Actually, it's not just free parking - the ad for Charleston says complimentary valet parking.

Free parking is definitely necessary for me.

Charleston has always been complimentary valet parking, from what I remember. at least, back in like '04 when i went there last (it's been a while...*sigh*) it was complementary valet parking.

Free Parking = I can buy another drink or an appetizer at said establishment. In my opinion, it's VERY good for business.

I usually go for the $3 (evenings & weekends)garage at Fleet & Eden Streets when visiting Harbor East. Best deal in town.

We all have our own price point for parking. I don't mind paying $5, but if the price goes to $10 plus, I may end up looking for an alternative. At the $10 point the price of parking is being factored into my decision.

...even more terrifying than believing you're going to get shot in the head if you venture downtown...

Now that's a positive attitude sure to encourage more people to eat downtown.

I was afraid no one would notice. :-) EL

Having ventured into the city, dodging crazed traffic, closed one way streets and people who are just inexplicably stopped in the middle of a street, not to mention the crazed pedestrians jaywalking and darting out in front of me; I feel I deserve free parking. And parking that I don't have to circle around looking for and parking that doesn't cost $15 or a meter that I have to run out and feed while I'm in the middle of eating.

Yes, Elizabeth, I AM one of those timid city non-dwellers!

Oh, well. I'm a timid city dweller when you describe it like that. EL

$3.50 gets you an all day bus pass. Plus you get to cuss out the idiots who park in the bus stops.

Also, you are unlikely to get shot in the head downtown. The shooters can't aim that well.

But Lissa, how about presenting a tempting target while you are waiting and waiting for the darn bus to arrive? We moved here from Switzerland, where the trains and trams moved like clockwork. What a disappointment to find that public transportation here was nowhere close to following a real schedule.

When visiting Little Italy or the Inner Harbor, or even Fells Point, please consider the Little Italy Garage at the corner of Central and Eastern. Its cheap.

Aslo, if you Google Baltimore City Parking Garages, you can get a full list.

Thank you for letting me shill.

I'm afraid that parking is a big deal when my wife and I decide where to go for dinner. We'd rather drive from Bolton Hill to the 'burbs than undertake the challenge of parking in Fells Point or Harbor East. Perhaps that makes no sense -- we probably spend as much on gas as we would on a garage. But at least for us, downtown restaurants with parking 'churls' (as the car jockeys are known in California) have an edge on the competition.

Before owning a car in Baltimore, I was much more willing to venture out to restaurants that didn't offer nearby parking - much less free parking. But now that I do have a car, it does help.

In addition, though my father doesn't live in Baltimore, he rarely drives to his city's downtown for a meal because of his fear of finding parking. He worries about finding a safe place to park (both to avoid break-ins and also to ensure a safe walk from the restaurant to the car), but he also has to worry about walking long distances due to a disability. So when my parents were in Baltimore for my graduation, both they and I were more than pleased that I had picked a restaurant with complimentary valet for my graduation dinner.