<p>My son is a freshman at UB. He is in the Architecture program. He is dorming on North Campus and the Arch studio is on South. He has been begging for us to send his car up to school. He claims he spends a lot of time on the bus going back and forth between the two campuses (can take up to 45 minutes at times which takes a lot of his studio time away). He also has to stay at the studio very late at night and when he comes out the buses only run every hour so he has to wait. A car would make it easier but I worry with so much snow if this is a wise choice. He also has a car that is not great in the snow. Thanks. Debbie</p>
<p>At first glance it does SEEM like a car would make things easier, but I would counsel you to wait a bit before caving on this one, especially if he has not yet experienced the Buffalo winter and his car isn’t good on snow. (Does that mean he’s also not too experienced driving in snow?) </p>
<p>I agree that the slower bus schedule late at night can be inconvenient; my D dorms and as a job on North campus, but even on the same campus, when her job ends late it’s a pain waiting for the bus to Ellicott. She tries to time her departure from work so that she’s not waiting for the bus too long. Maybe your son could do something similar in terms of when he leaves his studio? I’m curious why he chose to dorm on North with so much of his activity happening on South campus? </p>
<p>UB does a good job of keeping the roads and sidewalks around campus clear during the winter, but they won’t dig your car out for you. And parking can be a hassle, I’m told.</p>
<p>We faced the same dilemma last year and relented in January and brought the car up. Buffalo did not get all that much snow, and our D assured us that she would not use the car when there was any threat of bad weather. The other concern was parking at night, and she had friends meet her in the parking lot at night and escort her to her dorm. We were very reluctant to do this for the same reasons as you, we did not do it for her older siblings, but this worked out fine.</p>
<p>If you’re reluctant to give in, I’d give it a few weeks…most kids learn the “timing” routine fairly quickly…or make friends with kids who have cars and similar schedules (but that may not sit well with you either!). There are bus schedules on the transportation website and I haven’t heard that the South campus shuttle only comes once an hour at night. It was running continuosly last time I checked, but that was last year. </p>
<p>My sophomore daughter lives on North and has classes on both campuses. She would love to have a car in Buffalo but said she wouldn’t use it to commute during the day because it’s a hassle to park. She took a car at various times last year (for my convenience, ie. when she’d be coming home again within a few weeks) and didn’t experience any problems with the snow…but she’s used to winter driving, it was a mild winter, and she was doing mostly highway driving. She simply wouldn’t drive if the weather was ugly and perhaps you can make a deal with your son that he won’t either.</p>
<p>I think your son is exaggerating the bus situation somewhat to get you to give him the car - the bus runs every 10 to 15 minutes up until midnight. My son tells me it takes 20 to 25 minutes to go from South Campus to Governors in the evening if theres a party crowd on board. Im guessing it would take 15 minutes door to door even if he have a car, and in winter hed need another 5 to 10 minutes to brush the car off if it snowed since he parked.</p>
<p>Just tell him he’s doing his part to help keep UB green and environmentally friendly. :D</p>
<p>From a student’s perspective - the car would be a good thing.</p>
<p>Getting between north/south can be a pain. Even when the buses run every 15 minutes, it can take 30+ minutes to get to south by the time the bus stops and stuff - add on any wait time and it adds up pretty quickly.</p>
<p>By car, it’s 10 minutes with no traffic, maybe 20 during the peak hours.</p>
<p>The buses are somewhat unreliable - it’s not uncommon for one not to show up, meaning you end up waiting 20-30 minutes for one…doesn’t happen that often, but it’s not that uncommon either. During the later hours of the night, they don’t run that often at all.</p>
<p>The snow really isn’t an issue. They do a decent job at plowing the campuses, and it’s all heavily-traveled roads between them. And, if the snow is really bad, there’s nothing that stops him from taking the bus and not driving.</p>
<p>Plus, UB doesn’t really get that much snow. When you hear about snow in Buffalo, it’s usually the southtowns. The northern suburbs don’t get hit nearly as hard. There were times last year where I’d have a foot of snow at my house (only 30 minutes away) and UB would have 2-3".</p>
<p>Having a car definitely makes things easier. Parking is a hassle during the day - if it’s for day classes I’d take the bus anyway. But during the evening/night, it’s not an issue. And the residence hall lots (Governors on north is close to the spine, Main/Bailey on south) never get near full.</p>
<p>Plus a car allows you to go off campus easily - even if it’s just a run to Tops or Target, it’s very useful.</p>
<p>If you can get the car there with relative ease, do it. I will be greatly beneficial to him.</p>
<p>I guess Im old fashioned when I was younger, I relied on public transportation and didnt think twice about not owning a car. College is one of the few times in your life where you will have alternate transportation readily available for all of your basic needs.</p>
<p>Haha…I’m with you JayDee! Tops is across the street from south and the mall/market shuttle runs at least twice a week…kid learns to plan ahead or gets stuck with whatever CVS and the campus convenience stores carry (which is so much more than on most campuses). Residential students at UB can find almost anything they really NEED right on campus. But the biggest reason I’m not a fan of my kid keeping a car there is that I don’t want her to have to deal with maintenance and repairs, or worry about vandalism, and I sure don’t want to deal with it long distance! We had a very bad repair experience last year when she had a car there for a brief period and I’m not anxious to repeat it. Next year she’s planning to live off campus and that will be a different story.</p>
<p>I am so glad my D decided not to take a car. Every summer (she’s a junior) she’s weighed the pros and cons (and there are certainly lots of pros) and every summer her practical side (and she is NOT a very practical kid) has won out. Altogether less hassle, even though that may seem counterintuitive at first glance. I should also mention that don’t forget about insurance; we have our D on our policy, but her status is “away at school”. It would be pricier if she took the car and was driving it regularly. (At least that’s the case for our policy and our situation YMMV.)</p>
<p>Public transportation in Buffalo sucks. You can take the UB buses to south, and there’s a little bit in walking distance, yeah. You could take the metro rail downtown then, but it runs only along Main Street and really only gets you to selected areas.</p>
<p>Yeah, you can find the necessities on campus. But there’s not a ton. CVS and everything in the commons is insanely marked up in price. Taking the bus to south just to go to Tops turns what should be a half hour trip into one that takes easily an hour and a half.</p>
<p>There’s so much right around north campus - but you can’t get to any of it without a car, except for the twice-a-week mall bus.</p>
<p>I’ve honestly never had an issue with my car on campus. If you’ve got a car that’s not the most reliable, then you might have to deal with maintenance/repair…other wise, its not too much to worry about. Not like you should be driving that much every semester where you have to worry about oil changes or brakes. I’ve seen very little vandalism on cars - keep them locked. Granted, if you’re driving a BMW or something, yeah, you’re kind of asking for it, but otherwise, not too much of an issue.</p>
<p>From a parent’s perspective, you seem to be reasoning legitimately - but you’re not exactly the ones living here. It’s extremely convenient and beneficial to have a car.</p>
<p>But, on the other hand, my car is my own - I pay for everything on it - gas, insurance, etc.</p>
<p>Hey Pha516 - GM has a discount program for college students where eligible students and grads can get the supplier prices on new cars. You can go to GMCollegeDiscount.com to get more info. There’s also a Facebook page you can check out //■■■■■■/caU470. Just came across your post doing some web work for GM and thought this may be of use to you. Good luck to you and your son! Regards - Elise</p>
<p>user_007 sums up a student’s perspective perfectly</p>
<p>I decided to come back to this thread since we’ve been having many discussions about this recently in my house and have even spent several weekends car shopping. My sophomore D’s conclusion, after putting real numbers on paper, was that a car is nice to have but not worth borrowing for - or having to take unsub Stafford loans, since her ability to save would be drastically reduced - or even taking a car to school if one lives in the dorms. She doesn’t want to give up the freedom she presently has to cut back her work hours when she has a tough semester and definitely doesn’t want any added stress that would come from maintenance/repair issues or having to make car/insurance payments (I offered her a 10 y.o., fairly reliable, SUV that I keep for the kids to drive, but she wanted something with fewer miles and better fuel economy). She has several friends who have had their cars keyed on campus this semester…in the Fargo lot, which she thinks is well-patrolled. Presumably comp coverage would take care of it, but it’s another potential headache that my kid doesn’t want. Luckily, both of her roommates brought their cars this year and are happy to have company and a small contribution to the gas fund. When she moves off campus in May, the reduced housing/meal costs will be directed to a car.</p>
<p>^^
sk8rmom thanks for that update. My D used a very similar evaluation process and came to a simliar conclusion. </p>
<p>Isn’t it nice to see them working oout cost/benefit analysis like this in a thoughtful and mature way? :)</p>
<p>Yes it is…although she kept asking me to just make the decision for her and I really had to restrain myself and just keep talking her through the decision-making process. I dislike consumer debt in general and, although I agree she has to have a better car at some point before fieldwork, we both are a little taken back by the current used-car pricing (apparently fueled by the Cash for Clunkers program and the economy in general). It was especially hard because she drove a very nice 2006 model that she REALLY liked, is in near-mint condition, and is priced $4K under book value…but it’s still around $4K more than she has saved for a vehicle right now, and that turns into $5.5 K with sales tax, licensing, and insurance. Once she really thought about having to make the $100/month payment for 3 years, plus fees, insurance, maintenance, and repairs, it became a less attractive prospect…as she said, it’s a great deal for someone else. When she’s in school she only earns around $250/month and actually saves most of that (she every paycheck she’s earned this semester) so she figures another 6 months of that, plus her earnings over breaks, will at least cover the $1.5K in nuisance costs and allow her to borrow as little as possible.</p>
<p>She figured out that living on campus is presently costing $300/week and expects that to drop by at least 1/3 after she moves into an apartment…but that’s just a guess at this point. She and 2 friends are starting to look around and put feelers out in the northern suburbs. They’ve looked at a few complexes that don’t cater specifically to students (they don’t want the noise, don’t care about most of the “amenities”, and we already have decent furniture to spare) but weren’t overly impressed so they may end up in something privately owned. She’s hoping the savings from moving off-campus will be enough to cover her vehicle expense…she plans to pay off the loan with her summer earnings but in the worst case scenario she would have to continue earning at her current level and make payments. Her car would be paid for the same month she graduates (5 year, MS program) and will hopefully still be in good condition and under 100K miles (she’s fairly meticulous with all of her belongings). </p>
<p>Sorry for the lenthy explanation, but does all of this sound like a reasonable plan? As I said, we’re both having a “deer in the headlights” moment about her acquiring consumer debt!</p>