<p>Hi, I currently live about 45 minutes away from Rice. I wasn't quite sure if I should bring my car to the campus when I attend this fall. I know it's convenient for me to just drive back and forth between home and Rice on weekends occasionally without having my parents to pick me up. However, I was concerned if other students would "use" me and take advantage of the fact that I have a car. Also, is it easy for freshman to get a parking spot anyway? What does that entail? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>rice has a stadium with a capacity of 70,000 (i believe) people/students/etc so there plenty of ample parking space, im bringing my car and i live 45 mins away too.</p>
<p>I won't have a car here until next year, and there are a lot of times when I wish I had one now. You'd have to consider 1) how much you think you'd be using it and 2) how you feel about people "using" you for your car. As far as #1, cars are useful for going to Target and the airport and Saturday night dinners when the serveries are closed, but you can definitely survive with a light rail pass and some ingenuity. You also might not be going home as much as you think you would; lots of the fun stuff happens on weekends. :) Regarding #2, if you have a car people probably would end up asking for rides if they're really desperate to get somewhere (Target, airport, whatever) but I don't think they'd "use" you just for your car. The Village and light rail and shuttle services are convenient enough. Most people park in the stadium parking lot because there are so few spaces in the (very few) smaller college parking lots, in which very few people are allowed to park (seniors). There are more than enough stadium spots and where you park isn't segregated by class in any way. One last factor to consider is the pretty hefty price for a freshman parking permit.</p>
<p>about how much is a parking permit for a freshman? would you recommend that I bring a car for this fall then? thanks for the info deb08!</p>
<p>Parking permits for freshmen to park in west lot (the stadium lot) are $275, compared to $130 for non-freshmen. Whether or not you should bring your car really depends on how much you think you'll use it -- it wouldn't be worth it to shell out $275 that could be better used for other purposes (getting books, going to House of Pies, etc) and just have your car taking up space in west lot and nothing more. Besides, there's no rule that says you can't wait a couple of weeks once you get here to decide whether you really want your car here or not.. plus the lines won't be near as long to get a permit a couple weeks into the semester (and they are looooong during oweek).</p>