Like any good Virginia Tech alumnus, my boredom at work occasionally drives me to catch up on the Collegiate Times using the magic of the Internet.
It's good to see that the majority of the news coverage still revolves around football and random construction projects around town and campus, and that the majority of the op/ed section still amounts to what is essentially a printed version of an on-line "flame war." More specifically, though, I have noticed one particular issue of contention that always seems to surface as we discuss the future growth of our town and campus, and that is the issue of on-campus parking.
I encourage you, the reader, to get up, look at yourself in the mirror, and ask a very simple question: Am I a car, or a human being? Do I want to live in a world that is constructed to accommodate me and others like me, hundred-and-something-pound, five to six-foot-tall bi-peds, or do I want to live in a world that is constructed to accommodate four-wheeled, two-ton metal boxes? Where would I rather stroll around with a cup of coffee? College Avenue in downtown Blacksburg, or somewhere between the shopping mall and the Wal-Mart on Peppers Ferry Road in Christiansburg? Although I find it entirely difficult to believe that some folks would genuinely choose the latter, there is one indisputable fact about that sprawling stretch of strip malls and big box stores in Christiansburg: There's plenty of parking.
Okay, I understand that my sarcastic, urbanist rhetoric may not resonate well with most of the Tech student body. All I am asking is that students be more open-minded about their transportation and lifestyle choices, and how these choices are invariably dictated by the urban environment. Given where much of our student body comes from - places like Northern Virginia or the suburbs of Richmond - it is understandable that many of us grew up within a car-based culture. Something as simple as a trip to the grocery store invariably involves hopping into a car parked in the driveway. Driving through the cul-du-sac-laden streets of a subdivision, turning onto a four-lane, 45 mph "collector road," and then pulling into the parking lot of the supermarket. It is then understandable that, lacking a more open mind, one who grew up around this type of infrastructure would expect their trip to campus to unfold quite similarly.
I am willing to venture that most readers have, at the very least, gone on vacation to a place that allows you to leave both your worries and your cars behind. And I'm not just talking about New York City- a place that undeniably forces a certain type of lifestyle on its inhabitants, which may not be suitable for everyone. But what about a small to medium-sized European city, or some type of resort in the Caribbean, or even just colonial Williamsburg right here in Virginia? Did being without your car for a few days feel liberating? Or did you spend every minute on those cobbled streets, walking past the shops and cafes and other little diversions, thinking to yourself, "I really wish I was sitting in my car at a traffic light waiting to turn into a massive parking lot in front of a strip mall." Is there some kind of rule that states a less car-based lifestyle must be restricted to annual vacations?
All I ask is for the Tech community to take an open-minded, optimistic stance when it comes to the attrition of on-campus parking. Think of it as a bad thing for cars, but a good thing for us human beings. As the infrastructure of a car-based campus covered with large parking fields begins to fade away, we will begin to see a more human-friendly infrastructure, such as improved public transport and pedestrian facilities, take its place. In other words, our Tech campus will tend more toward the atmosphere of College Avenue in Blacksburg, as opposed to Peppers Ferry Road in Christiansburg. Thank you for considering my viewpoint, along with the multitude of alternative viewpoints surrounding the issue of on-campus parking, with an open mind.
Jeff Csicsek
alumnus, class of 2008
New York, NY