Street sweeping in Downtown
In 2025 the City of San Diego wrote 8,576 street-sweeping tickets in Downtown, worth about $675,446 in fines. Here's where they landed, and when each of those blocks is swept.
Downtown's biggest ticket problem is meters, not sweeping. Sweeping still catches people in East Village and along Island Ave, where residents park overnight.
Most-ticketed streets
Sweeping tickets written on each street in 2025, and the weekdays most of them were written.
| Street | Tickets | Busiest ticket days |
|---|---|---|
| Island Ave | 789 | Tuesday & Monday |
| 13th St | 477 | Monday & Thursday |
| K St | 473 | Thursday & Friday |
| 15th St | 434 | Tuesday & Friday |
| Commercial St | 432 | Friday & Tuesday |
| 14th St | 386 | Thursday & Friday |
| 16th St | 381 | Thursday & Tuesday |
| Union St | 358 | Wednesday & Thursday |
| 17th St | 343 | Monday & Tuesday |
| 10th Ave | 338 | Tuesday & Friday |
| Market St | 334 | Tuesday & Thursday |
| G St | 333 | Tuesday & Thursday |
The most-ticketed blocks, and when they're swept
Schedules are the city's own record for each block. Signs on the block are always the final word.
| Block | Between | Sweeping schedule | 2025 tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island Ave 1400–1499 | 14th St & 15th St | 2am–5am · North side: Monday · South side: Tuesday | 343 |
| K St 1400–1499 | 14th St & 15th St | 12am-3am · South side: Monday & Thursday · North side: Tuesday & Friday | 240 |
| Union St 1500–1599 | W Beech St & W Cedar St | 2am–6am · West side: Wednesday · East side: Thursday | 191 |
| Commercial St 1500–1599 | 15th St & 16th St | 10am-12pm · South side: Monday & Friday · North side: Tuesday & Thursday | 190 |
| K St 1300–1399 | 13th St & 14th St | 12am-3am · South side: Monday & Thursday · North side: Tuesday & Friday | 167 |
| 13th St 400–499 | J St & Island Ave | 12am–3am · East side: Thursday · West side: Friday | 154 |
| 14th St 400–499 | J St & Island Ave | 12am–3am · East side: Thursday · West side: Friday | 149 |
| 15th St 300–399 | K St & J St | 12am–3am · East side: Thursday · West side: Friday | 149 |
| 11th Ave 600–699 | Market St & G St | 3am–6am · West side: Monday · Wednesday · & Friday; ES Tuesday & Thursday | 145 |
| Island Ave 1500–1599 | 15th St & 16th St | 2am–5am · North side: Monday · South side: Tuesday | 144 |
When the sweeper comes
Sweeping hours on the signs here are usually 3am–6am, 2am–6am, 2am–5am. Many blocks are swept on different days for each side of the street, so the side you parked on tonight matters.
Sweeping skips city holidays and picks up on the next scheduled day. A ticket is $83.50.
Other tickets on these streets
- Expired meter27,687
- Metered-zone violation12,550
- Sign violation (time limits, no-parking hours)8,054
- White curb (passenger zone)7,624
- Yellow curb (loading zone)4,639
2025 tickets on Downtown's swept streets, excluding sweeping.
Or let your phone remember
ParkGuard notices where you parked, looks up that exact block, and warns you before the sweeper comes. It also covers meters, time limits and permit zones. Free for 7 days on iPhone.
Other neighborhoods
- North Park 16,665
- Mid-City: City Heights, Normal Heights & Kensington 15,445
- Pacific Beach 12,264
- Ocean Beach 5,907
- Southeastern San Diego 5,447
- Mission Beach 4,265
- Golden Hill 2,657
- Hillcrest & Uptown 1,000
- College Area (SDSU) 253
Where these numbers come from. The City of San Diego's open parking-citation data for 2025 (data.sandiego.gov), matched by block address to the city's GeoSweep street-sweeping map, which also supplies each block's schedule and planning area. "Downtown" is the city's own community planning area. About 92% of sweeping tickets could be matched to a block; the rest are left out, so real totals are slightly higher. The $83.50 fine is the amount on sweeping tickets written in 2026. ParkGuard isn't affiliated with the City of San Diego. Updated 2026-09-27.