<p>I know that UNC Chapel Hill doesn't allow freshmen to bring their cars with them, and I'm not really willing to rent a place nearby for a parking spot. I also know that if I want to go somewhere in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Area to shop, explore, or visit my friends at NC State, I can always take public transportation. And if I bring my car, my parents will make me take an older car with bad gas mileage, so I really don't want to do that... </p>
<p>What if I want to visit my friends in he Piedmont Triad area an hour and a half away, though? If I go to either UNC or NC State, would the Zipcar service be a good option? I'm leaving behind family and a really close friend who would still be in high school, and I'm pretty sure I'd want to visit her, my family, and some of my other HS or community college friends pretty frequently.</p>
<p>So my question is, should I go Zipcar or any other car rental service? If I have Zipcar, are cars always available to rent?</p>
<p>Truth. I’d highly recommend living in Granville; it’s awesome, great location, great amenities, and you can bring and park your car there.</p>
<p>If you’re dead set on not brining your car, this should be great for you to hear: you will make friends with cars, and from there you can get a ride to almost anywhere. Yes, public transportation is an option, but, given that there are so many people at UNC and so many of them have cars, chances are that at least one of your friends will be travelling in that direction anyway (there are always people driving to Charlotte, Wilmington, etc. during the weekends). That’s the definite upside to big universities. You might be a little doubtful when reading this, but trust me, you will find people who frequently drive to a lot of different places in North Carolina. Carpooling is a great option.</p>
<p>My freshman son lives on upper campus and has his car in a gated lot on Rosemary Street (parallel to and behind Franklin St.) for $400/semester and a relatively short walk to his dorm. Yes, Granville does have parking but you have to compare apples to apples which is the extra cost of living at Granville versus university-owned dorms + paid off-campus parking. (Also consider that Granville has a good, residents cafeteria but to eat in UNC’s cafeterias, you’ll have to pay out-of-pocket, buy an on-campus meal plan or hike back to Granville to eat. Look back through prior threads where others have asked about Housing or Granville Towers to make your own informed decision. I’m not advocating either way: some love Granville and some don’t.)</p>
<p>There are also several cheap bus options for visiting State, Duke or other Triangle area locations via Go Triangle. [GoTriangle[/url</a>]</p>
<p>As for weekend road trips for you visiting friends, friends visiting you or going home, I strongly advocate for Amtrak’s Carolinian and Piedmont train lines if you can’t carpool with another student. Click on ‘Multi-city’ to see schedules: [url=<a href=“Amtrak”>Amtrak]Amtrak</a> - Routes - Northeast - Carolinian / Piedmont](<a href=“http://www.gotriangle.org/]GoTriangle[/url”>http://www.gotriangle.org/)</p>
<p>For example, one of my son’s best friends is attending Davidson College (north of Charlotte) and has no car. The PART bus line will take him from Davidson to the Charlotte Amtrak station where he can hop the train to Durham on Friday afternoon and then return on Sunday. My son can either pick him up or drop him off at the Durham station or he can take a bus to/from UNC. Round trip total travel cost for the weekend is about $30-$35. </p>
<p>His other best friend is at UNC-Greensboro. The Amtrak station is about 1.5 miles away from his campus. He can take the bus to/from the station and the weekend round trip Amtrak cost is $20.</p>
<p>I know little about Zipcar but I wanted to let you know about another option that may or may not be cheaper.</p>