In March of 2012, Georgetown Avenue residents expressed increasing concern over the negative impact of parked vehicles on their street. They cited heavy student parking as one of the problems.
Georgetown resident Cimeron Morrissey says, “A lot of students as well as construction workers started parking on Georgetown, which unfortunately has created a lot of problems for residents since residents can no longer park in front of their own homes, and sometimes people are parking in front of driveways.”
She adds, “When we had construction going on and we had no place to put our cars… we had to get up to get our cars parked in front by quarter to seven. Otherwise, the first round of kids had already parked in front of our house. It’s a huge, huge inconvenience.”
Other serious issues such as neighborhood disturbance and noise have also emerged as a result of the increased parking.
“We have another resident on the street who has brain cancer and he needs to sleep a lot. One day there were kids out in front of his house that were testing their speaker systems basically as loud as they could. And the poor guy… he needs to sleep, and he can’t because there are kids blasting stereos,” says Morrissey.
Some residents have resorted to their own methods to save parking spots.
Georgetown resident Becky Ashley says, “We put cones out on the street because we left during the day… we couldn’t find a place to park [upon returning], and one young lady, who is on the volleyball team, moved them and decided she could park there.”
Others have reached out to students in hopes that they would seek alternatives.
Junior Olivia Chan says, “Georgetown residents were printing out papers and putting them on student cars giving us alternative streets to park on.”
Aragon administration has responded to residents’ concerns through announcements to students.
“We went on with a message a couple weeks ago about looking for other places to park to give Georgetown residents some relief,” says Assistant Principal Jim Coe.
Junior Haley Bartlett says the announcements have had some success. “A lot of [students] have [moved]. Because usually when we come at this time, we have to park way further down the street but now we don’t.”
The root of the student issue lies with the sheer number of cars. Every weekday, over 1600 students and faculty and hundreds of vehicles descend upon Aragon. With limited parking options on campus, many turn to the surrounding neighborhood as their alternative.
Most students say they choose to park on Georgetown out of necessity rather than desire. There have been reports of tire slashing, cars being keyed, fake tickets being issued, and vandalism to vehicles parked on that street.
Some, like Bartlett and Chan, have sought other options.
Bartlett says, “I tried parking on Oregon, but there’s no parking signs there, so I got a ticket, [but] that’s actually one of the streets the people who live on Georgetown recommended.” Bartlett has since returned to parking on Georgetown Avenue.
Despite the instances of crime, Chan has also returned, citing no other choice. “They don’t have junior parking in the parking lot… and all the other streets have no parking signs.”
Georgetown is also impacted by Baywood Elementary school drop-off. Ashley says, “The Baywood Elementary drop-off… is in the same situation. [Parents] can’t find parking to drop their kids, and they always used Georgetown. Now they’re working on that… with the drive-in and around.”
Aragon administration understands how difficult it is for everyone involved. Coe says “With four construction projects, it’s very tough. I feel for the residents. I feel for the construction people… and of course I feel for the students who have to also find a place to park. It’s going to be congested.”
Some wonder why residents have not made Georgetown a no parking zone.
“We don’t want our street to be ruined by all these little sign posts. You do that, you have to put up those stupid ugly signs,” says Ashley.
Coe says the situation is expected to improve in the near future. “In April we should have one construction project done – that’s the CTE building. So once that’s finished, there will be some relief, but there will be still be three projects going on so probably until next October, things will be busy. Luckily we’re out the end of May so the student issue over the summer will disappear.”
However, the problem seems to be far from being solved, as it will likely recur next year.
In the meantime, Morrissey hopes for better understanding among the parties involved. “We understand how challenging it is for the students and we sympathize. However, the answer is not to turn our street into a parking lot… we hope that the students would be very respectful of us just as we are respectful and understanding of them.”
