Driving and parking at BC every morning for nearly two years has given me countless trial and error opportunities to refine parking down to an exact science, and I am happy to share my knowledge with all.
If you park in lots 1A/B or 3A/B up by the 148th street entrance to the school, you’re a sucker. Convince yourself all you want that it’s better than driving around fighting for a spot, but that’s just a lame excuse for being a talentless parker.
Lots 16 and 17 near the gym and baseball field are a solid grab but things can get tricky when trying to circle around for a second time. Not to mention the possibility, slight as it may be, that the sinister sign warning of baseballs leaving the field of play and striking your car may in fact come true, and no spot is worth that.
No, the best place to park on the entire campus is the parking garage. “But there are never any spots and they’re all so small,” said the uninformed BC student. Did you know that when the parking garage was built it cost something like $3,000 for every parking spot? This may not change your opinion about the garage one bit, but at least you learned an interesting fact while reading this.
Unless you have class in the N building, parking in the garage is the closest distance from your car to your classroom. It is the least amount of walking time, which means you can park at 11:27 a.m. and still make your 11:30 a.m. class.
It’s a valid argument that the stalls are small and there’s no available spots, but if you know how to work the system, it’s a cakewalk.
At the beginning of the quarter, before the daily grind slowly beats me down, I’m full of motivation. I wake up right on time and I’m out the door on schedule, but when I arrive at school early there are no spots available. Contrary to popular belief, arriving at school early will NOT increase your chances of getting a spot. In fact, it’s the opposite. After about a week the snooze alarm makes its first appearance in the morning and before you know it, I’m arriving at 9:25 a.m. for a 9:30 a.m. class but getting spots immediately. And it makes perfect sense. Most classes get out on the 20’s of every hour, give kids five minutes to walk to their car, and the 25’s of each hour become a hot bed of exchanges between incoming and outgoing students.
The second floor is the floor to be on. The third floor has too many cars entering and exiting; the fourth floor, too many stairs and too long a wait for the elevator; the fifth floor, just stop it.
Now, if you drive a big SUV like myself, the stalls can seem impossibly small, but what took me a while to realize is that the stalls on the ramps connecting each floor of the garage are slightly bigger, allowing for a roomier space for you to slide your car into. But whatever you do, don’t try to back it in. About five percent of the population can maneuver a quick, clean back in, so chances are you’re not one of them. Having to sit and wait while you experiment with a back in for the second time ever just so when you leave in one hour you save a total of three seconds exiting your spot is not something I have time for.
Best spot on campus: Second floor parking garage on the ramp. You can thank me later.