This is for everyone who owns a car and uses it at Arcadia. Whether it is to commute or to live on campus, there is a struggle we all face. Parking, if you’re running late because your alarm didn’t go off or there was traffic. The last thing you want is to get to the building you have to park at just for there to be no parking. Being a sophomore I’ve seen my fair share of parking, Freshman year parking was a lot more light but ever since our 2024 income of students parking has become a game of finding Waldo. I’ve seen people park in nome-parking zones, squeeze in between cars where there is no space, or even park on the grass.
Being a commuter and having to find parking at 9:45 is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, imagine driving around campus 5 times till you get a parking spot just barely close to the building. Sometimes I give up after the first lap and park in the very back near the creek. The isolated parking lot which I also have seen a decrease in parking. The absolute worst place to park is at Heinz, finding parking there is once in a blue moon. Workers at the dining hall sometimes have to park all the way in the back end of Heinz just to get to work.
Ratings on parking spots around campus
Heniz/Knight Hall Parking (3/10): | At Heinz parking is scarce, finding parking in the morning through the evening is almost impossible unless you have someone leaving to go somewhere. Having to need parking for my 12:20 class in the library I would always check Heinz for parking. 9 times out of 10 there isn’t a single spot, not even the very back. If you choose to sit at the side for around 20 minutes you may get lucky and get a spot. This has been the strategy to get parking, it hasn’t failed me once but it does require you to pay attention to each parking slot.
Taylor Hall Parking (0/10): Parking at Taylor is a no go if you’re a student. You may get lucky and be able to park there but if public safety decides to do their rounds. You’ll end up with a parking ticket, as it’s a staff only parking spot. Additionally it’s mostly filled with staff vehicles anyways, so your best bet is to find a different area to park in.
Castle Parking (6/10): Now if you did have to go to any event in the castle, the parking is quite alright. Most of the time, the parking closest to the Castle is mostly empty. Isn’t much to say about this spot, just know that you’ll definitely get a spot if you do park over there.
Murphy Parking (8/10): Now no matter what time of the day it is, you’ll always get parking at Murphy. Whether it be 8:30 in the morning or 1:00 in the afternoon there’s always parking. The lot is also flat meaning that you don’t have to walk up a hill to the building like some places. There are also a lot of spots to park in, so you’ll never have to worry about running out of parking.
Eastern/Brubaker Parking (6/10): Parking is straight forward and close to the buildings. If you don’t find a parking spot up front you may have to go to the back but it isn’t that far of a walk to the buildings.
Boyer Parking (7/10): With Boyer you have one huge parking area, as big as Murphy’s spots. You’ll always find parking unless your coming into the afternoon or during a test day but otherwise it’s the most ideal place to park if you got a class in Boyer or Taylor.
Dilworth/Thomas/Kistler Parking (5/10): Now for the residential students, this area sucks just as bad as Heinz. The reason this doesn’t have a lower rating is because the parking spot is mostly used for residential parking, It’s not really surrounded by any classrooms making it less of a hot spot.
This is mostly all the parking spots on campus, I won’t be rating Oak Summit as it is off campus and the parking there is genuinely really good, but for all those commuters out there. Beware of the parking on campus, cause if you do come in late, you’ll be even more later trying to find a parking spot. Till next time my vehicle comrades.
