UVU and BYU students evaluate the building of a new parking garage on UVU campus.
Expressing his feelings regarding the creation of the parking garage, Jeremy Hammer, a UVU student majoring in psychology, said, “I think it’s way too overpriced for anybody to use.”
After Hammer considered the benefits of covered parking in the winter time he said, “(When) it’s freezing, I bet it will get used a lot more.”
Students at the local university who want to park in the garage can either pay $2 an hour for up to six hours or $750 to park in the premium spaces for three semesters.
According to the assistant director of UVU parking services, Jim Innes, all money students pay for these parking spaces will be used to pay off the construction bond.
Another student, Levi Yeck, an information systems major, parks in the free parking lots farther from campus and doesn’t see the garage affecting his commute to UVU campus.
“I don’t mind walking ten minutes to get there, and I just have all my classes in the same building,” Yeck said. “I don’t need to pay to be on campus.”
BYU students had differing opinions when they considered whether or not they would benefit from a parking garage similar to UVU’s.
A pre-communications major, Brad Heap, said, “If they had a parking garage on campus I feel like a lot of people would use it. People like to be close and on time.”
Another student had stronger, negative feelings after rushing to find a free parking spot close to campus.
“It’s like a zoo down there, trying to find a parking space (in the Y lot),” said Shelby Dean, a BYU student studying nutritional science.
When she considered the costs of more stress-free parking Dean said, “I would rather park in a Y lot and walk an extra five minutes or so to save that money.”
Samuel Turner, a 22-year-old English major at BYU, recently moved apartments, and one of his primary reasons for making the move was to avoid the hassle of fighting for parking close to campus.
Turner wasn’t prepared to pay the $750 for parking, but the idea of building parking closer to campus did appeal to him.
“And even if I lived farther away I still wouldn’t because I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it. But there are some people that would, and that would free up parking space for other people too,” Turner said.
