Pros and Cons: Debating a new Pierce parking structure

Jordan Utley- omson

jthomson.roundupnews@gmail.com

Pierce College does not need a parking garage. It’s simple: spend money on necessities and forget about luxuries.

Essentially, that’s what students have done in choosing the community college route. They’ve forgone the bells and whistles offered by a four-year university in favor of the bare necessities provided by a school like Pierce.

It seems the people accountable for putting irresponsible propositions on the state ballot year after year, the same ones responsible for all of this irritating construction at Pierce, don’t understand. They figure they can just tax and spend away at first sight of the smallest inconveniences.

Lack of parking is one of these inconveniences, but surely not a $16 million inconvenience. That was the cost of Moorpark College’s recently finished parking structure, and its year and a half of construction caused trouble.

Moorpark provides an interesting precedent of what could happen at Pierce if the college acquires the funds for a new parking struc- ture. There would be a temporary decrease in parking spaces due to construction. Naturally, students will seek other parking spots around the campus and proceed to antagonize every home and business owner by means of loud music, trash buildup and no sense of driving skills. It got so bad that the Moorpark City Council considered issuing parking permits to everyone so long as they didn’t look like your usual crazy college student. If Pierce was to follow in Moorpark’s footsteps, then don’t be fooled by the first statistics used to promote such a project. As a rule of thumb, adjust the original cost of any public construction project higher than what it already is, and be pessimistic about the benefits. Once again, is this garage really necessary? Pierce has 20,448 students enrolled, a number that increases every year. Building this structure in hopes of alleviating parking problems is like shooting a BB gun at an incoming train with the intent of stopping it.

And while Pierce did run a balanced budget this year, that doesn’t mean the college should go on a spending spree or beg the government for more bonds in order to finance frivolous infrastructure.

If Pierce absolutely must go on a spending spree, hire more professors. Offer more class times. Provide the resources that students actually need to graduate.

The addition of a multi-leveled parking structure would be extremely beneficial to Pierce College and should be considered for the convenience of everyone who drives to Pierce College.

One of the ways Pierce gets its funding is dependent on the number of students that attend Pierce. Installing a parking structure would be able to capitalize on that method of funding.

East Los Angeles College was able to open up a parking structure which doubled their parking space as stated by College President Ernest Moreno according to an LACCD news release.

Pierce would also be in the position to generate more funding by charging parking to outsiders who would wish to use the parking structure in order to access the businesses and events in the area.

It could also allow for more people to attend events that take place on campus like Farm Walk which would promote ties between Pierce and the community around it. More club events and campus functions would benefit from more

-COMIC STRIP- parking space.

The addition of a multi-leveled parking structure would alleviate traffic instead of having the Pierce community drive around the entire campus to find a spot. With a clear structure dedicated to guest spaces, the campus would be more accommodating to visitors.

If the administration wishes to help the parking situation, a structure would encourage more people to come to Pierce which would still be a win –win because of the growth in revenue the structure could generate.

A new parking structure would also make a great impression for students in the first few weeks of a semester when parking is a struggle for those who drive and attend Pierce.

Perhaps students drop classes in those early weeks because finding parking was too much of an effort and they decide to go to another campus, like ELAC, where a parking structure easily welcomes them with a space for their car.

Maybe more students would be retained when parking is way more available than it currently is, which would help keep Pierce full throughout a semester.

Pierce administrators should consider all the benefits a parking structure would add to the college before tabling the idea indefinitely.