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Why are college kids driving in the first place? Are there not enough apartments nearby to rent a room in walking/cycling/shuttle range? Isn't that a pretty for

Why are college kids driving in the first place? Are there not enough apartments nearby to rent a room in walking/cycling/shuttle range? Isn't that a pretty foreseeable need when choosing a site for a university? I can understand this problem if you're serving a lot of nontraditional students who already have households, but not with 18-22 year old full time students.

analog31 7y ago
There are both "residential" and "commuter" colleges. For instance in my locale, the Big Ten university is mostly residential for undergrads (served by large student rental neighborhoods), and the housing typically chosen by grad students has decent access to the bus service, or bike-friendly routes. There's also a community college that serves a lot of commuting students, and has none of its own housing. The regional colleges have more commuter students, since you can save a boatload of money by living at home, but also probably don't have such severe parking problems -- land is cheaper.
jessaustin 7y ago
This really depends on the college town. In East-Coast urban cores, most students won't be able to afford to park at any time. Everywhere else in USA, they have free parking where they stay, and also they're culturally conditioned to consider walking or biking to be beneath their station, so they'll consider free parking near their classes to be their birthright.
- analog31 7y ago
  Which university? I've never been on a major college campus where it was even possible to park near the classroom buildings, much less practical. I live a few blocks from a Big Ten university in the Midwest. When classes are in session, the extensive rows of bike racks are stuffed full of bikes, to the point where illegal bike parking is actually a problem.
  - jessaustin 7y ago
    What I described is certainly the situation at e.g. Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska, to name three "Big Ten" schools. I suppose I haven't done a complete survey, however. There are lots of other, smaller colleges where this is also true.
mike_d 7y ago
In my home town the local community college was a 45 minute drive from my parents house. I couldn't afford to move in to the city just to go to school. People who move to attend college are the exception not the rule, by the numbers.

analog31 7y ago

There are both "residential" and "commuter" colleges. For instance in my locale, the Big Ten university is mostly residential for undergrads (served by large student rental neighborhoods), and the housing typically chosen by grad students has decent access to the bus service, or bike-friendly routes. There's also a community college that serves a lot of commuting students, and has none of its own housing. The regional colleges have more commuter students, since you can save a boatload of money by living at home, but also probably don't have such severe parking problems -- land is cheaper.

jessaustin 7y ago

This really depends on the college town. In East-Coast urban cores, most students won't be able to afford to park at any time. Everywhere else in USA, they have free parking where they stay, and also they're culturally conditioned to consider walking or biking to be beneath their station, so they'll consider free parking near their classes to be their birthright.

analog31 7y ago
Which university? I've never been on a major college campus where it was even possible to park near the classroom buildings, much less practical. I live a few blocks from a Big Ten university in the Midwest. When classes are in session, the extensive rows of bike racks are stuffed full of bikes, to the point where illegal bike parking is actually a problem.
- jessaustin 7y ago
  What I described is certainly the situation at e.g. Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska, to name three "Big Ten" schools. I suppose I haven't done a complete survey, however. There are lots of other, smaller colleges where this is also true.

mike_d 7y ago

In my home town the local community college was a 45 minute drive from my parents house. I couldn't afford to move in to the city just to go to school. People who move to attend college are the exception not the rule, by the numbers.