City of Malden Parking Department

03/10/2026

🚨 Winter Parking Regulations Lifted 🚨

🚨 Winter Parking Regulations Lifted

With the warmer temperatures yesterday and today, and with the majority (though not all) of the snow having melted, we are lifting the Winter Parking Regulations effective immediately. We understand that winter parking restrictions can be inconvenient for residents and appreciate your patience throughout the season.

The long range forecast shows nothing further coming for inclement weather. Please note that of course there are some snow piles still depending on the amount of sun an area gets. You may park on the even side only to the extent doing so will not impede the flow of traffic; please just use good common sense as the remaining piles melt.

03/09/2026

We are closely monitoring the snow on the streets with the goal of lifting winter parking restrictions asap. Some streets are ok while others still have enough snow on the side that parking would inhibit travel. We are hopeful that with another day of warmth as predicted for tomorrow that we will get there. Stay tuned for an announcement. We know winter parking restrictions are a challenge for our residents. With no snow in the forecast we are just waiting for a little more melting!

Thank you for your patience this winter.

02/23/2026

Our CBD and Jackson Street garages have reached capacity and are now closed. Thank you to those who used this option to get your cars off the street. As a reminder, you will need to be out of these garages by 8:00 am Tuesday to avoid charges. The ticket you pulled on entry will be required to exit, simply scan and it will open the gate.

Stay safe.

01/24/2026

With the first significant snow in years on the way, we want to share some more details about what to expect for parking enforcement, towing, and challenges.

First, we always say that there is no substitute for voluntary compliance. No amount of enforcment or towing is as effective as your help in getting cars off the street, and this storm in particular really calls for that cooperation. Talk to your neighbors, talk to your family and friends, whatever you can do to help get the word out.

Snow emergency parking enforcement is a joint effort between the Police and the Parking Enforcement staff. Under MGL, only the Police can order a vehicle to be towed. Parking Enforcement partners up with the police to achieve the overall objective.

Let's start with main roads. We published a list of main roads that will be subject to early and aggressive towing, starting at 8am. If you haven't see it here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16pYuMMx7t/

Why are we starting at 8am? Well simply put, whatever hasn't been dealt with by the time the heavy snow falls is 10x harder to deal with when the snow is falling.....and we just don't have the resources (particularly towing) to tow without a significant window to do so. So PLEASE if you are on one of the main arteries listed in prior posts, have your car moved by 8am. Anytime after that and you truly risk being towed and we'd love to not tow a single car.

While some staff is focused on this main artery effort, the Police will be driving the neighborhoods with bullhorns and lights looking to get your attention to move your car. This will start early Sunday morning. This post isn't intended to recommunicate winter parking rules, so please if you aren't familiar take a look here:

https://www.cityofmalden.org/1052/Winter-Parking

Our goal with the sirens and bullhorns is once again to avoid ticketing and potential towing. That effort will be followed up by parking enforcement staff working the neighborhoods to ticket vehicles that haven't moved. Of course, the reality is that it takes a long time to work the number of streets we have, but you should expect that anytime after 8am you are at risk for ticketing and/or towing. Following neighborhood ticketing, the Police will order tows as necessary and as they have capacity to on sidestreets. What does that mean? Well, for a storm like this, there simply isn't the towing and storage resources to tow as many cars as you could/can. So prioritizion is a necessity, and admittedly frustrating.

The reality is that streets that were cleared will have someone park on them after, and that even with all of the efforts we make cars will be there when the plow goes to do it's job. The plow drivers have a dedicated police officer at the DPW that they can and will call tows in if it's preventing them from getting down the street. That's a judgement call they make focusing resources on the worst. As mentioned, capacity is finite, and towing during a storm much harder.

At some point after the snow flies, parking enforcement is unable to safely travel the streets given the vehicles that are used for parking enforcement, but police remain on duty across the various sectors, as well as a dedicated police resource at the DPW to order tows.

Come Monday when the snow stops we will continue the effort to move vehicles to continue cleanup. A storm like this will be an elongated cleanup effort. We will notify residents of the end of the snow emergency, triggering the need to move cars from the school lots within two hours. That starts a whole other effort to clear school lots, including towing cars that haven't moved. PLEASE if you park in a school lot make sure you are able to remove your car within two hours to avoid being towed.

We will have parking enforcement staff taking calls in the office between 8am and 3pm if you need clarification on parking options. Please call 781 397-7196. This is not to report vehicles parked illegally but rather to help understand where you can/can't park.

Please be patient, and make plans for a challenging Monday. Our DPW, Police, and Parking staff will do the best they can to keep streets passable but this storm promises to be a reminder that we live in New England! Be safe.

01/22/2026

City of Malden Snowstorm Update- January 22nd, 2026

Our first significant snowstorm of the season is expected late Sunday January 25th into Monday January 26th. Current forecast models are calling for several inches of snow. City officials are closely monitoring the storm and will be holding multiple coordination meetings to assess conditions and determine whether to start winter parking regulations and declare a snow emergency. At this time, there is a strong possibility that both restrictions will be put in place either late Saturday or early Sunday. PLEASE WATCH FOR FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS.

If a snow emergency is declared, parking will be prohibited on main streets and arterial roads to allow crews to safely and effectively plow and treat roadways. Additional information will be provided regarding free off-street parking options, including designated school lots and municipal garages, for residents who need to move their vehicles off the street. https://www.cityofmalden.org/1052/Winter-Parking

Once winter parking regulations begin, they will be in effect for the remainder of the season even after the snow emergency is lifted.

Winter parking restricts parking citywide to one side of the street only. For the 2025–2026 winter season, the general rule is ODD-side parking only, though some exceptions apply. Residents are strongly encouraged to review the full winter parking regulations at:
https://www.cityofmalden.org/1052/Winter-Parking

The City of Malden will continue to provide updates on social media and on the City website. Residents are also encouraged to sign up for the City’s Emergency & General City Alerts system. By enrolling, you will receive notifications via text message, phone call, or email if a snow emergency is declared. Visit: https://www.cityofmalden.org/136/Malden-Connect

Thank you for your cooperation as we prepare to keep Malden safe during winter weather.

12/30/2025

This is a friendly reminder that your 2025 Residential Permits and Visitor Placards expire on 12/31. All permits expire at the end of the calendar year regardless of issue date. An email was sent out previously to all who had ordered a 2025 permit reminding residents that it was time to renew. A second email reminder will go out as well.

2026 permit enforcement will resume on January 20th. To avoid receiving a $25 fine, please order your 2026 Residential Permits and Visitor Placards by Tuesday January 13th. Any order placed after January 13th is not guaranteed to be processed by the start of enforcement on January 20th. All permits are ordered online through the following link:

https://www.cityofmalden.org/1055/Obtain-a-Parking-Permit

If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to the Malden Parking Department at (781) 397-7196 and we would be happy to help!

View residential parking permit qualifications and find out more about how to obtain a parking permit.

06/30/2025

Let's talk about resident parking!

The City of Malden has eight zones within which parking requires a Permit or Visitor Pass. Generally, the current program requires permits to solve specific problems:

* Parking around the MBTA stations; restrictions are in place Mon to Fri 7am to 7pm so that commuters don't take over on street parking.
* Parking on streets bordering a citywide permit city (ie Everett), meant to prevent residents of other cities using our streets to avoid getting a permit in their home city.

Beyond the current permit program, the City has a regulation in effect that requires vehicles parking overnight to be registered in Malden. When a vehicle is identified as potentially being from outside of Malden but parking regularly overnight, we will start by leaving a friendly reminder on the car as attached to this post, and follow up with appropriate enforcement. If you feel like there's a vehicle that parks regularly overnight that isn't properly registered from Malden, you can call us at 781 397-7196 OR report it on SeeClickFix and we will start the research and enforcement process.

Why not citywide residential parking? The City Council looked extensively at this several years ago. Ultimately, the attached regulation was adopted in response. There were several concerns that were raised for which acceptable solutions couldn't be identified:

> There are hundreds of 'private ways' in Malden, an issue somewhat unique to Malden. The City can't regulate parking on these private ways. The concern raised was that residents would simply use these private ways to park on to avoid having to get a permit. Legal looked extensively at options and there were no good alternatives.
> Visitors. Most programs studied by the working group had requirements or limitations for visitors that felt too restrictive, overbearing, costly or inconvenient.
> Residents are unable to get a permit if they have outstanding tickets or excise tax. In other cities, this has resulted in some residents who are struggling financially just digging a bigger hole with tickets for not having a permit.

There is no easy solution to the issue of adequate street parking. It has been our experience that there are simply more cars per housing unit/home than there was 20 years ago for a variety of reasons, and that has led to stress competing for parking. We will continue to promote policies that balance often times competing interests.

02/25/2025

🚙 WINTER PARKING RESTRICTIONS LIFTED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY 🚙

As some streets have snow on them still as of this morning, do not park in a manner that would impede the flow of traffic as that snow melts over the next day or so. Please use good judgement and common sense.

Thank you for your patience during this relatively short restriction period.

🚙 WINTER PARKING RESTRICTIONS LIFTED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY 🚙

Winter parking restrictions exist to provide the space needed for the plows to remove snow, and to recognize that when snow is on the ground, it restricts the width of streets (and parking).

While our regulations state that once enacted, they stay in place until April 1st, we also will use the 'totality of the circumstances' to determine if we can remove them sooner.

Right now:
-All long range forecasts show warm temperatures and no snow until mid March
-The warm up we are getting will remove virtually all snow on the ground by tomorrow

Therefore, we are lifting restrictions effective immediately. This is not to say we couldn't get hit with some snow later in March....but if we do, it's likely to be minimal and short lived.

As some streets have snow on them still as of this morning, do not park in a manner that would impede the flow of traffic as that snow melts over the next day or so. Please use good judgement and common sense.

Thank you for your patience during this relatively short restriction period.

02/19/2025

Why can't we be like most other cities?

That's the most common question we've been asked the past couple of weeks as Winter Parking regulations have been in place after an almost three year hiatus. Here's some insight.

We spent some time researching, talking to other cities, and gathering information. Our Winter Parking regulations remain in effect once they begin. That limits parking citywide to one side. Residents are understandably frustrated by the reduction in parking. How can other cities go back to normal parking when the storm is over?

Here's the key difference. We have many streets that allow two sided parking that are very densely populated with a high demand. Many are also tight to travel down. They have no room for error. Once there's any snow on the street, or the need to get plows down them, you reach the breaking point. The attached photo is just one example. Add even a small amount of snow and a car off the curb a bit and we are in trouble.

Are there some streets that are wide enough to sustain two sided parking after a storm? Sure. There's many more that would need to be changed to one sided parking year round to accommodate snow, which is in fact what the norm is for cities like Revere and Everett. The typical two sided parking street in Malden is one sided parking in neighboring cities. They therefore can go on/off/on with one sided parking on a storm by storm basis successfully.

We remain committed to finding ways to improve the system, but understanding the variables, what other cities do, how we are unique, are all part of being able to evaluate potential changes. A drive around other cities when it snows makes for some great information gathering as we inform future changes.

We will continue to look for the earliest possible all clear sign for winter parking. Stay safe.

02/10/2025

Reminder that winter parking regulations STAY ON once enacted until April 1st.

If weather permits an earlier end date, we will take advantage of it. Right now, there's unsettled weather in the forecast and we are in February so should expect more.

EVEN SIDE PARKING. There's exceptions. Visit https://www.cityofmalden.org/1052/Winter-Parking for details.

02/09/2025

Can we turn winter parking off at the end of the storm and back on next storm?

Many have asked that the last couple of days. This storm, and the below picture, are reminders why that's going to be a tall order. This was the scene on all too many streets in Malden.

We put out two citywide calls/texts/emails. Notices on facebook, city web. Messages on message boards in the city. We had police on bullhorns out around the city, parking enforcement dropping off winter parking cards Saturday AM, and beginning ticketing Saturday at 6pm. And yet despite all that communication, compliance with regulations was a challenge. We simply don't have enough people or tow trucks to ticket and/or tow every violator, so we prioritized based upon DPW feedback. Almost 600 cars were ticketed, many towed, and yet many gambled and won. It's not ideal and leaves those who follow the rules understandably frustrated.

We know that the first storm is always a challenge, and that the ensuing enforcement will 'get things in line' before the next storm. Some advocate for going back to starting Winter Parking regulations on November 1st regardless of the weather. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the desire to institute winter parking restrictions 'storm by storm'. The question is, how can we get the word out better knowing that ticketing and towing can't keep up the this level of non compliance storm after storm and that all that we did to communicate wasn't enough?

We are always open to feedback and will post mortem this storm as we always do. However, the first storm is a reminder of the difficulties we will face with the storm by storm approach.

Thanks as always for your patience and stay safe.

02/08/2025

With a plowable snow in the forecast, it's a great time to remind everyone of the importance of being a good neighbor. Regulations are the bare minimum, but thinking about your neighbors is just the right thing to do.

- If you have a driveway, cram as many cars as you can fit into it. Now isn't the time to leave it partially empty to make your job of removing snow from it easier. Street parking is limited, please leave it for those that need it. (Regulations actually require the use of driveways for those who have them!)

- While regulations require you to leave two feet to the curb when parking up against a driveway, snow makes it even MORE difficult to get out of driveways on narrow streets. Leave more space. Your neighbor will appreciate it.

There are of course more things you can do to be a good neighbor. Snow brings stress. Stay safe, be patient, and be glad that we are into February already and spring is in the forecast (but more snow before then).

Send a message to learn more