Atlanta is a big city, and it is notoriously difficult to park in big cities. Tech’s campus is no exception. To park on campus every day, parking permits are required. These permits are expensive, and are also only good for certain lots. For visitors, there are pay lots and parking meters near the Student Center and the CRC, but you should be advised that these will likely be fully occupied during peak times. There is no free parking on campus, but parking meters are not enforced after 5 p.m., except for the few parking meters that are on West Campus, among the West Campus dorms. The Parking Office is usually not helpful and does not have a history of resolving problems favorably. If you are towed, you will pay, even if they have towed wrongly. Students are usually forced to submit, even if they were wronged, since outstanding parking fines are grounds for withholding academic information and registration privileges from the student.
Overall, the parking situation on campus is horrendous. Some of this is unavoidable; all big cities present parking problems. However, much of the bitterness and discontent that students experience is because of the uncooperative attitude that the parking office seems to have toward students in general. If you absolutely must park on campus without a permit, be prepared to pay up to $1 per hour in the visitors’ lot, if you can find a space. The entire visitors’ lot provides only about 80 parking spaces for a campus of 16,000 students, 5,000 employees, and almost 1,000 faculty members. If you drive to school, your best bet is to park somewhere across 10th Street in the Home Park neighborhood or across North Avenue in the Centennial Place Apartments, where all curbside parking is free.