There are few places to park at NWA, and almost all available options are exceptionally expensive, forcing many students to either eat the high cost of parking or find another way to commute altogether.
The few options that students have access to include the paid parking lot on the corner of 12th and Main, across from NWA’s Main St. Building, a few auctioned off spots behind the Plaza building or street parking, which for many can be hard to find.
Dassi Gordon-Knight, a senior who parks across from the Main Building, pays $300 a month in order to park there.
“I think that if there was a cheaper way for people to park at school, there would definitely be more people who would drive to school,” said Gordon-Knight. “Even if that means carpooling, there would still be more of that and it would be a lot more accessible to a lot of people even if there was just a cheaper way to park.”
Students have a variety of different ideas of what a new parking situation for NWA would look like, but a major issue seems to be the school being located downtown, and therefore finding space to park is more difficult.
“I think the school being downtown makes [parking] a lot bigger of an issue,” said Phineas Silverman, a junior who drives to school daily. “If we had a more remote school, it would be easier to get a parking lot and maintain a parking lot. It would be a lot cheaper overall.”
Some members of the school administration do not see any feasible path forward for students or staff to have cheaper or more accessible parking.
“In an ideal world, we would have plenty of free parking for everybody in the whole school,” said Joanne Kim, NWA’s Head of High School. “To be honest I don’t see that actually happening any time soon.”
While some see the issue as largely unsolvable, others see a path that the school can take forward, as many students, especially those in suburban areas, have to drive as there is no other feasible option.
“I think that school should either subsidize parking costs or allow students to park in the school lots,” said Owen Abrahams, a junior who drives to school every day.
Kim thinks that finding alternatives to driving can be beneficial, as students and staff are forced to look for greener options.
“I feel conflicted because I do think that driving less, taking more public transit and all that is good but I do realize that that is not an accessible reality for everyone in our community, so I guess I would want to see if there is a way to be more responsive to the people that really do need that kind of support,” said Kim. “But we also want to support and incentivize public transit, walking, bicycles.”
Abrahams thinks the school should consider many students who have no other way to get to school besides driving, and there are many who have no choice but to pay the expensive parking fees. This situation is not unique to Abrahams. Gordon-Knight has to drive in order to make it to work every night.
“My work starts exactly at 4 p.m. so I already have to leave school early so I can get to work on time,” said Gordon-Knight. “I would like to take the bus […] but then I might have to rely on things that might be delayed or if I miss my bus then I am late for work.”
Some students who have the ability to get to school other ways often choose to take the bus to avoid the parking costs.
“It is just so expensive to park downtown,” said Nico Chapin, a junior who has had his driver’s license for over a year but chooses not to drive to school. “Especially for people that can’t afford buying a monthly parking pass at school, it is really difficult to park at school. That is the main reason why I don’t drive to school.”
Jake Chisholm, a sophomore, also has his driver’s license and cites both owning a car and parking as the two things that are stopping him from driving to school.
“Parking is not the only thing that is stopping me from driving to school,” said Chisholm. “But if the school had [a parking lot] then once I get a car then I would 100% drive to school. [Driving to school] would really help me practice driving and make my trip easier.”
Some see carpooling as a way to avoid high parking costs, as splitting the cost between several students can drastically reduce the amount of money per person.
“The biggest reason that I carpool is because of the crazy expensive parking,” said Gus Hardman, a junior. “I can split the cost of parking with someone else and that is crazy helpful [with the cost].”
Hardman also wondered if the school could open up the parking lot under the Plaza and Tower buildings to students to rent spots.
There are cheaper options for parking in the area, it just might require a short walk. For example, PSU’s lots allow the use of the Parking Kitty app. Parking Structure 3 at PSU 1631 SW 12th has an hourly rate of $2.50 and a full day charge of $11. (see: https://www.pdx.edu/transportation/hourly-visitor-parking). The SmartPark at 10th and Yamhill also seems to be cheaper than the lots directly adjacent to campus. There is an app called parkopedia.com that can help you locate the cheapest parking in the area. Another option would be to park over at the Lloyd Center, many of those lots are now free and just pop on a train to come across the river.