Damp Butts and Parking Lots

Springtime in Oregon. Everything is bursting open. It’s a botanical orgy out there. It’s been raining off and on for several days--perfect for the new flowers I planted around the house and the grass seed I put down in the back yard. I hope the weather won’t turn out like last year: it stopped raining in early May and didn’t rain again until the fall. I kind of like the rain.

Good thing because I’m going to be spending more time in it.

Some backstory is needed, of course.

After a good bit of hand-wringing, the university announced that a new parking permit policy will go into effect over the summer. Currently, students pay a flat rate, $195 for the three main terms, a bit more to include the summer term. There are specific lots designated for students scattered within and around campus. Parking is a bit of a free-for-all activity and the lots closest to campus fill quickly in the mornings. But there are always plenty of spaces in what you might call the second-tier lots. Third-tier lots are often mostly empty no matter what time of day. I have never had problems finding a parking space. Still, there is a constant whine from students who just can’t seem to find a parking space. The translation is, they can’t find one 100 feet from their classroom five minutes before their class is scheduled to start. Thus I am not sure there was ever a “parking problem” in the first place. There is a laziness problem, to be sure. A lack of planning problem, perhaps (a condition endemic to being 20 years old, I’m afraid).

Nonetheless, the university decided that there was a problem and that as a solution, they will start charging different rates for different lots. You buy a hangtag for rate 2 and you can only park in rate 2 lots. The rate they will charge for the lots closest to the center of campus will be twice the current rate! Way to put a price on that laziness!

I sometimes use the close lots when I come back to campus in the afternoons. I won’t be able to do that anymore, so this new policy will affect me a little. But since I most often park on the edge of campus and ride my bike to class, I will end up saving money since the cost of parking permits for the lots I use will be decreasing under the new system!

One of the minor hazards of riding in the rain is that the butt of my pants stays damp all day long because I can never dry the bike seat off completely. Still, if you dress with some forethought, you can stay warm and mostly dry even when you have to get out in the rain every hour or so (my feet are still loving my new shoes!).

It seems like a pretty good deal to me: I'll save a bit of money and get some healthy exercise. Rain or shine!