Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog.net

As Tuition Prices Rise, Fresno State Spends $4 Million on Parking

false

Perhaps you've seen the headlines recently about how higher education costs have been ballooning, leaving a generation shackled with crushing debt?

In its recent series on college costs and student debt, the New York Times noted that one factor, according to some analysts, is the host of expenses colleges and universities have assumed that are unrelated to the actual business of learning: fancy gyms, private dorm rooms, sports programs.

If there's one area that's ripe for savings, it's parking, with each space in a surface lot costing more than $300 per year to operate and maintain -- and double that when you factor in the total lifecycle costs of acquiring land and pouring asphalt.

One institution of higher learning that definitely hasn't gotten the memo is Fresno State University, which is spending $4 million to replace trees with asphalt, according James Sinclair at Network blog Stop and Move:

If you've heard only one thing about the California State University system in the past couple of years, then it's probably the words "budget cuts". Details like "enrollment slashed" or "tuition hiked". "Classes eliminated". Remaining classes "doubling in size". That's what we've been reading in the news every month for the past few years.

There may not be money for silly things like classes, but adding 600 unneeded parking spots, and taking away some of the little greenery the university has? There's always money for that.

There is not a lack of parking at Fresno State. There won't be a lack of parking in the near future, as enrollment keeps getting cut. Even if there WAS some kind of parking shortage, there are many ways to work around it, outside of dumping $4,000,000 into asphalt.

As English professor Craig Bernthal stated, "The University is set to have about 1,200 fewer students next year," Bernthal said. "How many parking spots do they need in the immediate future?"

Excellent question.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Bike Portland reports that the city is going to great lengths to market its premier bike boulevard. Pedestrian Observations explains why the central business district, despite often being the most expensive real estate, is the best deal in town. And Baltimore Spokes shares an excerpt explaining how Americans came to be drawn to cars that were intimidating and militaristic.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: The Massachusetts Company That Traded the Trash Truck For a Bike

This small worker-owned cooperative is reimagining how to do recycling, composting, yardwork and more — no diesel required.

August 29, 2025

Friday’s Deadly Headlines

Reducing our reliance on fossil fuels would bring immediate health benefits for hundreds of thousands of people.

August 29, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: The Menace of Prosperity

Daniel Wortel-London on his new book, "The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1875–1981."

August 28, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are a Sneak Preview

Want to see what happens when a city makes major transit cuts? Just look at Philadelphia. It's not pretty.

August 28, 2025

What I’ve Learned From Getting Transit Wrong

"Advocacy isn’t about pretending you’ve always been right. It’s about learning, adapting, and bringing those lessons into the fight for better transit and better cities."

August 28, 2025
See all posts