Independent reporter, William Castro asked: What has been your experience with parking this semester?

Veronica Mellado

Senior 

“It’s just so expensive…and they limit it even more which is ridiculous. I avoid it. I basically have to come in at least half an hour to 45 minutes earlier just park on Mawr, and from there I’m parking all the way on Pulaski and walking the whole distance. It’s miserable, it’s horrible.”

Hanna Boge

Junior

“Parking: it’s like a game of war. You kind of have to hunt people down; you have to watch people. If they are walking to their car or not walking to their car, I get here on like the peak time where people are coming or going, so it’s you’re in, you’re out. I was almost late to class once because I was in the parking garage for a good 20 minutes, and then parking by the Fine Arts Building is nonexistent. It’s rough, I wish we had more parking spots. I was kind of confused as to where I could park because they don’t have that “Level 1” “Level 2” parking anymore.”

Javier Delgado
Junior 

“Parking would be alright if it was free because usually, what I’ve noticed, people come here and only have three to four classes, and they park out there (on the street). When they park out there, they have on their mind, “Will I get a ticket?” It would be a lot safer if they have their cars parked in here, but since they charge us, some people can’t afford it and they decide to risk it (the $100 ticket.) Or they get someone to bring them here, or they take public transportation, but public transportation takes longer to get here. Usually, if you take the bus, you come here late to class. And if you have a car, you get here on time, but you have to look for parking. When you’re looking for parking, you come late to class. I think it would be perfect, if parking were free. No virtual permit, or anything, just a sticker that says “you’re a student and you’re here from this hour, to this hour, and then you’re out.”

Benjamin Mendoza

Senior

“Honestly, it kind of sucks because I paid for the permit. Now, if I’m driving down Bernard or from Pulaski, heading eastbound, as soon as I see a spot, I just park there and then walk over here. I don’t mind walking at all, you know, I just enjoy the little stroll. I can see that being a problem for some people during wintertime, but you can’t have everything to be the way you want it to be. There are new dorm rooms being built and that’s gonna benefit people as well, so I think that we got to take the good with the bad. But really no complaints.”

Jasmine Torres 

Junior

“I didn’t think I could ever park on the fifth floor because before we had the parking meter,  we had to actually stay on one level. But now we could go to all the levels which is much easier to find parking now. The construction is a hassle because they took up half the parking lot with the new building their making. The parking has become a hassle though; parking depends on the hours of the day like at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., and 12 p.m. the parking gets really crowded.”