Urban sprawl keeps students at crawl

In a recent study by the CEOs for Cities, Nashville was named the worst city in the United States for commute time because of suburban sprawl, the expansion of cities and their suburbs to lower-density outskirts.

The average Nashville driver spends 164 hours in traffic every year because of commuting. Of those, 120 are due to sprawl.

Large commute times can cause businesses to be less efficient with workers arriving late and stressed, and they can also affect students and schools.

“The traffic is worse now than it was a few years ago. But I really think it has to do with all the road construction happening,” Ernad Selimagic, a freshman commuter, said.Not all students mind the traffic situation, though.

“I came from a little bit of a smaller city, so I was anticipating it to be worse but I haven’t thought it was that big of a problem at all,” junior commuter student Hannah Smith said.

Lots of cars means a need for lots of parking spaces. To keep up with the growing demand, Belmont has added a garage under McWhorter and plans to open another one under the new law school .

Many students find parking to be a lot better this year.

“The school that I used to go to was this really big school and I couldn’t park anywhere, but I have never had an issue finding parking at Belmont,” Smith said. “It has never taken me more than five minutes to find a spot anywhere on campus.”

Driving to campus is not the only option for students and faculty. Some students choose to ride their bikes, walk, or take the bus system for free.

“If parking wasn’t free or if it was to hard to find, I would definitely ride the bus,” said Smith.

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