Whoo Boy! Parking! Been much discussion and discussion and discussion about parking for the SLCC due to the let’s call it “sticker shock” of seeing a posted price of $41 USD for parking one’s car for a 24 hour period at the hotel. The good news? There is a lot of parking to be had nearby for less than forty-odd dollars. The bad news? It’s not free, and depending upon what kind of parking prices one is accustomed to seeing it still might seem steep. I wish I could say otherwise, but please keep in mind, we’re talking about parking in the downtown business district of a major city, which translates to a “seller’s commodity”.
Within a block of the hotel, really, across the street on 3 sides there are parking lots. The fourth side, the east, faces Grant Park, and yes there’s parking there but the access point is a few blocks away. I’ll get into that in a minute.
Since there’s no way to predict which lot will have open spaces when any of you good folks pull up, my best suggestion is this, pull up to the front of the Hilton (Michigan Avenue side), or the north face (Balbo Drive) car concourse inside the building, unload your luggage and gear and extra passengers, and then drive around the block and see what’s open and available. The south side of the building faces The Essex hotel, and their parking is around 30 bucks per day, the next most expensive, with access from 8th street.
Around the back of the hotel, on Wabash, is where one will find a plethora of lots, scattered up and down the street on the blocks directly below (south), behind and above (north) of the Hilton, and also a bitty lot directly north of the hotel, across from the car concourse access point. These lots run around 25 USD per day and would be your best bet. If one is willing to walk a little further to get their vehicle, just drive around in a larger circle, the price will drop (a little, not too much sorry to say) the farther out you go. Convenience has a price, if ever one doubted that, here’s the proof!
The Grant Park garage is underground, not a particular bargain and a bit of a maze to the uninitiated. Some access/egress points allow for cash payment, others credit/debit card and others a combination of the two. Recent reports (my dad, 3 days ago) indicate that when using the card payment method a serious dollop of patience might be needed. He noted that it took about 15 tries to get the machine to “take the card”, trying different cards and that other drivers had similar issues. Not an optimal location, price and apparently payment scheme, so unless you’re desperate, ya might wanna pass on this option.
Ok you’ve looked over the parking options, drove around the block and see an open curbside parking space, what to do, what to do? Well, if you’re willing to run out and shove quarters into the meter (could be every 2, 4 or more hours depending) consistently on time, well make sure that overnight parking is legal, wear track shoes and carry a mess’o quarters at all times. Is this a good idea? Do you really want me to answer that? Well if you’re only parking for 2 hours and I mean ONLY 2 hours, YES. Maybe even up to 6 hours, and if you don’t mind a short walk/hike, I’ll suggest that the metered spots on Columbus Drive, one block to the east (parallel to Michigan Avenue) is the best option for this choice.
HOWEVER, one really doesn’t want to underestimate the possibility of a malfunctioning meter, overzealous ticket-wielding members of the Parking Enforcement squad, nor the painful expense of said parking enforcement tickets. It ain’t worth it. Really. Please. I’m going to say it again and I don’t want to hear about it. Park legally, park smart, don’t dance with the parking meter devil without full knowledge of the hazards and a willingness to accept responsibility for the consequences. No judges in my family, well not in this country at least, and there’s not a darn thing we can do for you and your possibly ticked and/or impounded car. Don’t mess with “No Parking Zones” unless one has an overweening desire to contribute to my (Chicago’s) tax base. Really, love you all but I can and have listed much better ways to invest money in the local economy over on the left side of this blog, check out the “Don’t Miss” series of links.
Parting shots: Registration for the convention must be done online (big blue button up on right), ahead of time. WALK-UP REGISTRATION WILL NOT BE ALLOWED, NO PAYMENT AT THE DOOR, NO ONE, NO EXCEPTIONS. I know someone will ignore this and drag their butt downtown thinking they’re the exception, won’t you folks all just make me look like a ninny naggy twit and NOT do that, please? Also, keep in mind, we’ll be processing all the attendees in 2 hours on Friday 4 - 6 pm Central and 2 hours on Saturday 7 - 9 am Central. Those are the ONLY times at which attendees may check in with SLCC registration staff. Please have your SLCC badge at the ready, know what name (SL avatar or RL or whatever) was used when registering at the website (big blue button up, on the top, on the right), and get in the line that matches the alphabetical range of the first name used when registering.
That means if one is registered (above, on the right, at the top, big blue button) as Annie Body, one would be in the A - F line. If one registered as Karfloozzle Datamale, they’d be in the G - M line. SLCC badge you say? Do we need a “stinkin’” badge? YEP. Guess what!! Up on the right, by that big blue button for registry, is a golden button that takes you to a page that will help you generate a handy-dandy, snazzly official SLCC 2007 ID badge, suitable for printing at your own home or email it to yourself on a web-based address and print it at your favorite Kinko’s or similar copy shop. Didn’t get a chance to do this before heading to Chicago? We have copy shops all over the place. Google is yer buddy.
See you all in a few days, literally, as I’ll be at registry, so at the very least, we’ll be able to wave “hiyas” at each other. This is going to be A BLAST folks, you have NO idea the neat stuff and great presentations that have been prepared for all of us to enjoy!
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I don’t recall seeing Annie Body or Karfloozzle Datamale on the registration list
Well, ya know, not everyone checked the “display registry name” box. ;-p
Woot cant wait!
Do we need to supply our own badge holders also?
Actually, badge holders will be provided!