The Tougher Side of Owning a Car in Cambridge

The automobile is a way of life for most college students. They use it to go on spur of the moment road trips, transport their kegs, visit friends at far off colleges or to just get away from college life for a while.

But not a Harvard.

Here, it's not getting the car that's a problem, finding a place to park it. The Harvard car-owner has three options: park in a Harvard-owned lot, park on Cambridge streets with a city permit, or park illegally.

Those who can afford to send their car to school as well as themselves can park at the Business School, Soldiers Field, or Peabody Terrace lots. Approximately 130 undergraduates pay $315 to park at the Business School, says Jeffrey L. Smith of the Harvard Parking Office. Another 30 students park at Soldiers Field and Peabody Terrace, which costs $65 a month for covered parking spaces and $50 a month for spots on the roof, Smith says.

In the past five years, the number of applications for these parking spaces has been steadily increasing, Smith says. He attributed this to the fact that the Harvard lots provide 24-hour security and a guaranteed space, while parking with a Cambridge sticker or choosing the illegal option provides neither.

Another parking option is to obtain a resident parking sticker from the City of Cambridge. The stickers cost $3 and permit parking anywhere in Cambridge. To qualify for a sticker, a student must have a car registered in Massachusetts and "principally garaged in Cambridge at your residential address," says Mary Monagle of the Cambridge Department of Traffic and Parking.

An additional $3, can buy a permit-holder a set of visitor's permits, which can be used by guests. Students living in dormitories, however, cannot purchase visitor permits.

If students are the gambling type, they can also try to find parking spaces and dispense with either city permits or Harvard-owned lots. Some students have a much easier time finding a parking space.

Jennifer M. Walser '90 found a space freshman year by sheer luck. She brought a car to Harvard during freshman week and left it at the Swiss Chalet Inn near the Alewife T stop for several days. When she returned to get it, she did not have a ticket and figured that the owners of the inn had not noticed it. Walser says that she ended up leaving the car at the inn for most of the year.

Other students rent parking spots in driveways of Cambridge homes. Christopher J. Farley '88 says he has heard of Cambridge homeowners charging $60-$70 a month for people to park in their driveways. Some driveways are cluttered with four or five cars, Farley says.

Students with cars and professors for parents can sometimes use their parent's space. Leif F. Hutchinson '90 says he kept a car in his father's parking space behind the Jefferson Labs for use on weekends.

Yet, there is a risk to this wheel of parking fortune: parking tickets and towings. One day, Walser left her car in Harvard Square. The only parking spot she could find was one which had been blocked off by "No Parking" signs and had a fluorescent "No Parking" sticker on the meter. In a desperate attempt, Walser moved the signs, cut off the sticker, put money in the meter, and left her car.

"Of course, it was towed," Walser says.

Farley says he spent $70 and most of his sophomore year trying to figure a place to park. In his search for a safe spot, Farley accumulated nine tickets. One day he returned to his car to find that police had attached a metal boot to one of his tires for parking in an unauthorized area. Farley had to pay $50 to have the boot removed. He now has a parking sticker.

Allen R. Barton '90, who found the trek across the river unbearable, began parking his car in a private lot behind the Jefferson Labs and received a string of seven $5 tickets. The police towed his car twice. To retrieve his vehicle, he had to walk to Central Square and pay a $40 fine.

Barton has returned to parking at the B-School. But even that lot is not without hazard. Barton says that he almost received a ticket for not parking in the residents' section of the lot.

Regardless of the inconveniences of keeping a car on campus, for some students a car is a must. Johanna K. Neilson '88, a Cabot House resident, brought a car to Harvard because she has ice hockey practice every night on the other side of the river.

"I wouldn't have a car if it weren't for sports," Neilson says. Parking at the ice rink is not a problem because her coach gave her a pass, she adds.

Neilson says that the car is especially useful because her roommates--a hockey player, a tennis player, and another a soccer player--share it and the expenses. This type of cooperative arrangement is not uncommon. Farley says that when he was paying $40 a month to park at the Botanic Gardens, his roommates helped pay the costs since they used the car as much as he did.

While many undergraduates have problems parking, the situation is, in some ways, worse for graduate students. Any undergraduate who has the money can park in a Harvard-owned lot. Graduate students go through a lottery at registration to determine who gets parking, because most of them live in the area north of the Yard where parking lots such as the Everett St. and Broadway garages are crowded, Smith says.

With all the disadvantages, many students think a car is more trouble than it's worth and decide not to have freedom on wheels. "My stepfather asked me if I wanted to have a car on campus, but I couldn't think of a use for one," says Caroline E. Lovelace '90. "The only reason I can see for having a car is to go and get kegs," she says.

The abundance of public transportation in the area is another reason cited against owning a car. "We have the T and the shuttle, so you don't really have to have a car," Farley says. He says that it is only beneficial to have a car if parking is inexpensive or if the owner is rich.

Walser no longer has her car and says she doesn't miss it. "I don't want to get it back," she says. Walser noted that if someone desperately needs a car, he can rent one relatively inexpensively. "You can always use a bus or find a friend who has a car," Walser says.