<p>My daughter is an incoming freshman and she would like to bring her car. Does anyone have any parking suggestions? The lots near campus are $250/month. Are any other freshmen bringing their cars? Are there neighborhoods nearby that are accessible by public transportation that would provide cheaper rates?</p>
<p>DD is an incomign freshman also, but not bringing a car. She does have a friend who is and I think there is off-site parking. She might check on PPUs facebook site and ask there.</p>
<p>I talked to a representative of Student Affairs, who deals with this type of question, and virtually no students who live on campus have a car because there are no designated ‘university’ parking lots. They directed me to the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, where I found out the rates for the nearby lots are upwards of $250/month; being downtown Pittsburgh, I was not surprised. I was wondering if anyone had come up with an inexpensive solution. I am now checking out bus routes to see how she can get around town.</p>
<p>Port Authority is making cuts in September (which may or may not affect the downtown area too much, but here in the suburbs it’s really annoying), and is proposing more cuts in January, if they don’t get proper funding. Be sure to do your research and make sure she can get where she needs to go at the right times, I can’t predict how the new schedule would affect her, but I’m sure you can. V
[Port</a> Authority eyes massive service cuts](<a href=“http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10202/1074071-147.stm]Port”>http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10202/1074071-147.stm)</p>
<p>By the way, almost everything downtown closes around 6PM, unless you count, say, McDonald’s. Consider this if she’ll be looking for a job in the evening hours, she may not want to get one around here. I personally wouldn’t want to walk around downtown at night anyway, but that’s just me. </p>
<p>I’d say go on craigslist for cheaper parking places, many homes in Oakland/Squirrel Hill/other near-by areas rent out their drive-ways to students, and they can run pretty cheap, too. Even if she’d have to pay for a bus pass (which is around 100-ish bucks for a month), then like 80 for a parking space, it’d still be cheaper than the 250 you’re talking about. And she wouldn’t be so limited on what she could do and when she could do it.</p>
<p>I guess it all depends on how much you can afford/what she plans to do when she gets here…</p>
<p>One last thing: Don’t expect Pittsburgh to have a reliable taxi service. Like, EVER. Just read reviews online and you’ll see what I mean.</p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Entering PPU Freshman/Pgh Native</p>
<p>Thanks!! That’s exactly the kind of information I needed. Yeah, I heard the taxi situation was pretty bad.</p>