The commonly held belief that there aren’t enough parking spaces downtown is merely a “perceived problem,” insists city parking manager Bob Kamper. At any time of day, he declares, you can find spots that are within a short walk to anywhere. So why does the utter impossibility of finding a downtown parking space seem to dominate so many local discussions?

The problem—and it is a problem—he explains, is along Main Street, where spaces are almost always occupied. When people can’t snag a spot there, they assume there’s no parking to be found.

“In any city, street parking is your valuable commodity,” he says. “Right now, people who visit downtown have to park somewhere else.” That means either in parking garages, lots or on side streets. And especially for out-of-towners, sorting through such places—and their various rules and restrictions—can be intimidating.

A veteran of parking management programs in the Carolinas and New Orleans, Kamper has a number of plans in the works for increasing turnover and freeing up those Main Street spots (see “Reinventing Parking,” below). In the meantime, here’s the scoop on 10 sure-fire parking areas just off Main and convenient to everywhere.

1 Courthouse Centre Just south of the hub of activity, on the corner of upper Main Street and Washington Boulevard, the relatively new Courthouse Centre has 70-odd public spots on its third and fourth levels. You enter the garage from Ringling Boulevard—head west from Washington on Ringling and it’s the first driveway to the right. You’ll have to shell out a little cash (the flat-rate fee is $3 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., $5 any other time), but even at noon, spaces will be available—and they’re just steps away from a dozen lunchtime hotspots. Four elevators deposit parking patrons into the Main Street courtyard between Jolly and Mediterraneo. Pay on the way out of the garage via an automated machine that takes quarters, $1 and $5 bills, as well as Visa and MasterCard.

2 Main Plaza’s back lot The lot behind the Hollywood 20 movie theater (at the southwest corner of Washington Boulevard and Fruitville Road) has been virtually empty since management started charging $4 to park there—the same fixed fee as Main Plaza’s adjacent multi-level garage. But if you’re spending money on parking anyway, the back lot’s three entrances on Fruitville, Washington, and quiet Links Avenue make it an easy alternative to fighting the traffic (both automobile and pedestrian) at the garage’s entrance on Main Street. On the other hand, the treeless, canopy-less back lot leaves cars fully exposed to the elements. Pay the attendant at the center of the lot before taking your pick of spaces.

3 Second Street Of course, the Main Plaza lots will always suffer slow business while so many spaces are empty on nearby streets. From Main Street, head north on Links or Osprey Avenue and keep your eyes peeled for spots along the curb. If those cross streets yield nothing, Second Street runs parallel to Main and boasts ample street parking throughout its length. A two-hour limit during the day encourages turnover, so a number of spaces are always open, though you may have to dust off your parallel-parking skills. Nighttime spaces are plentiful, but street lighting on Second is spotty.

4 Sarasota Herald-Tribune parking The 40 spaces surrounding the Sarasota Herald-Tribune building are free to the public weekdays after 6 p.m. and all weekend. But because the city has yet to post signs, most people drive on by. Going west on Main, the entrance is on the right just past the H-T’s enormous glass façade—you can’t miss it.

5 Boca Bargoons All the hubbub about whether the city should install parking meters overlooks that we do, in fact, already have parking meters downtown—nine of them, to be exact, just north of Main in the Boca Bargoons parking lot at Orange Avenue and Second Street. If you’re spending more than two hours in the area on a weekday, the meters are the best way to a guaranteed spot. Payment is only required from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; at 50 cents an hour, the most you’d need to spend is $4.50. And because Second Street’s two-hour parking is so convenient for shorter stays, the metered spots are virtually unused.

6 City Hall Got a parking complaint? Take it right to City Hall—and park there. Despite signs designating the area for employees and visitors only, the 87-space lot between City Hall (on Orange Avenue and First Street) and the SCAT bus terminal (on Lemon Avenue) is free for everyone after 5 p.m. and all weekend—which makes it ideal for Mattison’s and Gator Club patrons, as well as visitors to the Saturday-morning farmers’ market on Lemon. Enter from driveways on First or Second streets.