Long Beach offers travelers and residents alike a wide variety of activities to explore. The good news is that you can find free street parking all over the city. The bad news is a tricky game to play. But don’t worry SpotAngels is here to the rescue 🙂
This guide will grant you Long Beach street parking superhero powers:
- An understanding of where free street parking spots are. (Check out this street parking map!)
- Familiarity with parking rules in Long Beach
Street Parking Map
The map below will show you all the spots where you can park, their price and how long you can stay without getting a ticket.
The map updates in real-time, so simply type in the address you’re parking near, the time you expect to be there, and your duration. The green spots are the ones that are free of charge!
Pro tip: the spots that have a yellow hallo are those where you are more likely to find parking. The information is constantly provided by the SpotAngels community.
Long Beach Parking Rules
Understanding the parking rules of a city is essencial to avoid getting annoying tickets. Therefore you should know here to park and where you may not.
You cannot park in alleys. They must be available for emergency vehicles, i.e., fire trucks, ambulances, etc.
Other places where you cannot park include:
- Parking on fire lanes, crosswalks, sidewalks, parkways, intersections, driveways
- Within three feet (3) of a sidewalk ramp for the disabled
- Parking within fifteen feet (15) of a fire hydrant or the driveway entrance to any fire station.
- Within seven and one-half feet (7.5) of any railroad tracks.
Painted Curbs:
You may park at any unpainted curb side that is not posted with a no stopping or no parking sign.
Red – No stopping, standing or parking at any time.
Blue – Handicapped parking only (must display disabled license plate or a valid placard).
Yellow – May park long enough to load or unload freight or passengers.
White – Two-minute passenger loading and unloading only. Driver must remain in the vehicle.
Green – May park for a limited time only. Time is usually painted on curb.
Parking Signs:
You can find below a list of Long Beach most common parking signs.
Street Cleaning: This sign lets you know which days and hours you may not park due to street cleaning.
Limited Parking Hours: This sign tells you how many hours you can park before you have to find a different spot.
Temporary No Parking: Sometimes you may run into this kind of sign, which means either construction is ongoing, or a special event is in progress.
Handicapped Parking: Many parking lots and streets assign a few designated spots to people with disabilities. Without a permit, you may not park here.
Overnight parking in Long Beach
If you need to park overnight in Long Beach streets, make sure you know when parking meters and street cleaning begin again the next morning. For overnight parking, you can also check this overnight parking map.
Snow Emergency Regulations
When the authorities declare a Snow Emergency, you must remove your vehicle from these roads:
•West Beech Street from Nevada Avenue to Grand Boulevard
•Shore Road from Long Beach Boulevard to Maple Boulevard
•West Park Avenue from Nevada Avenue to New York Avenue
•East Pine Street from Neptune Boulevard to Curley Street
•West Side of Maryland Avenue from Park Avenue to Beech Street
•And West Side JJ Evans Boulevard from Park Avenue to Pine Street
Parking on the Pine Street Canal Bridges is prohibited. Alternate side of the street parking will remain in effect to ensure that snow is removed efficiently.
Any vehicle parked on the above streets during a declared Snow Emergency will be towed at the owner’s expense. After snow is cleared, streets will be reopened for parking.
Long Beach Preferencial Parking Permits
Some areas in Long Beach prohibit street parking for non-residents and require a Preferential Parking Permits. Those can be issued to residents of designated Long Beach parking impacted areas with a proof of residency and registered ownership of vehicle.
Preferential parking permits are of three (3) types: residential preferential parking permits, guest preferential parking permits, and temporary preferential parking permits.
Permits are only valid for the district shown on the permit. Each household is allowed up to three (3) residential permits and one (1) guest preferential permit per year. The annual permit fee for each residential preferential permit or guest preferential permit is $33.00. Permits issued after March of each year will be prorated to the number of quarters remaining in the year. There is no fee for temporary permits ( valid for no more than 7 days).
To get a permit, create a Preferential Parking account at the Parking Permits Portal, or print the Preferential Parking Permit Application and mail it with appropriate documents and payment to: Parking Citations PO Box 22766 Long Beach, CA 90801-5766 or come in person to Long Beach City Hall 411 W Ocean Blvd, Lobby Level Long Beach, CA 90802.
Long Beach Parking Tickets:
The city has 51 different categories of parking citations. The lowest bracket, which includes parking the wrong way, driving without a current registration tag, parking too far from a curb or not parking within lines, will cost you $65.
Parking at a painted curb, staying in the same space for over 72 hours and exceeding the time limit on parking meters will now cost $69. The cost for being parked at a street sweeping time is $70.
The city’s most expensive parking ticket is $360, the fine assessed for illegally parking in a disabled parking space.
If your vehicle has been towed and is being held for delinquent parking citations. You will need to speak to a customer service representative at (562) 570-6822 between the hours of 7:30 AM. to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, except holidays. You should have your vehicle license number ready. You must pay ALL parking citations on the towed vehicle as well as ALL parking citations in your name owed on any other vehicle. Citations can be paid by cash or credit card.
Make sure to use the SpotAngels parking app when you park. You will receive notifications and text messages to remind you to move your car!
Long Beach Parking Holidays:
Parking is free during Holidays! Here they are:
| Start Date | Parking Holiday | End Date |
| 2024-01-01 | New Year's Day | 2024-01-01 |
| 2024-01-15 | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | 2024-01-15 |
| 2024-02-19 | Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day) | 2024-02-19 |
| 2024-05-27 | Memorial Day | 2024-05-27 |
| 2024-07-04 | Independence Day | 2024-07-04 |
| 2024-09-02 | Labor Day | 2024-09-02 |
| 2024-11-28 | Thanksgiving Day | 2024-11-28 |
| 2024-11-29 | Day after Thanksgiving | 2024-11-29 |
| 2024-12-25 | Christmas Day | 2024-12-25 |
To know which specific regulations are suspended on these days and find parking on the go, download the SpotAngels app. It is free, the data is constantly updated by the community and it was featured as the best parking app by Apple and Google!
