Two weeks into a new semester at Bakersfield College, the problem of students parking in nearby neighborhoods persists, despite the new parking changes.
In an attempt to stop students from flooding neighborhoods officials at the college created a cheaper parking option.
A parking lot on the southwest corner of University Ave. and Hayley St. only costs students $10, but officials say so far it's not proving to draw students out.
"We're offering 500 parking spots at the discounted rate," said Bill Potter, the Director of Maintenance and Operations at Bakersfield College. However, out of those spots only 184 sold as of Wednesday afternoon.
Some students saying it's not so much about the cheaper price, rather their safety walking to the parking lot.
"I don’t want to take my chances walking all the way down there," said Reem Aloudi, “It’s still not safe for me.”
Officials at Bakersfield College say students shouldn't be worried, insisting the safest place to park is on-campus.
“We have escort services from our public safety department out to the parking lot that we have and we patrol the parking lots so it’s a safer option for students to park on campus rather than in the neighborhood," said Potter.
Bakersfield College officials also adding they continuously try to get the word out about the new parking option through emails, and even on their homepage.
As for neighbors, their frustration with the parking situation continues.
“I get frustrated, try to come home from work and I can’t even park near my house I gotta park a couple houses down," said Mark Sanchez, a neighbor living near Bakersfield College.
