Where the heck can I park?

Photo by: Alaina Burris

Coming by a parking spot seems like it should be a relatively easy task … until you realize the school has more students and faculty combined than parking spots available in each lot. There are 10 lots available that are owned by the university, but that can still make things tricky. 

Students try to get away with many things when it comes to parking, and some can cause more harm than good. Here are a few do’s and don’ts of trying to park on campus that can help students out when having a parking lot panic. 

DO: Make sure you have your vehicle registered with the university

Vehicle registration is marked by this year’s parking pass, which is lime green. Students should have received an email with times that they could pick up their passes. 

DON’T: Park in any lot on campus without a parking pass

Parking on campus without a parking pass will more than likely get a ticket issued to the car. Ticket prices vary depending on where the car is parked. Parking in the Chancellor’s spot, or a handicap space, will cost someone more than parking on campus without a pass. 

DO: Make sure you are in a VALID parking spot

Valid parking spots are designated by having a solid line on each side of the vehicle. Some of the lines have faded over the years, but many of them are still visible. If it’s not possible to tell whether a line is there, it’s more than likely not a parking spot, and it’ll be better just to look for a different spot at that point. Remember, parking in a spot that is not valid can be a fire hazard and can get you in more trouble with the fire department than the university. 

DON’T: Try and make your own parking spot 

Laziness is something we all understand; we don’t necessarily want to park on 11th Street and walk all the way across campus if we live in Brown Hall. However, that is just something that everyone is going to have to go through at some point. Please don’t try and park somewhere that is not an actual parking spot and cause uproar for others. An extra five minutes of walking is not going to hurt you. 

DO: Utilize the streets that you can park on 

There are several streets surrounding the university, and almost all of them allow parking. Don’t feel like parking on the street is your last resort when it can come in handy and sometimes even get people closer to their destination than some of the parking lots can. 

DON’T: Try and save your parking spot when you leave 

Everyone struggles to find parking, and some people go to the extreme of making sure that doesn’t happen to them. Some people have done this with cones, with debris, with just about anything to ensure that they will have their spot when they come back. Please DO NOT do this! It just makes people angry, and it will make people even angrier when they figure out who did it. 

Yes, parking can be tricky, but that doesn’t mean we have to make it worse. Follow these do’s and don’ts for a successful school year and a way to make parking a breeze.