Reflection..

Throughout this semester I've opened up to you all about my experiences and frustrations with parking here at Old Dominion Univerity. The good times, the bad...all through this I've been talking to you about the situation here. With the semester finally coming to a close and the summer afoot, I just wanted to say what a great experience it was to be able to let all of this out into the open. From interviewing other students to blogging about events taking place here on campus, it's been quite a ride (no pun intended) and I enjoyed every last minute of it. So please feel free to use this blog as your pathway into the minds of myself and some of the other students here at ODU. I hope you've enjoyed following and reading along.

Until next time!

Last but not Least!

Ok we talked about locations you can and can't park over on the ODU campus. Now we're going to venture across Hampton Blvd and how you unlimited amounts of spaces you can park if you don't midn doing just a tad bit more walking.

There's the obvious TED Constant Convocation Center garage on 43rd street. However, I personally think that's a bit too far for my taste. So where else am I talking about you ask? The 45th Street Marriot Hotel Garage. Don't be fooled! It's not only for the hotel guests. ODU commuters, residents, faculty and visitors are ALL permitted in this garage!

The ONLY restriction is for the metered spaces located on the second floor. Here you have a maximum of 2 hours to park. Every other floor, ramp, level is allowed for all commuters. No need to fear a faculty/staff restriction here. Just make sure that you do have a valid ODU parking pass I.D or else you'll feel the wrath of the parking services officers who very much enjoy writing tickets.

Well..I hope that helps you all learn the ropes a little easier this semester on where to park, where to go, what to avoid, etc. And welcome to ODU and HAPPY PARKING TIME!

Faculty/Staff Lot You Can't Miss But Can't Park!

Right in the middle of campus it seems you will be sure to not miss THIS lot. Faculty/Staff Lot 19. This is located on 45th Street right next to the Batten Arts and Letters building. You'll be tempted to park here because besides a garage, it is the most convinient location to park as everything is within a short walking distance. But DO NOT DO IT! If you arrive ANYTIME before 3:45 p.m. and are found parking in that lot with anything other than a Faculty/Staff parking pass, you'll be making your way over to the Parking Services Office to pay yourself a nice little fine.

However, with a valid ODU parking I.D, you can park in this lot after 3:45 p.m. If you have any night classes then this would be my suggestion on here to park and return to your car safely.

Commuters Stay Away!

Now as we were talking about in our last post, the 43rd Street Garage is a popular one to park in for commuters. And on the outside is looks VERY large. But take a moment to actually look from the outside. You'll see that there are 2 garages connected and the divide is right by the Parking Services Office.

This garage located on Elkhorn Ave is OFF-LIMITS to all commuters. ONLY Faculty Members and Quad Residents are allowed to park here. The one exception to this garage are the 50 metered spaces located in this garage. Otherwise, as a commuter, you are best off just forgetting this garage is even an option.

Most Common Garage You'll Want to Park In

While it's pretty clear there are many garages located on campus with commuter parking priviledges, but we always want to park the closest to our classes.

The most sought after garage is typically the 43rd Street Garage "B". It's the busiest garage and the best time to park in there are during later afternoon hours or REALLY early in the morning. Otherwise, battling for a spot may become a daily occurrance. My suggestion is, if you want to park in this garage for a 9 a.m class, get there no later than 8:30a.m. Otherwise, you will NOT find a spot and will mostlikely be late to class. The next best time to arrive in this garage would be close to 3:00 p.m. Anything between these 2 times are considered "peak campus class" hours with the most students on campus.

But beware! The first level ramp in this garage is reserved for Faculty/Staff ONLY. If you are caught parking here with a commuter's pass, you WILL get a ticket. Whether you are there for one 50 minute class or all day, you'll receive the same ticket. Also the first level is for metered spaces only. These spaces do not require a parking pass however they are timed for a maximum of 2 hours.

Welcome ODU Freshmen! This is your first stop...

First off I'd like to welcome all the incoming Freshmen attending ODU in the fall! I know you'll enjoy it here and hope to have a great experience. You'll be expecting the typical collage life which is, of course, always fun. However what I'm here to talk to you about is something pretty important when it comes to getting to class, learning your way around and showing you the ropes of how things work around here.

Parking!

Yes, I know, fun concept. But it's really important to learn where to park, where not to park, when you can park at these locations..etc.

Now the first stop you need to make before you can even start attending classes is to go to the Office of Parking and Transportation Services. Here you will be able to purchase your parking pass for the semester. This is also the location where you would pay off any fines or parking tickets. Of course we want to avoid having those. Which brings me to our next posts, where to park and where not to park!
Follow me!


View Parking Locations for ODU Freshmen in a larger map

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30997818@N02/sets/72157617746210456/show/

The Mayhem Never Ends!!

I realize that this has been talked about countless times in reference to the ODU parking situation. But recently it's come to my attention that this issue can be broadcast to not only school parking garages but mall parking garages as well.

Just the other day, I was going to MacArthur mall, and I was actually having a hard time finding a decent spot on a lower level floor. Not to mention all the crazy one-ways and arrows and zig-zags throughout the place. I nearly had a collision with an idiot who couldn't read the signs in order to get out of the place.

Then after my rounds of shopping, I walked back to my car and what happens? A battle between 2 other vehicles for my spot! It never ends! And as always with MacArthur mall, that awesome $1 charge for the first three hours. I just got to thinking how much money they must make in ONE day for parking. That mall has been open for years upon years now. Surely they've paid off the cost of the garage at this point. Why is this still needed? Answer. Greed. We can never have enough money to build poorly constructed garages. -Sigh-...


View 366 Parking Map in a larger map

Local Teen Killed in Lynnhaven Shopping Center

Another day, another senseless murder.

On April 10, 2009, a local teenager was recently allegedly robbed and shot outside of the Jumpin' Monkey children's facility in the Lynnhaven Shopping Center in Virginia Beach.

This teen was doing nothing except sitting in his car waiting to pick up his friend from work when he was killed in his car. Someone was seen fleeing the scene shortly after people heard shots fired. When the police and medics arrived, the teen was already dead.

This is a massive loss to everyone. He was a cheerleader for the local All-Star cheerleading team "Fame All-Stars" and had been a part of the organization since it's inception. He was a part of a huge family and every person involved is feeling the weight of this tragedy.

Thoughts and prayers go out to his immediate family as well as friends and extended family who all knew and loved him. He will be tragically missed..


View 366 Parking Map in a larger map

Parking Garage Back-Up!

So I had an interesting experience today. I get ready to pull into my typical 45th street parking garage and then what do I see? Cones...LOTS of cones blocking the street. Of course I begin to panic thinking I couldn't park where I always do, but then I just went down 46th street which they idiotically did not block off (what's the point of blocking off one and not the other if they really want to stop people from parking in that garage?). I drive in and I see this INSANE back-up going up to the first level. A massive amount of cars are exiting the garage and I have no idea what exactly is going on. There's usually on average 10-15 cars exiting when I pull in, but today it was definitely more in the 20-30 range. This presented a problem of even trying to get into those empty spaces with cars constantly speeding by. Do blinkers mean nothing anymore?

Maybe they were just in a hurry to leave to get out due to the event going on in the Ted Constant center. Since of course, they like to block off a lot of unnecessary spaces for people who *might* show up to the event...

Waterside Shootout in Parking Garage

On Sunday morning, Waterside in Norfolk, VA continued to become an area feared by local residents.

After a small car crash inside the garage, police were called to the scene inside a parking garage to find two victims. One of whom was already dead while the other severely injured and taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The police arrested the three men who were involved in the shooting after trying to leave the garage. The police only charged Reginald E. Royals Jr., 24.

The main concern now is "What is the city of Norfolk going to do about these shootings?" There have been officially two downtown slayings near parking garages in the past three days. Citizens are pushing to get surveillance cameras installed in these garages. Law enforcement officers agree with this actions.

"For two-plus years we've been trying to get the city to put surveillance cameras in the garages," said Officer Murphy of the City of Norfolk. Police officers have been put inside the garages themselves and yet the city has still not spared the money to install cameras.

So how many more people need to die before the cost is acceptable? The answer..too many have already died.

When do you not drive?

Just this past week on campus, a question has come up more often than typical for me. When do students find other means of transportation to classes? Such as walking, riding a bike, taking the shuttle or using a skateboard? This week the answer became more obviously...during the warmer weather! All week I observed more bikes parked outside of buildings, larger groups walking together in a much more relaxed manner instead of a hurry and just the overall feel was not a complete rush to get to a car.

Something that accompanied this observation: an easier time to find a parking spot! I guess it's starting to become clearer that the best time to find a spot (if you are a commuter) is during the warm weather!! And it appears riding a bike is probably a lot faster to get to campus than commuting from a dorm anyways...too bad that can't happen all year round!

Seeing the Problem for yourself..

As usual, no spots are available..




So we are forced to resort to this..



And to park here..



However...luckily this time we are not forced to pay extra...for now..



Only to return hours later to find regular spots open at no extra cost..

Paying Extra to Park..

A "free" spot, vs a spot we are being double charged for...what to do?

Recently, when I was on campus, as usual the number of available spots were limited. However, I did notice a very large number of metered spots open which got me thinking about that.

Metered spots can be used by both ODU students and visitors. Good news for visitors, bad news for students who have already shelled out money for an extremely overpriced "possible" spot to begin with. If you're a visitor to ODU's campus and just want to park in a metered spot, well that's all fine and everything but what if you're already a student with a pass? That means you have to pay to park AGAIN and instead of staying parked for your classes all day, you only have 2 hours and then you get a ticket? Having to pay even more? Why do we even have metered spots when they just waste space for students who should be claiming those spots already to begin with.

Right now, the only garage that doesn't have metered parking (and it's not for a lack of trying at the moment) is the 49th street garage. Those "metered" spots are open to everyone as long as they have a decal until they get a metered machine in there. But the students that park there on a daily basis will be getting the boot shortly..

Parallel Parking.....

One of the scariest things to ever have to do when behind the wheel of a car...

Not racing..
Not interstate driving..
Not being stuck in rush hour traffic..
or even making it to work on time..

Parallel parking!

I recently visited Wilmington, NC on a weekend get away and pretty much the only places to park, were in parallel, metered spots. And of course, that's the ONE thing I never truly accomplished in driver's ed. Sad...yes..but it's the truth. So what was I forced to do? Find a lot about 5-6 blocks away from where I actually had to be just so that I could park like a normal person. Then, of course, I get back to my car and there's a nice little pink ticket sitting on the windshield. I guess that's the price of skating by during that particular lesson in High School...

Ready..Set...PARK!

Ever drive on to campus and you can't find a spot?! Well, that is typical event that happens to *most* ODU students. But what's unique about this experience isn't simply finding an empty spot, but FIGHTING for a spot!

Picture just driving around, seeing nothing but metered spaces available, which you aren't going to pay for since you've already paid for an extremely overpriced parking pass, and you see reverse lights come on from a car. You race down but now there is officially 2 other cars waiting for that spot as well!

This is a constant problem when it comes to parking here. With 5 garages available to commuters on campus, this really shouldn't be an issue. What exactly is the problem? Are they selling more passes than there are spaces? Is there some sort of disclaimer that states that ODU is not responsible for us being able to find a spot but taking money from us anyway?

And what exactly is their policy on parking smack downs? Inquiring minds want to know what would happen on these commonly occurring situations...

Parking Problem Epidemic!

Incase you are all wondering if I am just a single disgruntled individual who has issues with parking at ODU, you're very much mistaken.

Recently I talked to a handful of my fellow commuters to get their take on the situation here when it comes to parking. One person has issues with not only the parking but the traffic and constant struggle to get to campus on time. "I leave an hour, sometimes an hour and a half before my class starts and I still am almost late to class!" said an ODU Junior. "Then when I get here, I just pray that there will be a spot for me."

This feeling is echoed among many different students who are commuters. Another commuter also commented on the issue of people who live on campus who are driving 2 blocks and taking up spaces that should be available to commuters. "I don't understand why someone would drive to school when they live on campus when it would take longer to find a spot than it would be to just walk," commented another commuter who has said she knows of individuals who live on campus that do exactly that.

The final commuter I interviewed made it a point to mention her frustration when it comes to having to resort to parking in a metered space. "I spend $180 for a parking tag that doesn't even matter if I have to pay to park AGAIN in a metered spot. Don't they have enough money from students already without forcing them to pay for an hour's worth of a spot?"

All of these people brought up very interesting and understandable complaints when it comes to parking at ODU. It's come to the point where I think anyone who lives on campus shouldn't be allowed to drive to campus. While I realize that may not completely solve the parking problem, it may lessen the number of metered spots necessary which would allow for more actual commuters to be able to find a spot without having to worry about any extra costs. Some may even make it to class on time!

School Parking Issues in Elementary School!

So when I went searching for other locations with parking problems, I came across this blog that shows just how much parking can get out of hand even at a young age.

Because of the lack of parking, a number of parents have been parking their cars in grassy areas next to the school when they drop off and pick up their children.

Northside officials have tried to discourage motorists “to avoid parking in these areas in the interest of student safety,” Noblitt said. However, a number of parents continue to use the area for parking, creating a hazardous situation for both students and parents.

As a result, school officials recently decided to install a fence in the area that will run the length of the school.

Top school officials, however, have determined that no new parking is necessary at the school, Noblitt said.

Ok, so it's true that we're not in elementary school, but apparently bad parking situations stretch farther than just college campuses. Parents of these kids don't find the parking situation safe at all and I can't say that I blame them. Traffic getting children to and from school is heinous and to have to compromise their safety just because the school can't spring the money for better parking accomodations? However, they do have the money to build a fence?

This reminds me a lot of the comparison with how ODU will spend money to remodel the BAL building but not to address the serious parking issues. Instead, they've made "metered" parking. Not only do you have to pay for a parking pass, if you can't find a spot you have to pay more to meter park? Where is all this money for simply PARKING going to?

http://www.dailyadvance.com/news/school-needs-more-parking-406284.html

Customer comes first? Not in the parking lot!

I swear, every time you think that you’ve escaped the parking dilemma, something else happens to put you right back to where you started from. Honestly, how hard is it to park where you’re supposed to?


Alright, let me start from the beginning. This happened to me the other night when a friend and I went out to dinner. The parking lot was full to begin with and we mainly had to just search for someone who was leaving in order to find a decent spot (sound like a familiar ODU parking situation? Yeah, tell me about it). Well anyways, we finally found a spot that wasn’t all the way out in the boondocks.


As we were walking inside, something caught my eye that really made me angry about that whole situation. One of the employees came outside to get something from their car. What it was I don’t really know, or care, but what I did care about was the fact that their car was parked RIGHT in front of the restaurant! Since when is it okay for employee’s to take the spots right by the door? I don’t know how this particular establishment works, but anywhere I’ve ever worked has had a special place where employees are supposed to park so that they are not taking the closest spots available for customers. Who knows what “rank” this person is inside the management system, but all I know is that I find it ridiculous that an employee, who is going to be there all day, gets a front row spot when the people who bring the restaurant business have to settle for second best. What happened to “the customer comes first?” I guess that customer was waiting for a parking spot.

Mexican Madness!!

Chips? Salsa? White sauce? The answer: La Herradura!

La Herradura is ODU's local mexican restaurant located in the Village behind the Ted Constant Convocation center. It's just a place where college students can go between classes and have the most authentic mexican food as possible. They also serve alcoholic drinks, such as margaritas, to the over 21 crowd and is just a place that ODU students can go to if they are looking for a dinner and a drink and not have to travel 20 miles to accomplish that.

So if you're ever in the mood to sit back, relax and take a load off while enjoying real mexican style food (that's not Taco Bell), then La Herradura is the place to go! Just talking about it is making me hungry. I think I'll go grab some mexican food before my next class! See ya!

All About Britt

I could start this off with your basic statistics about myself. The usual age, appearance and interests. However, we'll get to that later and just for now, I'll tell you that I'm a student at Old Dominion University in my Junior year majoring in the communications field.

I have a very sarcastic and straight forward attitude about everything I talk about. I'm not here to sugar coat anything and will tell you exactly how it is with the way that I see things. Specifically, in reference to the first topic that I will be discussing in my blog: the parking situation here at Old Dominion University. Some of my topics may even be coming across in a "rant" format. Though together, I'm sure we'll have some very interesting (and/or heated) discussions about some of the topics I'll discuss. Though I can't imagine there is going to be a lot of debate about parking. So just sit back and enjoy the blogs that will be posted by myself and my group (did I forget to mention that?) about certain subjects pertaining to ODU.

Enjoy!

P.S. My name's Brittany, I'm 21 years old and have brown hair and brown eyes.. =)