By Michael Murcia
Contributing Writer, ‘12

Photo courtesy of The Jersey City Independent

The parking situation at Saint Peter’s College has been the topic of an ongoing debate.  With the college’s location in the middle of Jersey City’s urban West Side district, it is not hard to believe that parking has always been a hassle.  Lately, the college has worked very well to provide parking lots to faculty, administration, staff, residents, commuters, and evening students.  The re-opening of Parking Lot #3, located next to the Yanitelli Recreational Center, between Kennedy Boulevard and West Side Avenue, has helped increase the available parking spaces, but has not made up for the recent parking restrictions on Glenwood Avenue.
In November, 2008 the Parking Authority of Jersey City officially enforced permission to the parking spaces on Glenwood Avenue (not including the parking lots) to city residents only.  Upperclassmen, residing in the apartment buildings down the hill, can now park their cars in Parking Lot #4, located on West Side Avenue, between Montgomery Street and Glenwood Avenue, as well as Lot #6, adjacent to Durant Hall.  Unfortunately, both lots are not spacious enough to accommodate the cars of all the resident students of SPC.  Another conflict both students and faculty face is the use of Glenwood Avenue’s Parking Lot #7 by city-residents.  Faculty members and commuters often find Lot #7 mostly, if not fully, occupied by the cars of residents of Glenwood Avenue who are not Saint Peter’s College students.
Considering the difficulty of finding available parking spaces, members of the college community often have no other choice but to park blocks away from the college or on meter-running spaces found on Montgomery Street and Kennedy Boulevard.  Students and faculty have often complained of the unfair regulations of the parking meters.  The Parking Authority of Jersey City makes sure to write tickets the minute a meter runs out of time.  Some students have even gone as far as to suspect conspiracies in which parking meters run out of time earlier than the allocated money’s worth.  Whatever the case may be, it is a shame to have students worry, especially during classes, about the time left in their meters or to have faculty members sit through the day, wondering whether their cars on Glenwood Avenue will be booted because parking was not available in the morning.  Some students are unable to afford the parking permit fees, leading them to take everyday risks.
It is unfair to have members of the Saint Peter’s College community face these problems when the college has done its share of giving back to the city.  Through community service, fundraisers, blood drives, benefiting walks, peer service, and justice awareness, Saint Peter’s College has unquestionably made an impact on Jersey City.
Saint Peter’s College is one to enrich the lives of its students from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds by providing education that will benefit their future.  The parking spots lost due to the new restriction set in place by the city have not been replaced by the college.