Parking Conundrum

I'm coming to the city this weekend and I've a conundrum about where to park. We're staying in the Loop, but I'm loathe to pay $30 a day to leave the car. We're coming in from the south and I need a safe and cheap place to park. I'm considering parking in a Metra lot and taking the ME into Millenium Park Randolph St. Station, which is three blocks from the hotel. A friend suggested I park in the UIC area and take the El in. I'm a little worried that we will get frustrated since I don't know that area well and he can't give me specifics. Also, the 95th/Dan Ryan is apparently a mess. Help! Help! Help!

if you're coming from the south, i'd park near roosevelt/state (south loop / museum campus) and take the el inbound. the neighborhood's relatively safe and parking is mostly unmetered, tho offlimits when there are events at Soldier Field. g'luck.

TonyC's suggestion is a good one: I sometimes park on State north of 18th St. and take the 29 State St bus north to the loop. There are no meters, and having my car across the street from the police station feels pretty safe! But of course I just do that during the day, not for a whole weekend as cbdurr seems to want to do.

Let me mention another possibility. cbdurr, even though your hotel may be charging $30/day for parking, it should be possible to find an independent garage near your hotel for a much lower rate.

Here's a link to a listing of parking garages:
http://www.bechicagoil.com/parking.html

You could try calling one near your hotel and see if their rates are within your budget.

Here is a thread on another website addressing this issue:

http://p070.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddingchicago.showMessage?topicID=1147.topic

hOPE THAT HELPS.

^ biddingfortravel strikes again!!!

(btw, i got a KICK BUTT hotel in Omaha this week for $30, wifi, pool, free breakfast, the works - thank you PL!)

i've had good luck finding parking near the halsted/grand/milwaukee intersection. there are quite a few side streets around there where parking is unmetered and not too tough to get.

you can hop on the blue line and take it into the loop from there.