urbanMSP

And this, folks, is how structural inequity happens. The more-well-off kids get easy access to transit with discount passes and the less-well-off-kids have to pay for parking because there's no bus.

I went to a small liberal arts college with a residency requirement (on-campus housing) and its own (free) transit service. I paid (or am still paying, actually) a massive amount for that. Other students may choose to go to a commuter school like this, paying much less and saving tens of thousands of dollars. Out of that subset of students, some may take transit or live close and walk/bike. How exactly is it unfair for people to pay for the car storage they consume, whether they are a student or not, or whether they are poorer or not? The parking isn't free. If they don't pay, the student who takes transit or bikes ten miles to class (maybe because they can't afford a car in the first place) ends up subsidizing the car storage habits of their fellow students. Likely through tuition or generic student fees. Is that right? In the end, "free" parking reinforces a car-centric culture, land use, and transportation network which makes people even poorer and is the quintessential example of structural inequality.

School choice isn't a free choice, like the market you're positing. Ability to attend a traditional college depends not just on cost/willingness to accept loans, proximity, etc. but also on acceptance criteria (high school diploma vs. GED, grades in high school, criminal record etc.) and the other reasons (inability to get housing in the area for cost or otherwise, cultural pressure to stay close to home, etc). For many of the students here, this is the best college they can go to. For these people, who are geographically stuck somewhere that might not be convenient to transit, the only thing that making parking cost for them would be to take money from their pockets and make it less likely that they'd be able to afford it.

You could provide vouchers under a certain income level, of course, but then who are you targeting? Some administrative employees (okay, fair enough), a mostly adjunct faculty (who aren't paid much anyway, and might for family or multiple-job reasons have similar geographic restrictions)... and who else?

The actual students here are paying only a tiny percentage of the cost here, because they're heavily subsidized by the state to attend. This is effectively a safety-net of parking for those who can't attend and for whom our public transit network is inadequate, paid for by the state collectively.

Heck, just have a buyout. Give people $2/day for commuting. And charge them $2/day for parking. It doesn't have to cost people.

The only thing that costs people, and society, and kills us all slowly, is the illusion of "free" parking.

I'm just saying, priorities. Taking away free parking from Metropolitan State University isn't going to make anyone live closer or make for better transit, it'll just cost some people money. There are better targets to focus on.

Most colleges have a fee for parking included in the tuition, and I know that MCTC (and probably St Paul College) do charge for parking.

It would probably be useful to take a look at the Metro State parking page: http://www.metrostate.edu/msweb/resourc ... tions.html

Just posted since there are great things going on for the University. Bear in mind this goes way beyond a parking ramp, there is also a Student Center and a Science Education Center that are under construction as well. The area will look a lot different in just a year from now, probably the biggest difference notable on the campus since New Main and the Library were built in 2002.

Bottom line on the parking issue, there are people who drive to the university so a parking ramp is needed. Other colleges/universities have them too from what I have seen.

There are webcams for all 3 new buildings on the bottom of the left hand bar on this page:
http://www.metrostate.edu/msweb/resourc ... jects.html

There are webcams for all 3 new buildings on the bottom of the left hand bar on this page:
http://www.metrostate.edu/msweb/resourc ... jects.html

The links to the webcam are on the lower right side of the page...

Stage left.

Clearly I have not had enough caffeine today.

Clearly I have not had enough caffeine today.

Since they're building two buildings in addition to the ramp, it seems that it was a design failure not to screen the parking with more active uses. This design strikes me as insensitive to the traditional urban context of the neighborhood.

I see nobody even updated on this. They actually did see the light and centered the ramp in the block. The only side that won't eventually be screened is the northeast side - but with the massive grade change, all but the top level will be screened too

Metro State takes house, will use for parking. http://www.twincities.com/2016/01/27/ne ... 1453942365

For surface parking... http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/24/da ... 1456436760