<p>So I know that most students who attend Wisconsin do not bring a car, and I probably won't. I heard that parking is limited and rather expensive. However, I was wondering if anyone knew how much it costs about for a parking space, and if it is really that difficult to get one. I live about 450 miles from Madison, and it seems pointless to fly. I don't even think I could fly to Sioux Falls (I don't know what destinations fly out of Dane County). Do some students have cars their freshman and/or sophomore years? What are the pros and cons of having a car nearby? Is it possible to get a spot farther from downtown for cheaper, just so that I have it to get home a couple times a year?</p>
<p>Almost NO one has a car freshman year. NO ONE. You don’t need one. Even rich people don’t have cars. There’s nowhere to park it and nowhere to drive it. I suppose there are overpriced, inconvenient parking garages, but those are for visitors. You just so don’t need one.</p>
<p>If you’re going a long distance, take the Badger Bus! It’s very quick and fairly cheap, depending where you go. Many people take the bus. </p>
<p>If for some weird reason you really, really want one, many apartment buildings on campus offer parking that many people don’t take. I’m sure you can rent one from them. I know at my building next year I could get one for $125/mo, expect to pay a bit more if you’re getting the space from someone. Sometimes people with houses rent their driveways as well, you can even get a specific parking lease.</p>
<p>Trust me, though, you’re going to walk everywhere, take the city bus anywhere you can’t walk, to leave town, I highly recommend the Badger Bus.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! When we visited the campus earlier this year I noticed that there were A LOT of mopeds. Would it be worth the $ to get one to get around? With the weathers being nasty it seems like it wouldn’t be used most of the year…</p>
<p>And more specifically, is there a certain number of cc’s the moped needs to be under. I don’t know Wisconsin or Madison’s laws concerning what constitutes a moped, a scooter, or a motorcycle.</p>
<p>There are a lot of mopeds, it’s true! I’d say you could get a good semester out of your moped. I am a freshman and not used to the cold and how people drive in it, so I don’t know how many I’ll see once many people take theirs home over break. I have gotten around 100% fine just walking, and you can take the bus for added convenience. I don’t think I’d invest in one, unless maybe I lived far away from class buildings (many upperclassmen have houses that are a tad far) just because everything is easy to walk to. You could bike if you wanted for a solid semester, there are really great bike lanes and usually bike racks.</p>
<p>I don’t know about the cc’s, I’d say get something small, most mopeds seem pretty little here. The parking spaces are also pretty small. </p>
<p>I just really wouldn’t think you’d need any kind of alternate transportation unless you live or work far-ish from campus. It’s really not a big deal to walk, unless it’s wintery, and then you can’t really use your moped or bike much.</p>
<p>For move in you could make it a parent(s) plus child trip with your stuff- for a dorm everything you need can fit in a SUV, and you can buy stuff locally as well. For vacations you can fly into the Dane County airport or fly into Milwaukee or Chicago and take a bus to campus from there. There’s even transportation info on the UW website. Badger and Van guilder are bus lines to check out. </p>
<p>No good reason to drive the hundreds of miles just to pay a lot of money to park your car for the semester. You can check the Wisconsin DOT for moped driving/license rules- same for all motorized vehicles, I believe. If you get a moped you have to follow the laws/rules of the road and this means you don’t go 25 mph in the left lane of Campus Drive like some idiot did one August- stick to the side streets if you won’t go the speed limit and keep up with traffic (and wear a helmet!)- had to vent.</p>
<p>Presuming you attend UW you and your family can make a vacation trip to Madison for SOAR- my son’s year a Boston family did that. I doubt your parents would like the idea of you trying to drive home in December and back in January- you would have significant driving through the snow belt in unpredictable conditions. There would be insurance costs and gas costs as well, it doesn’t sound cost effective. </p>
<p>On the bright side- the UW campus area has so much going on most students stick around most weekends, there is always plenty to do and plenty of people around. By no means a “suitcase” or commuter campus.</p>