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| Archives for mtuparent-L (discussion list) Subject: Public Transportation Mon, 8 Sept 2003 Must agree with [them]. Road maintenance & transportation, in the winter or for any time actually,seems much better in Houghton than down here in troll land. If I might add it is not only Tech that has freshman parking far away from the dorms and also for the same reason ( a deterrent to bringing a car up in the Freshman year). Just ask any Eastern Michigan freshman where they must park their cars.. So Tech is not by any means alone in this policy. P.H. _______ My recollection is that there are busses and public transportation available. At many colleges freshman cannot even bring vehicles. D.R. _______ D.R. is right, there is public transportation. I lived up in the Keweenaw for 13 winters, 11 of them with rear-wheel drive. We seldom had trouble getting around in the winters. since the roads we usually kept clean. Some years the schools didn't even need snow days. When there is a problem getting around, just wait a few hours until the highway crews catch up. All in all, they do a better job keeping the roads open in the Keweenaw than most downstate communities do. If the students are careful, driving isn't an issue. L.W. _______ Yes, and L.W. is right, too. My son graduated from Tech about 12 years ago, and my daughter graduated from Tech 2 years ago. Neither of them had cars the whole time they were up there (well, not quite: my daughter had a car the last half of her senior year, but she just left it parked in the storage lot). Both of them felt that having a car was just too much of a hassle for whatever possible good there might be in it. They both lived in dorms when they were up there, so walking to classes wasn't a problem. Tech has a very good ride board system, so neither of them ever had any trouble finding rides home for holidays or term breaks (we live in the Lansing, MI area). The public transportation system is good (since the area it has to cover is relatively small :), and if they ever really needed a ride somewhere they could usually find someone going their way if they were a little flexible in their timing. Most of the students up there (and the faculty, too) seem to be in pretty good physical shape (from hiking up and down all those hills?) so they don't seem to think much of the walk from the campus into town, even in the winter. My son and a couple of friends used to walk into town occasionally and in the winter would invariably spend time helping push cars up hills or out of parking places - just for the fun of it. My daughter returned to Tech this summer for Grad school after working for 3M in North Carolina for the past couple of years. She decided that she was too used to living alone to face the dorms again so she found a place in Houghton, but I think the only thing she uses her car for is grocery shopping. She claims the hike to campus and back every day is better exercise than a gym, and it's free (important to starving grad students). Although she did find her snow shovel (that she left in our garage when she moved to NC) and put it back in her car .... And they really do do an outstanding (awesome!, I think, is the proper expression these days) job of keeping the roads and sidewalks clear. They have snow removal equipment that truly is awesome, at least by our downstate standards. 30-40 inches of snow in an evening doesn't really seem to phase them - they just get it out of the way and go on about their business. After all, it happens all the time. W. N. _______ Another "OPTION"; Have him marry an MTU employee. I still say that was the only reason my husband proposed!!!! But I guess after 25 years of wedded bliss...maybe not. On the serious side: walking is generally fine. They keep the sidewalks pretty clear and if you weigh more than 100# you can even deal with the WIND TUNNEL between Me-EM and Chem Bldg fairly well. B.B. _______ My son (a freshman) too has to park in the lot that is a ways from campus. He walks most of the places he needs to go or gets a ride from someone who has their car in a closer lot. I have heard that the snow is so bad that even 4 wheel drive doesn't help sometimes. S. G. _______ I agree completely, It way to far away. I understand it to dicourage them from having a car, but do they not realize that not all of us parents can just come up to get them for every holiday. Holy cow, we are 9 hours away, and i am handicapped. I just cant make 18 hours even in 2 days, and i just cant afford to keep staying in motels. At this point we do have a car up there. My son doesnt use it, its just to come home, although he may need to use it, i think it will be rough to walk out to it, and then return the walk back to campus when he is done. Life's a Dance You Learn as you go L.C.
Tue, 09 Sep 2003 There is such a thing available??? I would much sooner travel a couple hours then the 11 hour trip from home. and to fly them home is ridiculous. As far as cars on campus, I spent a week in the Hancock Houghton area this summer as school was starting and the traffic is terrible. I would think a bike or just plain two feet would be much safer. I noticed that students found a way to Walmart and the mall. They get along just fine withought four wheel transportation. and I would shudder to think of down state kids having to learn to drive on those hills and in the snow which is entirely different then what we are used to...to each his own I know. but am much interested in the bus home for breaks. MOM who spent 11 hours in the backseat with all the back to college stuff.....never again haha. Have a nice day all C. B. _______
City of Houghton Transit: http://www.admin.mtu.edu/dos/bus.htm Hancock Public Transit: http://www.cityofhancock.com/frameindex.html dkw _______ I'm wondering if there's anything short of a car that will help my son, a junior who has moved in with friends in a house in Dollar Bay. I'm told he's about four miles from school--does that sound right? He's an inexperienced driver, and we really, really would rather not add a car and a driver to our insurance right now. His bike is working well for transportation now, but snow will change that. He's a willing walker, but I'm not keen on the idea that he'd have to walk home four miles from late night shifts at his campus job. Any ideas? M.C. _______ From: Dennis Walikainen <dkwalika@mtu.edu> [reply to M.C.] Dollar Bay is a good four miles just to the Portage Lake Lift Bridge and another 1.5 or so to campus. Not an easy walk and not doable in the winter. He's better off catching rides in with friends. There are also the local cabs:
$7 one way GREGG'S TAXI |
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