The Pike Place Market is eliminating the Free First Hour of parking for the Market garages on Western Ave. They have a new, higher pricing structure ($3.00 an hour) which was in effect this weekend for the Cheese Festival, and they'll be using it off and on, (higher prices on weekends) until June 1 when it becomes permanent.

Thanks for the warning. Free Market parking was one of the best deals in Seattle, and I'm sorry to learn we are kissing it goodbye.

The only good parking deal downtown now is at Pacific Place using no-cost tokens available when shopping at Macy's and Nordstroms.

Happytrailstoyou--I will probably always refer to the Macy's as just the Bon. Guess old habits die hard, lol!

Mms, I hear you, but I remember the Bon from the days when young ladies wearing white gloves manned the elevators and the space below street level was the "bargain basement." Today's store reminds me much more of the Macy's in NYC and SF than to the Bon Marche of happy memory.

Yes, that is definitely true. At least we still have those memories. At the holidays though, it will always be the Bon star that lights up though

I'll tag on here with a Seattle deal.

Maybe everyone knows about this, but I didn't until I noticed their booth yesterday ... Ticket/Ticket with 2 locations Seattle and 1 in Bellevue 206-324-2744.

They have same-day half-price tickets to theater events, but what caught my eye for my fellow Fodorites, is discounts on bigger ticket items on certain days (Tu/Th for example) for taking the Victoria Clipper to Vancover, or the Tillicum Village boat and salmon bake, and things like that as well.

I'm going to write some letters, and if you want to, too, here's where to go:

Pike Place Market PDA
85 Pike Street, Room 500
Seattle, WA 98101

Phone: (206) 682-7453
Fax: (206) 625-0646
Email: [email protected]

Eliminating the free hour doesn't sound like much, but thousands of people use it to do their grocery shopping, keeping the mission statement of the market alive, which is to connect shoppers with farmers and producers. I was down there yesterday, talking with other locals. Many of them will stop shopping, as they don't care to pay a parking fee to grocery shop, or can't pay (for a weekly shopper, it will add hundreds of dollars to that grocery bill each year). Since the food vendors rely on locals (tourists don't buy meat and produce), this could really affect their business. Let's not lose the 100 year old tradition of a Real Market in Seattle!

Topping for a good cause. Thanks for the second post with more details why this is BAD news. I work near the Market and am afraid I may take it for granted. This was a good wake up call for me!