A (tongue-in-cheek) guide to Richmond's confusing parking rules
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Welcome to Richmond, where the signs make it super clear where you can and can't park. Photos: Karri Peifer/Axios
Karri here, stepping up to help you navigate Richmond's ever-changing parking rules and steer clear of another ticket, boot or tow.
Why it matters: The city recently ramped up enforcement of some long-standing parking rules, created new ones and is considering changing others.
State of play: Richmond manages more than 8,000 street parking spaces — including more than 2,600 paid spaces — and its parking map includes at least 23 categories of restrictions, per an Axios review.
- Some parts of town have weekly no-parking zones for regular street cleaning while others have seasonal restrictions.
- Plus: Five neighborhoods have restricted residential parking districts, each with its own rules and permit requirements.
Meanwhile: Richmond has been cracking down on parking in bike-lane buffer zones, near crosswalks and stop signs, while enforcing time limits in Scott's Addition for the first time since 2020.
- That's on top of a wave of recent changes, including floating parking, the end of unlimited Saturday street parking in some parts of town and expanded back-in angle parking.
Zoom in: If you're confused, you're not alone. Richmond's park-wherever-you-fit days are increasingly in the rearview mirror.
Case in point: On this Cary Street block in the Fan, parking is banned from 11am–1pm on Thursdays, limited to two hours on one side, 15 minutes on the other — and apparently reserved for Recycle customers for 15 minutes below that.
- At the end of the block, parking appears to be allowed only overnight — specifically from 12:01-7:49am.
Got all that? It's not even the most confusing block we found.
Downtown on East Franklin, one pole marks a snow-emergency route, bans parking from 7–9am, allows three-hour parking after that and marks a tow-away zone in the other direction.
- If you can park there, best download one of two parking apps the city uses — and mind the lines: it's also a floating parking/bike-lane block.
Just around the corner, a sign stack on 2nd Street tells drivers to pay at a kiosk, while a newer placard on the same pole tells them to use an app or text-to-pay option.
- Fun fact: Parking is also banned from 7–9am, though you'll routinely find the block to be full during those hours.
Think Southside is immune to confusing signs? It's not. On 42nd Street near Forest Hill Park, parking isn't allowed after 9pm. DAILY.
- Wondering when it is allowed? Us too.
And sometimes the rules change for the day. On 9th Street near City Hall recently, the usual deal is pay to park for up to an hour.
- Except this day, when another sign banned parking after 4pm.
The bottom line: Richmond's parking rules usually make sense — eventually. The trick is figuring out which rule applies to you on that day, curb or situation — before the tow truck or meter maid does.
- Crack that, and consider yourself officially a Richmonder.