San Diego State parking seems to be a widely discussed issue lately. Due to the increasing amount of students continuing to whine about parking, I think I’ve heard just about every single argument — both positive and negative.
But let me expand the subject of parking past our beloved institution to the entire San Diego area.
I hope to change the discussion with one simple idea: Parking sucks everywhere.
Just last night, my best friend and I decided to adventure out beyond our universities into the surrounding San Diego area for an impromptu study date. College is hard and sometimes you just need to leave your house to gain a new perspective on that 10-page paper that you have yet to start.
Our impromptu study date led us to a variety of locations, solely because parking was an issue everywhere we went.
The first location and our go-to study spot, Living Room Cafe on El Cajon Boulevard, yielded disappointing results at 7 p.m. on a Thursday night. It was practically the weekend for several students, especially those without Friday classes. There should not have been that many people studying. It was only the end of week nine and it’s not like any of us still had midterms or papers to complete.
Even though the Living Room Cafe offers a parking lot, it’s tiny. Street parking in the surrounding area is dismal, causing me and my confidant to choose another late-night study location.
After much discussion, we decided to endure the six-mile drive to Lestat’s on Park Avenue in Normal Heights, singing throwback rap songs and discussing the arrival of the new Adele album during the trip.
When we first arrived at the 24-hour coffee spot, which inconveniently does not offer a parking lot like every other popular place in San Diego, we had to drive up and down side streets to scavenge for parking spots. It’s unfortunate that our trek ended in vain.
If we did see a spot in the distance, it was either swooped up by another vulture or our teeny, tiny economy car was too large to parallel park, which is absolutely ridiculous. After searching for spots for more than 15 minutes, it was time to come up with a new plan of attack.
Just then, my study buddy had an epiphany.
“There’s another Lestat’s on Adams Avenue,” she said triumphantly.
After the new location was put into the GPS, we were on our way again. But trying not to be overcome with the sorrow of not finding a parking space at two different places was overwhelmingly difficult.
Finally, after driving an entire 1.3 miles, we arrived once again at Lestat’s. But again, we were met with immediate disappointment, after almost an hour of search for parking places at the previous two establishments. We drove round and round the surrounding neighborhoods, beginning to lose all hope, but then, in the distance, there it was. A parking space.
Parking is not only an issue with late-night study spots. Parking can be an issue no matter what time of day or where you’re going — whether it’s beaches, restaurants or anything.
Therefore, let’s refocus our frustrations away from SDSU and onto the entire concept of parking in the San Diego area, because if you can find a parking spot in less than an hour — oh wait, you can’t.
