<p>I think I'll be committing to UPenn and after talking with a slew of kids at Penn, many of them say you don't need a car at Penn. But I have one, and I'm from the south and my city has no public transportation and where I'm from "10 blocks" isn't close haha. I know parking at Penn is $1,300 or so a year which I don't think is that bad... and seeing that we are in the northern east coast, I'd love to take trips to Maryland, New Jersey and of coarse new york frequently. What are you guys takes? When I visited Philadelphia I didn't feel car would be a major hassle but I was only there for 4 days so I'd love some outside advice!</p>
<p>Unless you are consistently going outside of Philadelphia, there is no need for a car, and if anything cars are an extra hassle and an extra expense. The $1,300 you would pay for parking at Penn just entitles you to find parking in one of the parking decks around campus - you can find parking just west of campus for free so the $1,300 is a little ridiculous.</p>
<p>You will never use a car to get anywhere on and around campus. You say that ten blocks is far for you, but let’s use a little example. Say you live in Gregory, at 40th and Spruce, and say you have a class in DRL, at 33rd and Walnut. You think to yourself, that is nine blocks away (seven to the east, two to the north)! But then think about the logistics: getting your car means walking to the parking deck, probably 40th and Walnut; there is no parking area really convenient to DRL, so you would pay need to find street parking and then pay for parking each time. It is expensive and winds up taking significantly more time. If you are in nursing, you will have clinicals as a junior/senior, and THOSE may require you to drive, but even then, you can find your way to your location pretty easily without a car.</p>
<p>Getting to other places in Philly is similar. Philadelphia has a very expansive public transportation system, made up of heavy rail, light rail, trolleys, subways and buses. At any time you are on Penn’s campus, you are never more than three or four blocks from a trolley or subway stop, and it is generally much faster to get downtown by subway/trolley than by car (unquestionably faster during rush hour!).</p>
<p>Most people come to Penn, thinking that they will be visiting their friends at different schools all of the time, but that is not what winds up happening. Most people spend most weekends at Penn freshman year, and they only really do travel when they have a significant other at another school. </p>
<p>There isn’t much to do in Jersey during the school year (being realistic here). If you will actually be going to Maryland frequently, then maybe you could justify having a car, but if you are honest with yourself, you know that you aren’t going to be traveling to Baltimore or Washington all that much. </p>
<p>It is very common for Penn students to go up to NYC, either with student groups or to visit friends. But nobody drives to NYC - you can get a round-trip Amtrak ticket for $70, and that trip takes about 75 minutes; alternatively, discount bus companies get you there for $10, and public transportation (SEPTA and NJ Transit) costs $50ish round trip.</p>
<p>My point is that a car is not necessarily a major hassle, but it is entirely unnecessary and very costly, not to mention that Philadelphia is notorious for auto theft / break-ins.</p>
<p>there is parking near penn? I never saw any…</p>
<p>Agreed with most of what chrisw said, but I too am unaware of free parking near campus. What exactly are you referring to?</p>
<p>Oh come on people! Parking is difficult during the day since many people drive to work on campus, but parking is plentiful after 5PM if you know where to look and how to parallel park. I needed a car during the second half of my senior year since I had started my full time job (in the suburbs… i.e. car = king). The only time I ever had any trouble (read: took longer than five minutes) finding parking was during spring fling, and even that was no big deal.</p>
<p>Going back in my memory a bit, but if I remember correctly… Parking is metered for two blocks to the north/south of Market Street east of 43rd Street. Parking on any streets that cut through campus is also metered. If you go to the west, there aren’t any meters south of Walnut and west of 40th. The south side of Locust Street has two hour parking on weekdays between 41st and 42nd (if you get a resident’s permit, you are exempt from that limit). The area around Penn Alexander has a bunch of no parking 7AM-4PM zones, but across the street is free. Everything from Spruce Street and south is free west of 39th Street (includes Delancey, Pine, Baltimore, Chester, Woodland).</p>
<p>There are very few places you will want to go in Philadelphia that you can’t get to easily from Penn on public transportation. </p>
<p>It’s nuts to keep a car for going to New York City. Going to New York costs $20-$40 round trip on the Megabus, Bolt Bus, or SEPTA/NJT trains. (Amtrak round trip is more like $150-$200.) Tolls and gas to NYC are in the $20 range already, and then you have to park your car when you get there. You could basically take the train to NYC every weekend, and have money to spend while you are there, for what it would cost to keep a car.</p>
<p>For other things – a lot of students (and a lot of grownups who live around Penn and in Center City) use Zipcar or Philly Car Share. It’s a lot cheaper than owning a car. (Don’t forget the registration, inspection, and insurance costs, too. Philadelphia is a very expensive place, car insurance-wise.)</p>
<p>If you keep your car, keep it off-campus and use public transportation and walking. Penn is very much a walking campus.</p>
<p>But realize you might want to definitely live on campus freshman year, not bring your car, scope out the place, and bring your car the next year. My boyfriend had his car junior and senior year only, when he could park at his frat house. We did barely use it though, because academics were too much, so mainly we drove to his or my parents within a hundred miles.</p>
<p>Give Philly a chance regarding visiting other cities and areas.</p>
<p>I know that Sigma Nu Fraternity has a lot that is monitored with security cameras and is pretty reasonable. I think they are around 38th and Walnut. If you contact someone there I am sure they would be happy to give you the details.</p>
<p>absolutely no need for a car at penn. you can take SEPTA to anywhere downtown and SEPTA regional rail to the suburbs. if you want to go to nyc, baltimore, boston, etc you can take boltbus (usually under 10-20 dollars roundtrip) or amtrak (more pricey but faster).</p>
<p>I do not see how a school that calls itself Ivy League could have such abysmal parking. Many poorer schools academically provide outstanding parking facilities, so why can’t Penn? I much prefer the parking at Princeton, Dartmouth and Cornell, and will probably choose them over Penn for that reason alone, to say nothing of their superior dining facilities.</p>
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<p>Have you ever visited Harvard? Yale? Columbia? They make Penn look like Parking Heaven by comparison. Penn actually has lots, and reasonably abundant street parking. Parking around Harvard is a nightmare. And you don’t even want to think about Oxford, Cambridge, Sciences Po, ENS . . . </p>
<p>You know what schools have great parking? Schools that aren’t in the middle of cities. Princeton, Dartmouth, and Cornell. Stanford – Stanford has amazing parking. And of course schools that are commuter schools.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that parking is not an element of academic quality.</p>
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<p>There’s no way that this is not at ■■■■■ post.</p>
<p>No car on PENN campus needed. Difficult to find parking and west Philly is not a very decent neighborhood. No one drive to NYC, even for the people living in central NJ, we take the NJ transit to NYC.</p>
<p>walking on campus is so easy and you will want the exercise…driving to class as in chrisw example would be a nightmare. Just bring a bike that is what most ppl do. If you want to access anything in philly it is easily doable via public transport from penn. If you want to go to dc or new york it is very cheap by megabus or bolt. Plus, you will be busy enough that you wont be visiting ny or dc. The only time a car would be necessary is if you stay on campus over the summer and take frequent trips to the jersey shore or the beaches in maryland.</p>