My wife happened to pick up a copy of the Bradley Scout while walking through campus the other day, and this article on the new five-story parking deck at Main and Maplewood caught my attention:
Parking deck isn’t used to full capacity
The Main West Parking Deck is a year old, but it isn’t being used to its full capacity.
The deck, located on the corners of Main Street and Maplewood Avenue, was built in August 2008 for commuter students, faculty and staff with a valid permit, said Charmin Hibberd, director of Conference Facilities and Parking.
But Hibberd added that the deck isn’t being fully used.
She said the current construction on the Athletic Performance Arena, occurring directly next to the parking deck, is likely deterring students, faculty and staff from the area.
“People are leery of walking through there, even though there is a sidewalk and it’s safe,” Hibberd said.
She also said some students and faculty have told her they think the deck is too far from the buildings they visit most often.
The article goes on, but I couldn’t get past that last sentence. The deck is “too far from the buildings they visit most often”? What buildings are they visiting? From the parking deck to the opposite corner of campus is about a quarter of a mile. Considering the average person walks about three miles an hour, that represents a five-minute walk at most. How much closer do these students and faculty expect to be able to park? Is walking up to five minutes from your car to your class really that inconvenient? Or have college students just become so lazy and auto-dependent that they can’t travel more than a few feet on foot nowadays?
No wonder obesity is on the rise on college campuses.
Oh those poor precious snowflakes. Just think… when they are old and grey they can relate to their grandchildren about how they were forced to walk a quarter mile through rain and snow every day on their way to school. The suffering. The frostbyte. Oh the humanity….
Maybe Bradley will build them another parking garage closer to their classrooms.
Think about the children !!!
and don’t forget that quarter mile is uphill both ways! guess the poor babies didn’t run 14 to 20 440’s every day in cross country practice like some of us old fogies did in the 70’s
Eh, it’s kind of silly to complain about anything being “too far” away re: the BU campus. Having said that, I’ve only parked in the parking deck once this year – and, since then, I’ve found a spot that was closer to my building and had less construction around it. When I’m running late in the morning, every minute counts. 🙂
Living very close, I rarely see anyone pull in or out of the parking deck. Isn’t its main purpose to support parking for the new athletic facility, anyway?
I work at Bradley and use the deck every day. The deck was built to replace the field house parking lot, on-street parking along Maplewood, and a row of parking along Glenwood that was eliminated for the construction of the new Fieldhouse. There has been much gnashing of teeth by some officials because the deck isn’t being filled every day. But I can assure you of a couple things…
1. The first 3 stories of the deck are routinely full by 9 or 10 o’clock. Since there’s only 5 stories, I would say that’s being used quite enough.
2. The walk to campus is nothing compared to some other schools. That shouldn’t be an excuse. I will say that the walk along Main Street is not pleasant. There are barricades, but the road and curb situation are such that they hold pools of water, so if there’s any rain / snow events then pedestrians walking from the deck to campus are splashed with muddy water. It happens nearly every rainstorm. The construction debris on the sidewalk, and uneven portions make it not the most enjoyable 1/4 mile.
3. Students don’t use it that often because there is (and has been) another student parking deck across campus closer to the dorms. This new deck was primarily for staff, faculty, facilities, and event parking for the Fieldhouse. Not many events going on now in that new building 🙂
4. The BU campus has been under construction for 3 years or so now. With this construction, the road construction, and all the other renovations going on I can see why folks would try to find another place to park so they don’t have to wait behind a flatbed truck, a crane, or get concrete dust all over their cars. The phrase construction fatigue comes to mind. These are largely positive changes for our school and community…but people are tired of steering around orange cones and hearing pile drivers.
This entire article (and similar previous comments from BU officials) makes me think of how a parent buys their kid a new toy, and learns the kid doesn’t play with it that much. So they scold the kid.
“I paid $50 for that new toy and you still play with your old G.I. Joes.”
The deck IS being used. It will be used more as time goes on and more events come to the Fieldhouse. I believe it was a wise investment to help solve the parking problem on campus. Perhaps a better sidewalk & entry into the structure will help encourage people to use it more.
The walk from one end of the University of Notre Dame to the other end takes fifteen (15) minutes; toughen up B.U.!!
And I made that walk for 8 a.m. GYM CLASS, wacko, my entire freshman year! I WANTED TO DIE. (I lived in Lyons, I think it’s more like 20 to the way far other end of campus. The other walk I hated was O’Shag to Lyons in the HURLING WINTER WIND blowing so hard you could hardly stay upright or get a deep breath.)
I have a little bit of sympathy because I did occasionally find my walk from a slightly-distant parking lot to the law school building at Duke onerous, particularly given what I paid for parking, but I was carrying 3 law textbooks and a big-ass laptop, so my back was wanting me to give up if I walked a mere 40 feet between classes.
That’s why I thanked the inventor of the suitcase on wheels so that I could get from the Manual parking lot to my room on 2nd floor–in the winter or on rainy days even that was an unpleasant walk. I remember going to the University of Kentucky for a summer and having to walk a good 20 minutes to get to classes. Of course, in the Dark Ages when I went to Bradley and didn’t have a car, I walked three blocks from home to get on a bus (carrying all my books) to get to Bradley and then still had to walk to get back and forth to classes (carrying all books all day).
mapleton:
Memmmmm-rees….
either:
32 x 220s (with a hundred yard walk in between each)
16 x 440s (with a 220 walk in between each)
8 x half mile (with a quarter walk in between)
or
4 x mile (with a quarter walk in between)
or one 4 mile run
I remember my coach giving us the option…
Bradley would have more available parking spaces, closer to campus, if they were a bit more judicious as to whom they give parking stickers too. They issue stickers to students who live across the street on Main! I have seen countless episodes of said students, hopping into their cars, to park ON CAMPUS.
To be honest no one, faculty, staff, or students, in the Uplands, Arbors or Moss Bradley neighborhoods, should ever be issued a parking sticker unless they have a compelling reason. The numbers of BU people in these neighborhoods who drive and park on campus is astounding. It creates parking hassles for those who really do need parking spaces and it unnecessarily increases traffic on area roadways.
One of the colleges I went to, the fresh/soph parking lots were so far away from most of the campus, we took a shuttle bus to the buildings. If you were at class past shuttle hours, you were walking a very very long way with a heavy backpack. Yah. the good ol’ days.
The short answer is: LAZY.
“Dee: The BU campus has been under construction for 3 years or so now.”
Bradley has been under perpetual construction/destruction since around 1985. And almost every one of those projects created parking (and other) difficulties for the students — especially commuters. When Olin was under renovation, half of Elmwood was blocked off. When the university created the Welcome Center, they made the Williams lot visitor parking only (eliminating MANY student spaces). The same thing happened with the Global Communications Center (which rests on what used to be the Becker Barracks and the parking lot for SAC/Garrett Center).
HOWEVER…. this mess that’s going on right now is the largest and most inconvenient project since 1991 when University was rerouted around SAC, and Duryea was created where University used to be.
And the walk along Main is generally risky and unpleasant, even when the University isn’t under construction.
Well back in the good ole days I went to UCLA. Not only did I have a 35 mile trip, each way, to get to the University, but the trek to classes on the campus was an exercise in fitness. But did we complain? Not on your life. If we didn’t like it we could leave. We are raising a bunch of pampered kids. Get out of your cars and off your cell phones and get real. Life is not there for your convenience. How are you ever going to face adversity in life if you can’t even face a little parking/walking problem?
I have to agree with Dee. I teach in Bradley Hall which is actually very close to the parking deck in question. However, the area is currently such a mess with all of the construction going on (construction that never seems to end) – it is just easier to park in the lot in front of the building.
With that said, it is kind of silly that people can’t walk across Bradley’s campus (in construction-free areas). It’s not that big, folks. Try walking from one end of campus to the other at a school like Western (been there, done that).