| A-Lot to Mann Library: A Love Story
Ashley Miller’s commute to work involves parking at
Cornell's A-lot and walking from there to her office at Mann
Library. While some folks might not see the bright side of
a longish walk to work, her take is refreshing. When asked
about it, here’s what she had to say:
“When the City of Ithaca hiked its parking garage fees
a couple of years ago, I decided it no longer made economic
sense to drive 12 miles to town, park in the Seneca Street
garage and take the shuttle bus to Cornell. As a part-time
Cornell employee, the bus ride was free but the new parking
garage costs would have taken an unwelcome chunk out of my
paycheck. This is when I started driving up the hill and parking
in A-Lot, Cornell’s free parking lot. It’s also
when I learned that walking from A-Lot to Mann Library takes
the same time as riding the bus.
“A-Lot is about a mile walk from Mann Library, where
I work. This walk has become a cherished ritual. There are
the usual benefits of walking?good exercise, fresh air and
an opportunity to think and reflect. But there is more. As
I pass through the collection of freshman dorms, I feel as
if I’m traveling through a chapter of architectural
history. From the romantic Renaissance Revival style of Balch
to the crisp Post Modernism of Court Hall, the walker has
an opportunity to notice and wonder at architectural detail.
“This stretch also offers a glance at American popular
culture as students shuffle off to morning classes moored
to their I-pods and cell phones. I marvel as young men wearing
flip-flops and shorts and young women in stiletto heels and
tight blue jeans pick their way through snow.
“Next comes the thrill of walking over a large waterfall.
Sometimes it’s frozen silent, sometimes it’s roaring,
sometimes it throws plumes of mist upward. Always it’s
beautiful.
“I cross the street for the final stretch, the bird-filled
woods behind Mann Library, then the Student Garden and finally
the walk under the spacious and stately arcade behind Mann
Library. I’m at work, refreshed and ready to begin.
I love my walk.”
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