After a long, stressful day in class, the walk to the car should be the most relieving part of the day. It’s time to go home, unwind, and relax. Unfortunately, there is a bright yellow envelope placed underneath your windshield wipers. A parking ticket for the third time this semester.
Last year I made the decision to commute from home to save money because I knew I was going to be at West Chester University for an extra year. This choice was not the best. It was a 45 minute commute to class everyday, but the worst part was the parking. I tried to park in the commuter lots first, but they were always taken, even when I left early, along with my parking pass area. Towards the end of the year I started leaving 45 minutes early, giving me time to sit, wait, and hope that one will open.
This year, I still commute from my apartment on West Chester Pike, hoping it would be better now that I am closer. Unfortunately, it has only gotten worse.
This university parking, in which many would agree, is awful. There is a large amount of commuters that go here; parking should be easy and available. There are passes sold, but the question is, are they really worth the money? In my opinion, parking passes should guarantee a spot to park, whenever you need it. Students are forced to drive around parking lots for as long as an hour, waiting for a spot to become available, even when owning a parking pass. They also added new parking meters in certain areas on campus to eliminate free spots. Along with that, they have been monitoring and ticketing people more frequently.
Our college is a business constantly looking for ways to gain money from their customers and parking is one way to do it. We spend money on things like having more space in the quad, new technology, new walkways, etc. Why not spend it on something actually useful like I don’t know…another parking lot?
There has been an online petition going around requesting more parking spots for us students. Right now they have reached 360 supporters, and, quite frankly, I think we can do better.
Go to this site, and sign the petition today. Lets make a difference West Chester students!
https://www.change.org/p/president-greg-r-weisenstein-create-more-parking-spaces-for-west-chester-university-of-pa-s-student-body-and-faculty
Courtney Potts is a fifth-year student majoring in professional studies work with minors in studio art and journalism. She can be reached at CP763356@wcupa.edu.