<p>How is parking on the surface lots (i.e., the Longhorn Lots) east of IH-35? Are spots generally available? Is it safe?</p>
<p>Spots are available and safe but inconvenient. If you are a freshman and having easy access to your car is important to you, check the Castilian, for example.</p>
<p>well how important would you say that it is for most freshman, MidwestMom? Does your student need their car on a regular basis? I was NOT going to pay the $900 (OMG!) parking at my private dorm(SRD), so i was thinking about doing UT parking. They have a thing set up where you can park it on the other side of the highway during the week and then if you pay extra you can park it in a different parking garage close to campus on weekends. Would this be something worth paying for, or am i going to be okay without my car?</p>
<p>Many kids have no cars. You get free bus rides anywhere. My d does all right without a car on campus, although she has quite a few friends with cars. After she was settled into her dorm and had all the dorm room stuff she needed, there was only one time she felt she really needed a car (replace broken cell phone) and a friend brought her to get the new phone. (We sold her car to one of her friends not long after she left for UT, once she had figured out she wouldn't be coming home the next summer. It was a beater and here in the Midwest, an extra car is hard for the snowplows to plow around. :) )</p>
<p>If you have an internship or live in a house or apartment a good distance from campus, you probably need a car. And I'm sure it is nice to have one available just in case. Also, if you live in Dallas or Houston or otherwise relatively nearby and want to be able to run home on the weekends easily, you will want to have your car. Otherwise, if you are on campus or nearby at SRD, you might want to give it a try without a car. Many kids who live on campus do just fine without a car. </p>
<p>The bus to the airport works well if you are not in a big time crunch. Cabs are relatively inexpensive and very reliable. It amazes me how often people literally WALK downtown. That's a long walk! (I think people walk along the streets that buses run down and take a bus if/when one comes by.)</p>
<p>I have heard that the parking spots convenient to Jester can be a pain because if you have one of them, you have to move your car at wierd times during football season.</p>
<p>Could you try going the first month or two without a car and see how it goes? Unless it is important for you to have it to go back and forth from home, you might be fine without it.</p>
<p>dude, midwestmom, you're awesome.
i live in houston but i'll just try without it for a while. a lot of myfriends will be up there so if i need to go home a weekend i'll catch a ride with them. thanks so much for the advice!!!</p>