Living across from campus may seem like a comfort.
But for students in the University Heights and College Park neighborhoods, it can mean struggling to find parking and avoiding tow trucks.
City regulations requiring apartment complexes to provide set numbers of parking spots don't apply to certain areas near UF's campus, city spokesman Bob Woods said.
In University Heights, which is to the east of campus, and College Park, which is to the north, apartment complexes are exempt from requirements to provide a minimum one parking space per bedroom per unit, Woods said. This would mean that multiple residents living in one apartment in these neighborhoods might not all get parking passes.
"They are not held to the same standards as other developments throughout the city," Woods said.
Neighborhood residents are eligible to apply for on-street city parking decals.
But most apartment residents depend on the closer, more convenient parking spaces in their apartment complex lots. And they don't necessarily get them.
Though most developments in the areas offer some parking to residents, he said, they don't have to.
"Because of the proximity to the university, the idea is to encourage residents in those areas to consider using bicycles, using mass transit and walking," he said.
But for students who own cars, the push for mass transit is more of a hassle than help.
"It's ridiculous," said Shane Carroll, a business administration junior at UF. "But there's nothing I can do."
Carroll is a resident of Oxford Terrace Phase I, where only one parking spot is assigned per unit.
Some students go as far as attempting to buy parking decals from other developments, he said.
Carrol said he wouldn't consider moving this year because of the good location, but he's unsure about the future.
Joanne Fallati, a UF biochemistry senior who also lives in Oxford Terrace Phase I, said when she gets home from work at night, she has to circle the parking lot hoping for a spot.
"I don't know who thought about the parking situation before they even built the place, but it doesn't make any sense," Fallati said.
But others said parking has never been an issue.
Santa Fe College student Eddie Freeman, who lives in La Mancha Apartments, said many residents don't own cars, so he's always found a parking spot, and he's never been towed.
But while parking is not a problem for him, he said he doesn't believe a push for mass transit should be enforced by limiting spaces.
"Gainesville really isn't a metropolitan city," he said.
"I don't think the city should restrict that because to a certain extent, you need a car."
Michelle Lowe, a UF sophomore and resident of Royal Village, said she's learned to live with the situation.
"If you want to go out at night, you're going to lose your parking spot," Lowe said.
However, she said the good location outweighs the parking situation.
"It's just a parking spot," she said.
