ugh

[telophase]

See, this is why I don't like finals week: I got to work at 7:45 in the morning and there were still no parking places left on campus. I managed to scoot into a spot on the street that I wouldn't have been able to get into if (a) my car were one inch longer or (b) I were less accomplished at parallel parking, but this is ridiculous. :P

They used to have dedicated faculty/staff parking, but got rid of that so unless you want to pay $250/year for an assigned parking space four blocks from where you work, you get a hunting general permit for $75/year and usually - unless you get to work past 8:30 on Monday and Wednesday or 8:05 on Tuesday and Thursday - you can find a parking space much closer, so it's hardly worth it.

Comments

[rayechu.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Parking at my school is always like that. All of our buildings are connected and run in a circle, but instead of building a multiple story parking garage in the center, they have about 3 parkinglots. You can never find a space remotely close to your building. There is no visitor parking, and faculty parking is about half of the parking lot (not that it matters because everyone parks there anyways). The attendance has pretty much doubled in the last few years, but they aren't expanding anything parking-wise.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

They have a long-term plan here to shut down all parking on campus, have all the lots around the perimeter, and use the shuttlebus to take people in. I wish they'd just do it already, and build parking garages instead of flat lots.

There's also a plan on the city level to expand the train down this way and ahve a nearby train station. I think that's supposed to happen within 5 year - they're doing a whole urban revitalization thing around here and have ripped up one of the streets to upgrade the utilities, so I have high hopes of it happening. I could deal with living in a place where I took the train to work.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I've got plenty of parking available. 'course, it's about 10-15 minutes from my desk. Easy walk, though. I shortcut through all the empty spaces reserved for real employees. Can even be a nice walk in good weather.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I would be better off all around if I just didn't buy a parking permit and parked off-campus to walk. Most of the time I get here early enough to park on the street only a block or two away, and at its worst, there's parking 4 or 5 blocks away (only a little bit farther than the library's assigned parking area - why would I pay $275 for those, you tell me?). I could save money and get a little bit of exercise all at the same time.

I ought to seriously consider that next fall when the parking sign-up rolls around again.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

The good weather walks are nice exercise. When I add on August heat, January chills, and rain year-round I'm not sure my health is coming out ahead on net. :(

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's what's stopped me from acting on that plan so far. :) And its stopped me from changing my hours from 8-5 to 10-7 or something like that - if I start work at 10, I will almost never find a parking space close by and I'll have to rely on the shuttle or parking on the street.

[sparkylibrarian.livejournal.com]

When I was in grad school, I actually paid $250-- per semester-- for a student garage permit. I had briefly worked for the parking department at the university, so I knew their philosophy on selling parking permits was whacked.

They oversell permits by some ridiculous percentage, and because of when my classes were and having to go to class from work, there was no way I would be able to park in the student surface lots (if you didn't get there by 8 am it was pretty much hopeless). It was pathetic. Technically, a garage permit didn't guarantee you a spot in the garage, either, though I was pretty lucky. And it was a new garage, and far (relatively) from the buildings undergrad classes were in.

Note: Bet y'all can guess where I went to grad school...

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:D When I went to the University of Denver, I got around the problem by living in graduate student housing on campus. At UNT, all my on-campus classes started at 6PM, so I could easily get into the closest lot with a regular commuter permit for $75.

My dad worked at A&M, and over the years as they reconfigured campus, his lot got farther and farther away until he ended up parking on west campus and riding the shuttle in the mornings.

[sparkylibrarian.livejournal.com]

UT Austin is trying to shut down the surface lot (cheap) parking. I'm not sure what they're going to do with all the tens of thousands of people who park there. Public transit in Austin sucks. :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

That was one of the reasons I decided against UTAustin - I was terrified of trying to find affordable housing that was either within walking distance, or near a bus line, or trying to work out parking. Having been to the UT Austin campus several times in my life. :)

[heyoka.livejournal.com]

Hah, I was going to say "gee, that sounds like UT" and then I saw your comment below.

I've never learned how to drive--I thought about it after high school, but then I went to UT and hell, what would have been the point there? :P