Finding a parking spot can be a major drag. You can circle an area and minutes can easily turn into hours as you look for an open crevice to park your set of wheels. Wouldn't it be great if you could find out about potential parking spots before you leave the comfort and warm glow of your television or computer monitor?
ParkWhiz, a Chicago-based startup, might be able to assist with this problem, as it offers users the ability to quickly search for parking near a location. Currently in beta, ParkWhiz offers parking search only in Chicago and Philadelphia. If you are looking to check out the Sears Tower in Chicago then you simply type in "Sears Tower" and ParkWhiz should present search results and a map of all the parking locations within up to a 10 mile radius, so you have instant visibility into the parking situation before you leave your door. The site fields user ratings for each parking venue. ParkWhiz currently does not appear to offer a mobile component but
might have one in the works as it could be an extremely helpful feature.
ParkWhiz has made its plans for 2007 pretty clear as it looks to create a parking marketplace and essentially empower users to buy and sell parking in a real-time environment. According to a recent article on the ParkWhiz blog the ParkWhiz Marketplace will be:
- A place to buy parking.
- A place to sell parking.
- A place to find parking information.
- Free for buyers and inexpensive for sellers.
- Environmental friendly.
Though it appears to still be in the early phases of development, CarHarbor (link to blog since site does not yet exist), a startup advised by Craig Newmark, Scott Rafer and James Lazarus, could give ParkWhiz some friendly competition; though it appears ParkWhiz is currently ahead of the game.
Shameless promo disclosure: ParkWhiz is helping guests find parking for the upcoming TECH cocktail 3 event in Chicago - don't forget to RSVP for TECH cocktail 3.
Photo Attribution: sourabhj via Flickr
