Cheap parking Downtown Cleveland

Chris Stephens, Plain Dealer fileThe parking lot at St. Clair and West Sixth Street in downtown Cleveland. Crowded lots are a good sign, economically, but a pain for drivers. Use our map below to find alternatives.

There's no shortage of parking in downtown Cleveland, a city with 56, 000 or so spaces and relatively low rates. But new attractions, more housing and a few additional office tenants promise to boost traffic - and the cost of parking - at some facilities.

With a casino opening in mid-May and the Cleveland medical mart and convention center under construction, you'll more easily find a space, and will pay less, if you park on the fringes and walk or use public transportation.

Busier garages and higher rates irk consumers. Yet they're indicators that a market is thriving. City officials say a parking crunch would be a good problem, one that would demonstrate Cleveland's vitality and, eventually, spur additional downtown development.

The challenge, parking experts and city advocates say, will be reaching visitors, whether local or from out of town, to let them know where to park; to manage overflow traffic; and to promote public transportation and other ways to get to and navigate, downtown.

This map shows publicly accessible parking facilities, based on Plain Dealer research. Click one of the listed attractions, such as the casino or the convention center, and you'll see which parking facilities fall within 500 feet, 0.25 mile and 0.5 mile of your destination.

Rates, which can change daily, are not included. The median daily parking rate at a garage in downtown Cleveland was $8.50 in 2011, according to the annual Colliers International study of parking in central business districts. Parking in surface lots is available for as little as $2 a day. But special-event parking can cost $20 or more.