The trials and tribulations of finding parking on campus
Parking on campus sucks. And I’m not the only one that thinks so.
I try my best to walk or take the bus whenever I can. Sometimes I’m just too slow in the morning and have to drive to avoid being late. The problem is that between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. it’s ridiculously hard to find an open parking spot on campus.
Usually I end up parking on a residential street nearby. To put that into perspective, my apartment is a 21-minute walk from campus according to Google Maps. From where I usually end up parking, it’s an 11-minute walk to get to class. When I add the four minutes it takes to drive there, I only end up getting to class six minutes faster. Sometimes, that’s exactly what I need to make it to class on time.
“If people have to pay even more for parking permits there HAVE TO BE SPOTS AVAILABLE FOR THEM TO PARK IN.”
Parking Survey Response
A 2018 study by Walker Consultants included an anonymous survey on the state of parking on campus. The full results of this study are available, and boy, a lot of people were mad about parking.
“Prices as they are, are already ridiculous. One should not have to pay $315 a year to only find parking between 7:00-8:00 a.m and after 5:00 p.m.,” one person wrote.
The survey had multiple respondents to the parking issue.
“If people have to pay even more for parking permits there HAVE TO BE SPOTS AVAILABLE FOR THEM TO PARK IN,” another person wrote.
In addition to the sentiments behind these two comments, a large number of the comments suggested building both on-campus parking structures and off-campus parking with shuttles to campus.
One question on the survey struck a nerve with many respondents when it suggested the cost of parking passes may have to be raised in order to meet the demand. Many of the answers to this question were filled with colorful language.
“What in the world do you do with all the money that you are unable to sustain the program without raising prices again?” one of the less expletive-prone respondents wrote.
Another respondent offered to try and get the extra funds themselves.
“Perhaps we can lobby the state for funds? I’ll go to talk to Jerry on behalf of HSU. Dunno if he’ll see me, but I’ll go,” wrote the hopeful respondent.
Unfortunately, Jerry Brown is no longer our governor, so if this respondent had it in with Jerry Brown, that won’t work anymore. Even more unfortunate is that this is an issue that is going to take a lot of work from the school if it’s going to be fixed. It’s also likely that even if it is fixed, it’ll take longer than many of our students will be here. In the meantime, it’s still a great excuse for being late to class.
