It seems that wherever NIU goes, its parking problems follow.

Not only is parking a problem in the center of campus, but parking also is becoming difficult to find at NIU’s School of Engineering in Sycamore.

The engineering school has been located in Sycamore for quite some time, but apparently students attending classes there have discovered that it is cheaper to park their cars on North Cross Street near the engineering school, rather than in NIU’s parking lot.

It is not illegal to park on the street there, but like all neighborhoods, residents get annoyed when the streets in front of their homes become overrun with cars every day. Residents would like to be able to park near their homes, and the increased frequency of parking damages grass near the curb. The extra cars also could present larger problems if emergency vehicles or snow removal equipment could not get through.

Perhaps the difference between this year and previous years is that in the past it cost students $7 per year to park in the NIU lot. This year, the cost more than quadrupled to $30. Given the higher NIU sticker prices, it is not surprising that students are trying to find cheaper parking, especially when free parking is so close to the engineering school.

Under these circumstances, it seems that the Sycamore City Council is left with no choice but to ban parking on the street during the day. And students will be left with no choice but to pay the higher NIU parking prices.

But before students and the Sycamore council become angry with each other, they should take a look at who raised NIU parking prices to such an exorbitant rate—the campus parking committee.

And students both on and off campus also should ask themselves just how much more parking they are getting now that they are paying more than four times as much as they did last year.