Age-old parking problems worsen

editorial cartoon by Stephanie Lesniak
editorial cartoon by Stephanie Lesniak

Imagine waking up like any other normal school day, stumbling out of bed to the shower, getting ready and leaving the house in plenty of time to make it to the first class of the day. After arriving at school, it is suddenly apparent there is no parking place on the entire campus.

It is an old issue, but the parking situation at the University of La Verne seems to continuously get worse.

By the time a student drives around the campus three or four times, they may finally follow someone to their car and park in a place as far from your class as possible and still be in the La Verne city limits. Then there is the hike all the way to the classroom. Depending on how much leeway a student or staff member gives himself, they may find themselves 15 minutes late and get that gleam of disgust from a teacher or supervisor.

They apologize and slouch down in their desk. What a great way to start off the day. This sounds exactly like the unbearable parking problems members of the ULV community face every day.

What causes this huge disaster when it comes to finding parking? For one thing, there are too many two hour parking spaces on campus property. The time restrictions on these spaces need to be removed. They are the farthest parking spots possible from the main buildings anyways. City businesses complained about students taking away spaces from potential customers. Those businesses are likely not complaining about students and staff spending their money there.

There is a shortage of spaces to begin with and these just add to the problem.

Also, is it necessary for students who live within relative walking distance (at the Oaks) to drive to school? There is nothing more amusing than to see an Oaks resident drive and then find a parking spot next to the Kilo Building.

It must take longer to get in the car, drive the two blocks, find a spot, park, and then walk almost as far to their class. It would be simpler to put on some sneakers and get a bit of exercise.

The University wants to grow and expand its traditional undergraduate population. Any growth has to take all aspects into account. As the University grows, so does the number of commuter students. Those students compete with faculty, staff, CAPA students and graduate students for parking spaces on campus.

While the parking is free at ULV, what parking there is, cannot handle the current population. The school is already counting on city streets for additional parking.

Rumor has it there is a parking lot between the AAIC building and the Oaks. It might be worthwhile to pave that dirt lot over and stripe it so people could realize its usefulness. Maybe then fewer Oaks residents would drive to school.

Something needs to be done about the problem. There might be consideration to designating a lot or two for faculty and staff, or for certain residents, which might take some of the burden off the remaining spaces. As the University grows, so grows this fundamental problem. Being late has become a habit due to the parking space situation.

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Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.

Stephanie Lesniak

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