#2 Green-Gresham Lot

The 2nd stop is Gresham parking lot this is located on 49th street, a little past Rogers. This lot is used solely for the residents of the Gresham dorm, so you don't have to worry about communters taking your spots. Now this lot is seperated in two, on both sides of the Gresham Main building.This lot is extremely smaller than the Rogers lot, so in most cases you might have to park in Rogers.

#1 Yellow-Rogers

The first stop on the tour of "Freshmen Parking" is the Rogers Parking lot. This lot is actually a 2-part lot. The first part is located on Hampton Blvd, where this part is shared by commuters and employees of WHRO. The second part of the lot is located on 49th street, and is solely for the residents. This parking lot is important because anyone with a decal can park here...this is important if you stay in a dorm that does not have a cafeteria, you can drive to Rogers and park in this lot.

A Good Park is Hard to Find...

View A Good Park is Hard to Find... in a larger map

If You Ain't First...You're Last!!

My biggest pet peeve is when you are in the parking lot searching for a spot and then as you see the golden spot, someone comes out of no where and parks there! I have a horror story that inspired this blog post...I wanted to go see the new gym and it was way to hot for me to walk across campus. So i decided to drive over to the parking lot is on the corner of 49th and Powhattan Ave. These are mostly reseverd spots, however there are a couple spots that are free to park with decals. So as I drive through the lot the first time there are no spots, then i see someone walking to their car. I drive all the way around the parking lot to get back over there. As I am coming around the corrner i see the spot right there....then out of nowhere this red truck pulls into the spot!!! Then to make matters worse, he decides to pull out and back in! I was pissed...i mean i was right there...it was almost my spot...but i guess almost doesnt count where there is more people than parking spots on campus! Ricky Bobby said it best..."If you aint first, then your last." I was last that day!

Where there's a will theres a way...

Today on another one of my daily adventures to find a parking spot in my parking lot, I actually figured out a system! I found that you have to time this out perfectly...you cant just expect to pull into the parking lot at anytime and there will be free spaces. The first time is in the morning between 8 and 9am. This the time when the overnight guests are leaving so they won't get parking tickets. Also between 12 and 2pm this the time when people are going out for lunch or usually getting out of class and going to lunch. Finally between the times of 9 and 11 this is the time when people are leaving to go out for the night. However you can't wait for too long because this is also the time when overnight guests are coming and taking spots.

WHY???....

So I have yet another frustration with Old Dominion University parking services. Not only do I have to deal with the daily struggle of actually finding a parking spot, but now I have to deal with major roads being blocked off due to events held at the Ted Constant Center. Now I understand that when the shows are Kid oriented it is not safe for cars to be zooming by, but that is what the traffic cops are there for to stop traffic while the children cross. However for some strange reason ODU decides to block off the entire streets, causing us drivers to have to drive all the way around just to get to our buildings. At first it doesn't seem like a big deal to have a road blocked off until you realized that it causes more traffic, not that Hampton Blvd needs any more. Hopefully ODU parking services will realize that blocking off these streets are not worth it, because they ultimately cause more problems. Not to mention that when they block off these streets they are also blocking access to two parking garages. Which once again causes parking problems. It becomes a domino effect for people who are trying to park in the limited spaces that we have.

A prime parking spot is a prized thing

"When you're in a car pool group, you have your own reserved spot. Not even the president has his own reserved spot."

According to an article on Insider Higher Ed, parking on college campuses have become a bigger issue than officials could have ever imagined. Several colleges have tried tp fix this problem by reserving spaces for car pooling and even eco-friendly cars; however some people think that they are taking this too far.

For three years Augsburg College, in Minneapolis had created a car pooling service where there were reserved spots located on the edge of campus. There wasn't a big demand until officials decided to move the reserved spots into the middle of campus. There was a drastic change from one to five in just the fall. John Pack, Augsburg’s director of public safety stated, “We know from what the car-poolers have told us that moving those reserved spots to the heart of campus, and adding that convenience factor, has been a big draw.”

While changes haven’t been drastic, a number of colleges have put in place small numbers of “car pool only” or “hybrid only” parking spots to encourage greener driving habits . De Anza College, a two-year institution in California, has reserved 13 for alternative fuel vehicles, which must have a factory insignia declaring them hybrid, bio-diesel, or electric vehicle. Also Western Michigan University has 15 spots for alternative fuel vehicles by its College of Health and Human Services.

Colleges' policies on parking, of course, have been just a small piece of their overall efforts to encourage more eco-friendly habits.