Editorial: Parking Lottery
Students compete for limited parking space

September 11, 2008

The goal of any news publication is to serve its readers. Similarly, one of the goals of a university should be to serve its students. Unfortunately, this has not been the case in the first few weeks of school here at La Salle. The parking situation has been terrible throughout campus, but at the Saint Miguel Townhouses it has been particularly abhorrent.

Good parking spots have always been at a premium at La Salle. Not everyone can procure one of those prime spots right in front of the entrance, and most drivers have to settle for a spot about 60 yards away. People living in the townhouses, however, would kill for a walk as short as 60 yards.

Campus expansion has turned a difficult situation into a disaster in the H Lot, which is the lot in front of the Hayman Center and the townhouses. The construction of the Shoppes at La Salle has temporarily shut down the G Lot, formerly known as Good Shephard. The bridge to West Campus has further reduced available spaces in the section to the west of Hayman.

At any time of day, the lot is packed to capacity, with many cars illegally parked along curbs. These cars are invariably sporting some literature distributed by the La Salle Parking Office. At a time when there is no available parking and students who paid good money for a parking permit ($120 is no small sum), what does La Salle do? They shut down roughly 130 parking spots in the upper part of H Lot directly in front of Hayman, leaving only the remainder for all of Saint Miguel and any commuters who usually park in H Lot.

La Salle advised its students to park in the J Lot, which is a space unknown to many students and far from just about everything. It is a half-mile walk from Saint Miguel. Residents of the townhouses or apartments could technically park in the B Lot in front of Saint Neumann, too, but we think that it is unreasonable to force students to walk 10-15 minutes just to get from their car to their home.

While we understand the positives of expanding the campus, La Salle needs to take into account the number of student vehicles that will be without parking spaces their owners rightly paid for. Like many on-campus students, we paid to park less than 10 minutes from our campus residence. The fact that we cannot do so raises serious questions.

The closing of the upper part of H Lot may be necessary, but we think the security officers writing tickets could cut the students some slack. And why not close the lot on weekends, when many students go home and commuters would be unaffected?

Perhaps most importantly, the construction raises security concerns. J Lot is remote and the shuttle only passes by every fifteen minutes. More attention in this area could only improve the situation.

La Salle has taken a big step forward by expanding its campus, but the university has mishandled the H Lot parking situation from top to bottom.