How many times have the students of Northeastern circled through the parking lots only to come up empty-handed? Ask one of those students as they are driving in circles and they’ll probably tell you once is enough. The frustration stems from not just the amount of money students are charged for a spot that is not even guaranteed to them, but also from the wasted time searching for a space and the unauthorized vehicles in permit holders’ spots– a far too common occurrence.
But let’s go one step further. Have administrators looked into how the ALCS at “Friendly Fenway” is effecting the parking situation on campus, now that street parking near the home of the Red Sox has been banned? With this extra traffic, parking lot troubles have become Northeastern’s own “Curse of the Bambino.”
Sure, there are five parking lots and garages on campus open to students and faculty during the day. There are a total of three now that provide overnight parking since the Renaissance Garage now allows it.
This is all well and good, but because of the playoffs there has been an influx in traffic in Boston and especially near Northeastern, which has Fenway Park in its backyard. Needless to say, if the overnight lots are not supervised with care and, to some extent vigilance, then the permit paying students are the ones paying the price while driving in circles searching for a place to park.
Students who rely on the overnight parking available on campus may be bothered by vehicles parked in legal spots without those precious stickers on their back left windows Although this problem may be highlighted by the recent increase of foreign vehicles in and around Boston, it is a problem that has existed on Northeastern’s turf well before Manny and Nomah called Boston home.
The Northeastern University Police Department should be more concerned with the cars without passes than the students who may now have to pay even more money to get their car from the impound lot while the other people get off scot free. Add to this the perception that although students are paying $570 per semester for a combined day and overnight pass, they are afraid to move their cars because they know when they return, there is no guarantee that a spot will be there.
The university needs better monitoring of all the parking lots in general. Students are paying far too much money to watch the university become lax about who comes in and out of the lots. Parking in Boston is not a right, but a privilege. If students are going to pay $570 for that privilege, they should have a better guarantee that the university will hold up their end of the bargain, even with playoff fever.
