Parking at Ole Miss is not a new subject of controversy. Everyone seems to have their own complaints when the subject comes up. After all the complaints about it there is seemingly nothing done. It has become just a platform that candidates use to run for office. There are many reasons for the parking situation. These reasons range from laziness to bad zoning to an insufficient number of spaces. So is the parking as bad as it is said to be?
To start off there are two common arguments. The first being that people are too lazy. Ole Miss has a relatively small campus and it’s no large feat to ride a bike or walk to where you need to go. So we should stop complaining and suck it up and walk or ride your bike. I agree with this for the most part. A little exercise isn’t going to hurt anyone and if this is an option than it should be taken advantage of. This is the best option for people living on campus. As far as classes go you should never need to take your car if you are a on campus resident. This may seem to be a given but I knew quite a few people who lived on campus and drove to their classes. The farthest someone should need to walk is probably Scruggs the music building, with the exception of maybe one or two buildings. Here are a few reasons this pays off. While I was in the dorm my car could stay put for a week before I really needed it. By using my car so little I was able to keep a decent space which can be hard to do. Second you can save a lot of gas money and I know I could always use the extra cash. The last is you don’t get tickets. This is big since the ticket patrol seems to have some incredible employee of the month prize or has some ridiculous quota to meet. So if you live on campus there really isn’t much you can argue about the parking.
The second argument is I don’t live on campus and the parking sucks. Which I agree with for the most part. Students who live off campus don’t have very good options when it comes to parking. Some might argue that you should get up earlier and get a spot. Well unless you want to wake up an hour or more earlier just so you can get a spot than go for it. As for me on the other hand an hour earlier out of my sleeping time, I don’t think that is going to happen. That’s very precious time that will not be wasted due to lack of parking spaces. I think the thirty minutes I set aside should be sufficient and it usually is but its not always and I can live with that.
Others would argue that the parking isn’t zoned well enough. There seems to be about one hundred faculty parking lots to about ten student lots. This of course is an exaggeration but I’m sure some of there faculty lots could be rezoned to accommodate more student spaces. There are also time limits on the lots. I understand that the lots by class buildings don’t need to be taken all day because other commuters need to use them too and that you can’t post your car up in a space all day. But some of these time limits just don’t make sense. For instance the small parking lot by Connor and Holman. The one that everyone who takes a business class tries to park in. The limit in this lot is forty five minutes. I was just given a ticket for over time parking last week in this lot. The least amount of time a student will be in class is fifty minutes. How much sense does that make? Could the parking lot not be set up any better to screw you? I came out and looked at the ticket and laughed not realizing that the lot had a limit and even more that the limit was forty five minutes. How could the parking services or UPD put a forty five minute time limit on a lot without anyone else noticing and saying “you know this just isn’t right”.
So is the parking at Ole Miss as bad as it is said to be? On a grading scale I would give it a D+. There are many improvements than can be made and I hope to see some of them soon.