If you’ve ever rushed to class after spending twenty minutes searching for a parking spot, you know that parking can be an issue on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus. It is problem that appears to be getting worse due to the amount of students who commute to the school.
The Lincoln Park neighborhood as a whole suffers from a lack of parking, and according to DePaul students, campus is no different.
While full-time students have unlimited access to public transit through their U-Pass, many live off campus and don’t have easy access or are uncomfortable with it. Miko Fentanes, a senior at DePaul, said parking almost always makes her late. Her commute is typically around 40 minutes one way. “While it is very convenient to take public transportation to and from DePaul, it is much more comfortable to drive your own car,” Fentanes said.
Students are in a consensus about the problem as senior Paul Carlson said, “parking is so bad.”
“There are about 1,400 individuals that paid for any type of permit through September,” Andy Bafia, of DePaul’s facility operation said about parking.
Yearly permits for the garages on Sheffield Street and Clifton Avenue are $380 for students and $480 for faculty, a price that beats out the daily average price of $12 by a great deal. Those who frequent the Loop campus are not as fortunate; according to the DePaul Parking Services website, there are no official DePaul parking facilities downtown, but several garages offer reduced prices through the Demon Discounts program.
Apart from garages, the surface lots see plenty of traffic as well.
“We also provide the free evening and weekend permit (parking in flat lots only, based on your status, and in after 4 p.m. out by 8 a.m. on weekdays) to all faculty, staff and students at no cost. Every year we give out about 1,700 of these. That free permit is what clogs the flat lots on weekdays after 4 p.m.,” Bafia said.
Mike Spieles, parking services representative on the Lincoln Park campus, disagrees with this idea. “[The flat lots] have never been completely filled up,” he said. Spieles added that if the Sheffield garage is full, they send students and faculty to the garage on Clifton.
Faculty seems to agree with this and do not openly complain about trouble finding parking, although, many choose to take public transportation instead.
“I usually take the L to campus because I can work while I’m riding and because I’m trying to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that I produce,” Sarah Richardson, a biology professor, said. “I drive when I need to run an errand after work, and I don’t have a problem finding a parking space.”
Although Richardson believes parking is rather easy to find on campus coming from within the city, she said she would enjoy it at a lower cost.
Some students have an issue with parking because they have to commute from the suburbs and the Metra prices are high. A oneway ticket could cost up to $9.25, depending on where they are commuting. This can be a large sum to pay, especially for a college student on a budget.
Carlson would prefer to take public transit but he, unfortunately, lives too far away.
“DePaul should offer discounted monthly Metra passes,” Carlson argued. He added that he is almost guaranteed to be late while looking for a parking spot, so he has to leave home much earlier than he’d like.
“I commute from Evanston, which is said to be the closest suburb to Chicago. However, sometimes it feels like I live two hours away when parking is added in” Fentanes said. “After attending DePaul for the past three years, parking has been one of the worst headaches to deal with on campus, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.”
With the potential loss of 47 current parking spots on North Kenmore for the woonerf, there is bound to be more discontent over the issue.
To learn more about parking options for both the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses, visit the Parking Services website: parkingservices.depaul.edu or stop by their Lincoln Park office in Schmitt Academic Center 177.