By Edwin Buiter
McPherson College has a parking problem. Especially at the beginning of the school year, with the influx of new students, finding a space to park and get to class was nearly impossible, leading to car lined streets and frustrated students. Adding to the problem, many Automotive Restoration students have more than one car on the campus parking lots. Are these students causing the campus parking crisis?
I went out and looked at the campus parking lots, noting when I saw multiple cars belonging to the same student (that I was aware of). I found that on any given day, there are likely around 10 extra cars that auto students have doubled up on. I also did a rough count of the total parking spaces on campus and found there to be around 650 parking spaces. When compared this way, the double parkers of our AR department are a small portion of the parking problem. However, when you look at the amount of people who need to use the parking lot, a bigger issue becomes apparent.
In Fall 2021, there were 811 enrolled full time students at McPherson. This means that even if everyone followed the guidelines and only had one car, there would be a shortage of parking spaces. Of course, not everyone does have a car on campus, but this means that every extra car is taking a space from someone else, at least during the busiest parking times. The lack of parking spaces is only a problem during the day, when off-campus commuters come to their classes. At night, there is an abundance of empty parking, making it easy for students with more than one car to leave their automobile sitting in the lot. This tendency from Auto Restoration students, paired with an already too small parking lot, is why it seems like you’re never able to find a spot near where you want to be.
