Parking has been a consistent issue on campus, and it seems to only be getting worse.
We have a campus population of 10,835 students according to the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) website. With that number of students, one would assume that parking needs would either be addressed or at least have a clear plan to address the issue.
The CMU Parking Services website says, “Purchasing a parking permit does not guarantee a parking space but affords the permit holder an opportunity to park in authorized parking areas when a space is available.”
It’s a ridiculous sentiment that just shows that the institution isn’t concerned about addressing the need. They want to continue charging for passes even if they can’t provide a spot for the majority of convenient parking.
The most desired commuter lot to park is outside Dominguez Hall, which fills up very quickly because of its high demand. Then you have the small lot outside the Garfield dorm, the parking garage, the garage by the MavCenter and the small lot by Houston Hall. Forgive me if I’m missing any.
While this seems like a lot of parking, if your classes don’t start until 10:00 a.m. or later, good luck getting a spot. If you find a spot in any of the lots, you most likely caught it at the perfect time or parked at the very back of the Dominguez Hall lot.
There are options of walking or riding something onto campus but that isn’t always feasible for everyone. If you are riding something, it better be something that you can bring into your classes or dorm to avoid having your bike stolen even if you have a good lock. If the thieves are discouraged from the lock, they will just steal whatever they can which leaves you with three-quarters of a bike or less.
Bike theft specifically is problematic on campus and doesn’t aid in encouraging students to take alternative routes to school.
In my mind, this leaves us with just a couple of options. One is to create a set amount of parking passes to allow enough spaces for everyone to park and deal with the bike theft issue to encourage students to ride more of them.
This both addresses the parking concerns and encourages people to start taking bikes, which may be easier given gas prices. While it wouldn’t be easy or fun to have a set number of passes, it would allow the administration some time at least to build a new lot or garage to solve the problem.
The second option is to build a new lot or garage to address the problem. Buying out the houses near the Bunting Lot or the lot where Jimmy’s Hamburgers is located aren’t the cheapest options, but it feels like the administration is just delaying the inevitable.
The third and final option would be to just leave it as it is. The school gets to keep handing out tickets to violators or people just trying to save a few bucks by sharing a parking pass. That way we can continue to pay the school more money for them to build things we didn’t ask for.
Doesn’t sound very fun, does it?
This is a situation that has to be addressed and can’t continue to go in the direction that it is.
