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| So many parking facilities, so few spaces. (http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/parking/) |
Both Penn and Philadelphia are plagued by a problem any populous and booming city faces –parking. Penn provides few safe and reasonably priced facilities for student parking. Instead, students must pay the $1,159/year fee at University-owned lots or hope to find a random spot on the streets of West Philly.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of cash on hand.
We live in a city, so cars–and therefore parking spaces–don’t seem essential at a first glance. However, the sheer unreliability and limitations of mass transit routes make driving both convenient and desirable to students.
It’s far from true that kids who have cars on campus are always rich — many students purchased their own secondhand car during high school and are lucky the cars are still running today. But even if a student has an expensive Mercedes purchased by Daddy, does he not have the right to vehicular safety at an affordable cost?
“We actually work very hard to keep those rates competitive,” Director of Communications for Penn Business Services Rhea Lewis said. “Parking in Penn’s garages is a lot cheaper than parking at a meter.”
Lewis calculated that the average permit rate per day would be $6.18, significantly cheaper than a daily space at a parking meter.
Fair enough, but I’d rather be spending that $6.18 on dinner. And besides, most Penn students who park their cars on the streets don’t even use meters — beyond 40th and Walnut Streets, spaces are essentially free.
Yet the streets of West Philly are certainly not the solution to our current parking problem, especially for young women. In view of the recent upsurge in local crime, a student should not risk heading to her car parked on 42nd Street alone at night.
During the future eastward expansion, we can hope for some significant improvements in student parking, although we may all be celebrating the Class of 2007’s 50th Reunion by the time we are able to witness these innovations.
“Parking is very high on the agenda,” Lewis said. “There is a plan.”
And hopefully that plan will encourage student safety at a much more affordable price.
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January 30th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Do any cities in the northeast have cheap and readily available parking? For 99% of the kids here there’s no need for a car. I do think its true that those with cars are most likeliy rich because in the VAST majority of cases, no one NEEDS a car in philly.
January 30th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
“The sheer unreliability and limitations of mass transit routes”? I actually find that mass transit can get me just about everywhere I need to go, and a taxi is an alternative if you’re pressed for time. I think a lot of Penn students just think mass transit is inconvenient or degrading (don’t want to be around any of those poor people, now, do we). How many Phildelphia residents survive just fine taking the bus or subway every day? And free and safe parking is definitely not a right, especially in a city with a highly developed public transit system.
January 30th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
I agree with you and don’t appreciate 42nd street’s “degrading” comments. For those of us who do a lot of community service work in the outer reaches of North, South, and West Philly, public transportation just doesn’t take us where we need to go and cabs can cost upwards of $20 round-trip. Having a car on campus would allow students to branch out much further in their community work.
January 31st, 2007 at 7:52 am
“does he not have the right to vehicular safety at an affordable cost?”
Yeah, princess. It’s up there with his right to an A in every class and his right to jump over the line at Starbucks because he’s “got a class in like, five minutes, bro.”
January 31st, 2007 at 9:11 am
Perhaps the disincentive for students to bring cars to campus is a true reflection of the resources (fuel, street space, air) that they consume relative to other transportation alternatives.
March 6th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
While I love the thought of having my car on campus (MY campus, not yours, obviously), I don’t think any college student really NEEDS a car. Most major cities do have public transportation, reliable or not, love it or hate it, and with ridiculously high under-age-25 / out-of-state-driver insurance plus parking plus the potential risks of leaving cars in not-too-friendly neighborhoods, it’s really not worth it. (Not that I’m not still arguing with my parents whether or not I can drive my car 700 miles back to Chicago). Driving is a luxury, so doesn’t it make sense to pay luxury prices for it?
November 5th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Hi there…Man i love reading your blog, interesting posts ! it was a great Monday