at the Nordstrom Rack valet stand on 5th street if you book it through SpotHero.
- If you go with street parking on 6th Street, be sure to hide valuables as thefts have occurred there according to spotcrime.com.
Street Parking
Street Parking Overview
Just about every street in the neighborhood has on-street parking, so it is not difficult to find. Mission Street is crowded but has decent turnover. There is no street parking on Market St or 7th St. There are several alleys where you can find a spot, but beware of no parking signs, bus lanes, and construction.
Best Bets for Street Parking
Mission St.
Mission and 9th
Stevenson St, South of 7th
Stevenson & 7th
Mid-Market Parking Meter Locations and Rate Areas
Mid-Market is nearly all metered, with the exceptions of stretches of Stevenson and Jessie Streets.
- Green: “Area 2” – meters enforced between 7AM-6PM Mon-Sat, $1.50 – $3.50 per hour; limit 1 hour to 4 hours
- Yellow: “Area 1” – meteres enforced between 7AM-6PM Mon-Sat, $1.50 – $3.50 per hour; limit 1 to 4 hours
- Blue: “Area 5” – meters enforced between 7/9AM-6PM Mon-Sat, $.25 – $6 per hour; limit 2 hours to unlimited
See meter locations and rate areas for all of San Francisco from the city’s website.
Paying for Metered Parking in Mid-Market
Like all parking meters in San Francisco, parking meters in Mid-Market accept coins, credit cards, PaybyPhone, and pre-paid SFMTA Parking Cards. Read more about the street meter payment options.
Smart Pricing Street Parking in Mid-Market
Prices at the meter can fluctuate on 5th Avenue at the northeast end of Mid-Market, via San Francisco’s Smart Pricing Program. Be prepared for inconsistent meter rates between $.25 and $6 per hour, and limits between two hours and unlimited.
Learn more about how the program works, or use the live map to find availability, pricing, as well as street sweeping and other restrictions.
Mid-Market Residential Parking Zone
Mid-Market is free of Residential Parking Program restrictions. Mid-Market borders Zone U, to the south of Mission Street between 9th and 7th Streets
Parkers without this permit are still permitted to park for the posted time limit (typically 2-hours) unless other restrictions apply. Permitted vehicles are exempt from the time limit, but are still subject to the 72-hour limit. You can view the full San Francisco residential permit map here.
Free Street Parking in Mid-Market
You can park for free anywhere in Mid-Market after meter enforcement hours (typically 9AM – 6PM Monday through Saturday). Parking is free on Sundays. Parking is limited to 72 hours. There is also unrestricted free parking available on Stevenson Street and Jessie Street. Of course, look out for street cleaning or other signs for restrictions.
Resources
- The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) – The official transportation authority for all of San Francisco, making it the end all be all for all things transportation and parking. Whether you have more questions about specific parking laws or you just want to know when a certain line is running, you’ll have all your questions answered here.
- Mid-Market News: As an outsider, you might not feel inclined to check out community news for one neighborhood, but this is one that is rather interesting. Thanks to all the recent development within Mid-Market, this is the perfect stop for all things construction, art house renovations, new sculptures and art exhibits coming to the community and really anything else you could think of. Plus, it gives some insights as to new major companies moving into the neighborhood and when construction might occur (shutting down more parking spots).
- Parknav – Helps parkers find the best street parking with real-time predictive data.
- ParkMe – Helps parkers find off- and on-street parking using full-time researchers and a predictive algorithm.
- SFPark.org – City website with live parking availability and pricing.
- SpotHero – Find and reserve parking in advance in Mid-Market with this free on-demand parking app.
- Parkopedia – Browse street and off-street parking rates with an interactive map.
Attractions
UN Plaza: You can find a beautiful destination, not only based off of the exceptional design of this classical building, but it is one of the best collections of food trucks on Friday nights. It is, more or less, a pedestrian mall that has farmer’s markets, provide public transportation information and there really is all sorts of history built right into the plaza. Plus, on the fourth Friday of every month there is a pretty big event planned during the night. This includes night time food stalls, arts and crafts, music and all sorts of other activities you’ll need to check out.
The Warfield: This is a small theater that has been open since 1922. It boasts much of the same materials and design on the inside of the building. It now hosts traveling musicians and other acts, so if you are in town and want to catch a show, this is a beautiful destination to experience. Plus, it is pretty rare to find a building of this age around in this area of the country. Visit the website ahead of time to see who is performing and what they are playing.