Stranded in Poughkeepsie: Navigating Marist Without a Car

While many students can have the ability to keep a car on campus, others are left to find other options.

Photo by Owen Whelan '27

For the 2026-27 school year, Marist University has changed its parking policy, resulting in fewer students being eligible to have a car on campus. 

The previous policy stated that a student could have their car on campus after completing at least 50 credits. Due to recent construction and congestion, resident students must have completed four semesters to park their car on campus; transfer students are exempt. 

As a result, almost all first- and second-year students do not have access to their vehicles while living on campus, making navigating the surrounding area and traveling off campus particularly difficult. 

Considering Marist is a self-contained campus that is not connected to the surrounding area, the off-campus environment is less walkable without some sort of transportation. Options for exploring off campus are very limited for those without some sort of vehicle. Though the campus and its unbeatable view of the Hudson are wonderful, remaining solely on campus can feel frustrating and isolating for many students. 

Ella Meyer ‘29 described not having her car on campus as “difficult.”

“I have an injury which makes it difficult to walk to places [without my car]. I can’t get around the way I want to,” Meyer said.

The most feasible option for leaving campus is the surrounding Hudson Heritage Plaza, which is around a 10- to 15-minute walk from campus. The plaza features commonly student-populated stores such as Starbucks, CVS and ShopRite. A shopping shuttle runs to Hudson Heritage and Mid-Hudson plazas Monday through Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. Many students living in Upper and Lower West housing utilize the nearby bike path for quick entry, but the walk to the plaza from the main campus is slightly more complicated. Various crosswalks and spaces that are not pedestrian-friendly become a fork in the road for those looking to utilize the shops. 

Though leaving campus without a car is certainly possible, it can be inconvenient and expensive. To walk much further than the Plaza and back is not plausible for many, limiting many students to the stores offered within the shopping center. 

Without knowing someone who has a car, the Plaza is the closest and simplest place to walk to from campus.

Utilizing a store like ShopRite, carrying heavy groceries or shopping bags can also be difficult, especially during extreme heat conditions or storms. 

Keira Choinski ‘29 explained how she would have been unable to go to CVS to pick up a prescription without having a friend with a car.

“It was raining and the weather was interfering with me walking there, I wouldn’t have been able to make it there if I didn’t have a friend with their car,” said Choinski.

“Lugging groceries back and forth every week is very tiring, especially in the heat,” Olivia Libretto ‘29 said, voicing a challenge many are faced with.

When leaving campus for special occasions, some students resort to Ubers, which can be helpful. However, if used consistently, the expenses can rack up. It would be unreasonable for the average student to Uber back and forth every week to pick up necessities such as groceries.

Not having a car can make public transportation more expensive because students may need to Uber to reach places such as the Poughkeepsie train station. Factoring in Uber trips to the station and back adds to the cost of a trip to the city.

Though navigating the Poughkeepsie area is possible, it can be unnecessarily challenging. The lack of transportation that many Marist students are facing can sometimes feel isolating. Ideally, Marist should work towards solutions in order to meet students in the middle after its change in parking policy.