Students of Brigham Young University were shocked to learn that the City of Provo is contemplating charging for street parking in the Joaquin neighborhood. This would be a disservice not only to students living in this vicinity, but for the City of Provo as a whole. Difficulties with parking discourages people living outside of Provo from wanting to come to the city, negatively impacting businesses in the area. As for the locals, a divide would ensue because college students living in the area have a greater incentive to purchase permits, while students not living in Provo full time would feel less of an obligation. Metered parking may reduce issues with lack of parking in the Joaquin neighborhood however, parking would then become problematic in the surrounding areas. This would also be discriminatory for students of less financial privilege, unable to afford the extra parking costs. The safety of these students would also be at risk-having to park in the sketchy areas near Joaquin in order to make it home creates potential for much worse problems than parking. We propose investing in multi-level parking to maximize the capacity of existing parking areas, while alleviating the current issue of lack of parking.

Trey Chauncey, Provo, BYU student

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