The Rec Center: You Win Some, You Lose Some

The CSULB University Student Union Board of Trustees put the parking crisis on the back burner for the sake of the new rec center. The upcoming construction of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center will eliminate 500 parking spaces when it is built on parking lot 11. The loss is only temporary though, as the new parking structure number three, which will add a total of 1,100 spaces will make up for some of those taken away by the rec center.
The official groundbreaking ceremony for the center is set to take place in January 2009, but the center itself is not scheduled to open until 2010.

Photo: http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students/asi/srwc/index.html

Share a Ride, Make a Friend

Parking and Transportation Services encourages CSULBers to participate in the ride share program. They even help commuters find people to carpool with to school. On the Parking and Transportation CSULB website, those interested will find the "matchlist". Once clicked on, a candidate chooses the city he or she commutes from. Then, they are given a list which includes the names, locations (cross streets), contact info, class schedules and any notes of possible matches.

In addition to freeing up more parking spaces, the ride share program presents economic and other benefits as well. Students, faculty, and staff who carpool can look forward to saving money on gas, car repairs and maintenance, and insurance. Not to mention that it will save students time. It also helps the environment. The ride share program can also be used as an opportunity to make friends on campus.

Photo: http://daf.csulb.edu/offices/ppfm/parking/program/carpool

New Associate Director of Parking says Cheer Up

Mark Rudometkin, CSULB's new associate director of Parking and Access Services wants to change how students think about on-campus parking. He told the Daily 49er newspaper that students need to "be patient and allow [themselves] enough time for parking."
Rudometkin knows how students feel. He remembers what it was like trying to find parking as a student at his alma mater, CSU Fullerton. Attracted to the challenges associated with parking, Rudometkin worked as a parking official at Disneyland where he says he was "swore at in over 50 different languages". He became associate director of parking at CSULB on Sept. 22, 2008.

Be a Good Neighbor, Don't Park Here

Students avoid parking on residential streets near CSULB upon request by the City of Long Beach. "We want to continue to be good neighbors with the people of this portion of Long Beach," said CSULB Police Chief Stan Skipworth.
In that neighborhood, ony residents who display special residential parking permits in their cars, have permission to park on the streets by the city. Even as student Alexis Corona told the Daily 49er, "Parking on campus sucks," CSULB students, for the most part, honor the wishes of the neighborhood and the city by taking heed to the "no student parking" signs which block the entry ways of residential streets.

Paying More to Not Park

Parking continues to be a serious problem at CSULB, yet students pay more for parking permits. The price of the student parking permit has gone up by $27, costing $123 per semester. Students are now afforded the option of purchasing an academic year parking permit for $246. Daily parking passes and the parking meters are not exempt to the cost increase. For a daily pass students pay $4, instead of the previous price of $3.75 and metered parking costs $2 per hour.
The sudden increase in student parking prices, which took effect on July 1, 2008, has students wondering why or what they are paying for. Students are paying for parking structure number 3. According to parking officials, the new structure is costing $41,000,000 to construct and students are pickig up the bill.