Shortage of parking spaces is a very familiar scene on campus, but the opposite is true for the G3 structure, which was opened at the start of the semester.
At peak hours, the new parking lot is usually only filled to half its capacity, said Alfredo Fernandez, captain of parking and transportation services at CSUN.
‘We anticipate by Fall that’ll change as students start to realize there’s much more convenient parking where they can go in and park and not have to search,’ Fernandez said
The G3 lot has 1840 spaces total, 1390 of which are in the five-story structure, according to Fernandez.
‘Do you want to spend 20 minutes looking for space right next to where you need to go or park right away and walk a couple of minutes?’ said Fernandez.
Ryan Rhoads, 19, a kinesiology major, discovered the new parking structure three weeks ago and found a better solution for the distance from his classes. He parks at G3 and rides his bicycle around campus.
Rhoads gets to campus at 11 a.m. and said there’s hardly any parking elsewhere.’
‘This is the only structure that has space at that time in the morning,’ Rhoads said. He also finds the spaces are a little wider compared to other structures.
‘I love this parking lot’mdash;from day one I’m using this,’ said Yukiko Kanda, 30, a biology post-bachelorette studies. Her only concern was the visibility of incoming cars while making turns.
‘It’s two-way and that sometimes is dangerous,’ said Kanda. ‘I’ve observed a few times that cars come real close when I make turns.’
Ken Rosenthal, manager of construction services, said the structure cost about $17 million and construction took 14 months.
‘The parking structure came out great,’ said Rosenthal. ‘We’re very happy with the layout, location and the overall quality of the product is excellent.’
Rosenthal said the structure is located strategically to provide parking for new ongoing projects, the Performance Arts Center and the new science building.
For now, some students have found another use for the half-empty at peak hours and nearly empty in the evenings structure.
Most weeknights on level five, a group of sorority sisters practice ‘strolling’ dances routines and reggaeton for an upcoming annual sorority and fraternity competition at the University of Southern California on April 18.
‘It’s a popular place to practice your dance routines,’ said Wendy Scndejas, 22, an English literature major who doesn’t park on campus because of the high cost of parking permits. She buys one day passes only on emergencies, such as the days she’s late to class.
The sorority sisters started to look for a new place to practice when their apartment complex neighbors complained about the noise.’
‘During the night, it’s usually empty,’ said Maria Balthazar, 22, psychology alumni still active in the Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority Inc. ‘We can bump our music and nobody gets mad.’
To inform students of the new parking structure, Fernandez said they passed out flyers, sent emails and informed the local media.’
‘I’m sure the students didn’t check their emails,’ said Jake Hytken, 20, a communication major. ‘There was nothing that said it was open. There was no big banner, no cutting of the ribbon.’
Hytken uses the parking structure when it best fits his classes and said he finds it always empty.
‘I don’t think the awareness is there yet,’ said Fernandez. ‘As we have gotten the word out they’re going to quickly realize that parking is far more convenient especially in light of available spaces.’
