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Unread 20-10-2011, 16:28
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FRC #1197 (Torbots)
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Re: What to get as a good first car

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Steele View Post
Something that may not be obvious to you is that you really need to consider whether you need a car at all at college.

I don't know what college you are attending but take a look at the campus...ask about parking fees (they can be substantial). See if there is public transportation.

If you are worried about getting home... you will find numerous ride boards at every school.

I think you are going to find that most colleges are completely different than what you have experienced in high school They are mini-communities that were built around themselves and often don't require a vehicle to get to school or to other activities.
True that!

I go to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. While there isn't a functioning ride board, I very rarely need to get a ride that I haven't been able to arrange with a friend. I live a mile from campus and take a bike path, afoot, to school every day. In my four prior years, I lived on campus or half a mile away. I still walked. No bike. No car. And the school is 10 minutes from end to end, on foot, if that.

Parking fees depend on the permit, but IIRC they run in the $20-$40 range or more (semester). Oh, but wait: That's if you can find parking in your lot area. (Yellow, the lowest and farthest, tends not to have that problem, but then you're at the far end of the football field from campus, and the dorms are at the other end of campus.)

I've thought about getting a bike or something like that. But, then I run into some other stuff. Typically, I can get a ride if I need to; if not, Walmart is about a mile, there's a grocery store closer than that, Kmart is about the same as Walmart, and most of the stuff I don't get a ride to is between me and school, or I meet a ride at the campus.

Most of the people who live on campus end up parking and only really driving on the weekends, from what I've observed; the commuters are the ones that really need their cars (and some of them have a pretty short drive).
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