I hope everyone has had a great first week back at school, and I hope all the freshmen are getting acclimated with everything to do with Case Western Reserve University. I’m still getting used to living in an apartment in the Village at 115 – which brings me to complain about something everyone at CWRU has had a grievance with at least once in their college careers: parking.

For all you freshmen that were lucky enough to bring your cars, I’m sure you found out pretty quickly that parking pass prices here are very steep. Most people feel pressured to buy them, because no reasonable alternatives are given.

You do get what you pay for – a lot that allows access only to people with parking passes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most of what you pay for goes toward the security: there is almost always a guard watching over every lot at any given time.

However, a lot of students at CWRU cannot afford (or don’t want to) pay the hundreds of dollars per semester for this on-campus parking. Many students simply find the prices outrageous, and not many alternatives are available.

With gas prices increasing every year, the last thing the people need is to pay hundreds of dollars to park at a school you already pay thousands of dollars for. However, for those people who have a car and require the ability to get to and from places (i.e., work, home, etc.), there are other options that not many people know about.

I can’t give away all my secrets, but this will hopefully save you some money and hassle at least occasionally.

If you are living on Southside, traveling south on Adelbert will take you to W. Murray Hill Rd., which will take you to Fairchild. Fairchild, E. 114th St., and Glenwood Ave. make a little loop connecting back to W. Murray Hill Rd., and along both Fairchild and Glenwood Ave. you can find unlimited parking – so long as you’re comfortable parallel parking. Be sure not to block anyone’s driveway! This is a great alternative to buying a pass in Lot 5 next to Fribley; be warned, though; you will not always find a spot.

If you can’t seem to find a spot there, Carlton Rd. also has a plethora of spots on the street (NOT in the lots!) by the Greek housing and tennis courts. Once again, be prepared to parallel park.

For snowy months when you don’t want to walk to Thwing or KSL, East Blvd. has some metered spaces. However, after 6 p.m., these spaces are free (but get out of there before the next day, or risk getting ticketed).

Finally, if you’re on Northside and you don’t want to splurge for a spot inside the garage, take a stroll down some of the side streets. My favorite is E. 118 St. However, some of the spots there have hourly limits, so be sure to find a spot that has no limits if you plan to park there for a long period of time.