(5th in a series of posts on Lehigh University)
From streets.ahead
Overall I think it is very exciting for the City that Lehigh is looking to emphasize the walkability of campus and reduce reliance on cars. You describe a colleague circling around to try and find a parking spot. Is this because there were no spots available on campus, or because they were trying to get lucky and find a spot right in front of their building? If a faculty member has a reserved parking spot that is a 5 minute walk from their building, would that eliminate the desire to circle campus in a car?
I admire that you are worried about low wage workers, but I think you are missing one important point. Many of these workers may already walk or take the bus to campus. If so, there would be no hardship at all imposed by these changes. In fact, it sounds like people who already take the bus or who choose to utilize the shuttle will actually benefit by having more money in their pocket.
(Gadfly has moved streets.ahead’s “comment” up to a top-level post. Gadfly is not happy with the way that WordPress seems to bury comments. And, since this is a contrasting view, Gadfly especially wants to make sure it isn’t missed.)
Like Gadfly, I too was on the faculty at Lehigh. My wife and I have been a single car household for forty-nine years. One consequence was that I walked home (West Market Street) every day… best twenty-five minutes of the ”work” day. So, if Lehigh somehow promotes more pedestrian commutes, it could become a self-reinforcing phenomenon benefiting legions!
I also used to walk to work at Lehigh and enjoyed it thoroughly — *on good days*. The bridge sidewalk, and the sidewalks leading up to the Fahy Bridge, are not the highest priority for the City after a snowstorm (nor can they be, really), so ice and snow would become a problem for walkers parking in that lot. Unless Lehigh decides to clear that snow.