how essential is covered parking in the winter? (Portland: apartments, for rent)

[khyron]

Okay, time for another question from the ever-planning potentialy-moving east coast dude interested in Portland. In considering a move to the Portland area, my wife and I would ideally like to live close-in and use public transit a lot. We would probably only use our car occasionally, for large grocery runs and certain kinds of errands.

In looking at various apartments, condos, and houses for rent and categorizing typical property types in various neighborhoods, one question we always come up with is covered parking. In the northeast, midwest, and even in some parts of the south, one of the biggest issues regarding whether you have access to covered parking or not is ice. In some places, it's just a nuisance because you have to scrape your car to be able to use it in the morning (when if you could just wait, it would be clear by the afternoon). In other places, ice gets so thick that you have to go clear your car even if you're not planning to drive it, just to avoid damage.

I know Portland doesn't get covered in snow frequently, but for those of you who park outside, how much of a hassle (or not) is it? Does this even matter?

[philwithbeard]

Along the lines of "Too Much Information" (TMI).....

Source of Information (NOAA climate archives, for last 12 months):
National Weather Service - NWS Portland
Monthly Weather summary, Portland, Archive data.

Dec '09
3 days where high temp was under 32 degrees; normal (averaged) is 1.2 days
19 days with the lowest temp was under 32 degrees; normal (averaged) is 9.8 days.
Snow fall was 1.8 inches
Light snow on 2 days; Snow on 3 days; Heavy snow on 0 days.
Light freezing rain on 1 day, rain on 20 days (light rain, rain, heavy rain)

Jan '10
0 days where high temp was under 32 degrees; normal (averaged) is 1.3 days
0 days with the lowest temp was under 32 degrees; normal (averaged) is 11.6 days.
Snow fall was 0.0 inches
Light freezing rain on 0 days, rain on 26 days (light rain, heavy rain)

Feb '09
0 days where high temp was under 32 degrees; normal (averaged) is 0.3 days
4 days with the lowest temp was under 32 degrees; normal (averaged) is 7.1 days.
Average Min temp for month is 35.9
Snow fall was 0.0 inches
Light freezing rain on 0 days, rain on 25 days (light rain, rain, heavy rain)

By historical data, you don't need to worry about freezing rain, except on those days when you oversleep, and just want to snuggle down in bed and sleep some more, and as you rush out to your car, you find the ice has a light coat on your car's windshield. Making you even more late to work. And as you pull out of your parking lot you remember that Portland doesn't salt the roads, or plow the roads, exactly the same time as your car goes ice skating. Trust me, you're going to be late to work that day....

Phil

[aroseinrain]

The short answer is NO, parking is not an absolute necessity (unless parking is catch-as-catch-can). A few days or weeks per year it'll be like this:

"it's just a nuisance because you have to scrape your car to be able to use it in the morning (when if you could just wait, it would be clear by the afternoon)"

...but even then it's more often then not that the ice is like frost that you can scrape off using your starbucks card (or what have you).

[puerco]

My parents had a carport at their place in Irvington. It's basically a roof with no walls. That's about all you need to keep the frost off of the windows. Except on the occassional deep freezes. Just shielding it from the open nite sky can make a big difference. Under a large tree on the street will do the same thing.
I had friends from Montana that had a plug coming out of the hood of their car. They had to plug in the radiator in the winter so that it wouldn't freeze. You won't find that in Portland.

[backdrifter]

It doesn't even matter.

I've never parked any of my cars in a covered area ever. It's annoying a couple times of year when you have to use the ice scraper (or starbucks card) to scrape the frost off, like aroseintherain said. But it's a few times a year. It really doesn't matter at all. It's not like a thick coating of ice or anything.

There will be occasional (every several years) freak snowstorms where you get like, 6 inches or something CRAZY like that. You won't be going anywhere that day. Good thing though is that it normally will melt off by the next day and it's back to business as usual.

[Sarcastic_Twit]

Like aroseinrain said, some apartments have assigned parking ONLY in covered areas. In high occupancy complexes, if the free-for-all spots are taken, you're walking all the way from the Guest spots near the front. Nowadays, a lot of apartments have tow trucks on-site too.

[buddystella]

I've lived in Portland for 9 years now and it doesn't matter at all! I have a garage and still end up parking my car out in the open all year long.

[Nell Plotts]

I think covered parking is kinder on the car but the difference is probably marginal.

If there is ice stay put and watch the bumper cars on TV. Snow... sometimes no issue but if it is substantial (rare) - see my ice comment.

A garage is always nicer but those offered in apartment buildings are often too small for practical use.

[figmalt]

I second everything people have said here already. You get frost that needs to be scraped, and ice from very infrequent ice storms, but otherwise the rain doesn't really do much damage to the car. The biggest problem I've run into is that my car often starts leaking water after the windshield has been replaced, or it just leaks water for another reason. Three cars - three leakers (maybe I've just had bad luck). Unfortunately, you don't find out the car leaks until a few days of stead rain, and suddenly you open the door and find an indoor swimming pool!

[jruss80]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

If there is ice stay put and watch the bumper cars on TV.

YouTube - Sliding car carnage