App of the Week – ParkChicago and ParkChicago Map

Published on April 26, 2018

Chicago was once ranked as one of the ten worst cities for drivers. Ask any lifelong native or weekend tourist what makes driving in this city a pain, and one answer is bound to come up again and again: PARKING.

Sorry to shout there. It’s just… that word brings up a lot of rough memories.

As any Geek will tell you, it can be rough trying to find a parking spot in the city. And then, even when you do manage to snag a space, there’s often a whole new wrinkle that comes up - remembering exactly where you parked, and feeding the meter every few hours in order to keep your precious spot (and avoid a ticket).

For all these reasons and more, the ParkChicago app, and its sister application ParkChicago Map, are a must-have for drivers in the 312 and beyond.

These unbelievably useful apps let you manage every aspect of the parking process, straight from your phone! Just download the apps, add your information, and set up your account. From there, you can proceed to park in any spot in the city where you see a “ParkChicago” sign (and there are quite a few of them).

As for the ParkChicago app, once you park, you can take care of just about everything with just a few swipes on your smartphone. Just enter the “zone” number where you parked, and you’re good to go. The app allows you to pay for a set period of time upfront. Even better, it lets you extend your time remotely - meaning that you’ll never have to rush out into the cold or cut a meeting short just to add another hour on the meter! The app will even send you notifications to let you know when you need to reload your time.

The more you use ParkChicago Map, the more you’ll get out of it; the app also allows you to easily manage all of your parking receipts, and track your parking history in spots around the city.

Can't find that parking zone sign? Or want to plan ahead and make sure there's a parking zone for your night out on the town? Pull up the ParkChicago Map and it'll use your location (as long as you allow it) to show you what parking zones are near you, and how many spaces the zone has. The app also lets you know the hour limit, how much the parking will cost per hour, and how far away you are from the meter itself. 

Ready to make parking in Chicago a whole lot easier? Both apps are free (though you will need to pre-load funds in order to start parking) and the apps are available for both iOS and Android devices.

Do you know any other apps that help make commuting in the city a little bit easier? We’d love to hear about them! Drop us a line today over on Facebook or Twitter to let us know which apps our team should cover next!