Students at College of San Mateo are having to adjust to parking changes as Lot B has been closed to make way for future student housing.
Located near the front of CSM’s campus, by the Health and Wellness Center, Lot B was one of the largest and most convenient parking options for students and wellness center patrons. The lot is closed for construction tied to CSM’s student housing project, causing students and other members of the campus community to park in lots farther from the center of campus, creating a longer walk.
Students who use the Health and Wellness Center say competition for parking has become more noticeable since the closure.
“It’s very limited, and it’s kind of like a struggle,” Gabriella Di Basilio, a CSM sophomore, said. “I feel really bad for the people who come here in the afternoon because that’s when it’s really busy.”
Isabella Sena, another CSM sophomore, said the closure has created confusion, particularly for those who were used to parking in Lot B.
“We usually park there, and when we came today, it was like, ‘oh, wait, it’s closed,’” Sena said. “I feel like it can make people late to class because they have to go somewhere different.”
The San Mateo County Community College District’s student housing project, which will bring roughly 300 beds to the campus, is planned to be completed in 2027. District officials want this project to improve access to education for first-generation, low-income, and housing-insecure students.
Jeremy Espinoza, a sophomore at CSM who uses the nearby Lot A, said the change has made arriving to class on time a challenge, as the demand for parking has shifted to nearby lots.
“I am late sometimes now,” Espinoza said. “(Lot A) gets more full because people used to park over there (Lot B), and now everyone parks here, so I have to go even farther.”
Older adults and other community members are also competing with students over the limited parking closer to the Health and Wellness Center.
Espinoza said he feels the housing should have been located somewhere else rather than one of the campus’s busiest and most heavily-used parking lots.
“There’s already limited parking here, even though there are a lot of lots,” Espinoza said. “A lot of them are farther away and inconvenient, so people don’t really use them.”
Questions remain about whether the college will address the parking demand for students and community members during the transition while the housing project moves toward its planned 2027 completion.
