At a time when many students are seeking off-campus housing for next year, there are many important factors for students to consider, such as participation in university activities and transportation.

Off Campus Student Union President Paul Cronin said many are concerned with where to park their cars.

"Parking is always an issue," he said. "The university is becoming a lot more pedestrian friendly."

Kristin Daigle (junior-secondary education) decided to move off campus and to take a CATA bus near her apartment next year to avoid the cost of Bryce Jordan Center parking.

"I have to have my car here because I'm going to be student teaching, but I'm not going to pay [for parking]." Daigle said. "A commuter parking permit would be worthless."

Parking allocation manager David Dorman said the parking office does its best to serve the needs of commuting students and cites reduced permit rates as an incentive.

"Reduced rates are offered as an incentive to park on the perimeter of campus and use mass transportation," he said.

Currently, it costs $30 for one semester or $50 for a year to park in the commuter lots.

But sometimes, students dislike riding the bus because it is not reliable.

While waiting for the Vairo Boulevard bus at the Allen Street gates Tuesday, Becky Tyler (junior-journalism) said living off campus is an inconvenience because of her night class.

"Sometimes it doesn't come [at 8 p.m.] or I'll just miss it by a couple seconds and I have to wait until 8:30 or 9 p.m.," she said. But Tyler still said living off campus is worth it.

"It's more private and it's quieter," she said. "You don't have to shower with other people."

A January 2003 Penn State Pulse Survey showed 79 percent of 725 off-campus students said privacy was the primary reason for living in an apartment.

Rick Mays (senior-broadcast journalism) has experienced downtown and off-campus apartments.

"Downtown is louder and more hectic, but there's no extra hour of travel time and is better for bar access. Off campus you don't have people yelling at 3 a.m. and it's more laid back," he said.

Living off campus may also result in decreased participation in on-campus fitness facilities, Late Night Penn State activities and student clubs, according to a recent Pulse survey.

"Late Night activities are definitely geared towards freshmen and sophomores more than off-campus students -- they have cars and can travel," Mays said.

Matt Gantz (senior-civil engineering) said although he would not want to live far from campus, students who do not live on campus should not feel left out.

Joni Mothersbaugh (freshman-kinesiology) lives in the dorms, despite having her house about 10 minutes from campus.

"I probably wouldn't be as active and would feel kind of sheltered," she said. "Anything after suppertime, I wouldn't be involved in.

Brian Peterka (senior-information sciences and technology) lives in State College Park Apartments. He used to commute to the Lehigh Valley campus and said living closer to campus is much more convenient.

"It was a very small school and social activities were limited to while you were there," he said.