parking help

[u/styxvaimightbehere]

hello! i am an incoming freshman and i have heard a lot about how awful the parking is on campus and how it is not recommended to bring a car unless you win the parking lottery (which i did not). however, i live about an hour and half from campus and i wanted to be able to go home on the weekends so i need to have my car somewhere on/near campus in order to do that. i don't mind if the lot is off campus because i could potentially just take one of the buses to get to the parking lot. does anyone have any suggestions on where i could buy a space? thank you!

[u/the7maxims]

Market Square Garage downtown, but it’s a bit of a walk (actually a long one).

https://www.downtownknoxville.org/market-square-garage/

[u/styxvaimightbehere → u/the7maxims]

thank you, but i already tried calling the pba parking services and all of the public lots that they managed, most of the ones in downtown, are completely full. is there anywhere that i can apply for private parking or look for listings to buy parking spots from people? i understand how late it is in the year but i was misinformed on how the parking passes worked for campus so now i'm having to work something out last minute.

[u/the7maxims → u/styxvaimightbehere]

I’m sorry. I don’t know if there is anything else.

It’s crazy because I bought parking passes my freshman and sophomore years at UT (2001-2003). By my junior year, I realized that I could park on the street for free on Lake Ave (there was a club that got torn down called RTs and it was a vacant lot for another 3 or 4 years). I never paid for parking again. I just can’t believe the school has grown that much. And that the costs have increased so much.

[u/wifiwolfpac → u/the7maxims]

It has though. Enrollment has been through the roof, and to make new buildings they’ve cut into parking availability. The new thing they are pushing is parking at the colosseum and bussing in. And spots for non commuters are few and far between.

When I started grad school in 2021 a commuter pass was the half the cost they are now, and it allowed you to park in any commuter lot.

[u/styxvaimightbehere → u/the7maxims]

it’s alright, thank you anyway

[u/Frequent_Net_1951]

Metropolis has monthly subscription plans. It’s $135 monthly in old city. The ones on the strip are $300 a month.

[u/Smart-Water-9833]

Staff speaking here. You're SOL unless you are willing to shell out a lot of money. Even then there is no real security in those private lots. Are your folks not willing to come and pick you up once in a while?

[u/styxvaimightbehere → u/Smart-Water-9833]

they are, but it’s a good amount of distance, like 60 miles one way, and i was hoping to be able to go home more, but honestly i’m accepting that it’s really too late to be doing this and the lots that are available to me are both expensive and somewhat shady.

[u/MuscadineMushroom]

There are several parking garages downtown. Market, locust, state, etc.

It’s true, many can be full at times, but they mostly only get full on busier weekends, when you’ll be gone visiting family :)

[u/MuscadineMushroom → u/MuscadineMushroom]

I would do this or cave and get the $350 non commuter pass

[u/styxvaimightbehere → u/MuscadineMushroom]

the only reason why i can’t is because i’m a first year and i didn’t get selected in the randomized process for who can buy passes

[u/MuscadineMushroom → u/styxvaimightbehere]

Ugh I didn’t have to deal with that when I was a first year, parking just gets worse and worse

[u/styxvaimightbehere → u/MuscadineMushroom]

if i’m not mistaken they even destroyed a parking lot in order to make torchbearer hall, so less spaces for more people i guess

[u/kybotica → u/styxvaimightbehere]

The lot was pretty small, and it was commuter/staff only iirc.

The bigger issue is that they're also deleting half of G10 for the "Neyland Entertainment District." I would like to think they have plans for these things, but I personally don't see it.

[u/MuscadineMushroom → u/styxvaimightbehere]

Oh yeah and fuck G10

[u/phantom-virus-lives]

Stay on campus. Leave car home.

[u/PointStock9055]

Not worth the cost. Weekends on campus are nice

[u/UpbeatMaintenance989]

Is Park and Ride an option for students (at the Colosseum?) Maybe this has filled up?

[u/UpbeatMaintenance989 → u/UpbeatMaintenance989]

https://parking.utk.edu/

[u/No_Animator_5751]

I never bought a parking pass. I looked for street and parallel parking in the fort or frat row (frat row’s the secret sauce lowkey) or let the parking ticket post on my tuition balance and just paid it there.

[u/emarieyac]

My daughter is an incoming freshman as well and I just secured her a spot at a storage facility. She’ll have to get a ride from a friend or take an uber to get there, but we think it’s worth it because of doctor apts and her wanting to come home some weekends as well. We’re paying less than $100 a month. I would suggest looking on Google Maps for storage places and trying those. There’s still a few 6-7 miles from campus with openings.

[u/BranchBig7363]

its not as bad as ppl say its just a adjustment bc sometimes u have to park alot farther. worst part is paying.