u/Ok-Tell-1684

UMass Lowell has a surface parking lot problem.
▲ 34 r/uml

UMass Lowell has a surface parking lot problem.

If you zoom way out on Google Maps satellite view of UMass Lowell’s campuses, the problem becomes obvious: the university owns some of the most valuable land in Lowell and a huge portion of it is just surface parking lots.
We’re talking nearly 20 acres of impervious asphalt. These lots contribute to the urban heat island effect, provide zero housing or economic value, and represent a massive missed opportunity.
Massachusetts has a well-documented housing shortage. At the same time, UMass Lowell already has handful of garages. They’ve proven the model works — they replaced the old Riverview surface lot with the South Campus Parking Garage. So why not do more of that?

Here’s the win-win proposal:
Consolidate surface parking into well-designed multi-level garages (freeing up large amounts of land)

Build much-needed housing on the newly available space (the university could earn significant long-term rental income)

Cover the new garages with solar panels, turning them into clean energy generators and helping Massachusetts hit its renewable goals

This is a genuine triple win:
For UMass Lowell: New revenue from housing + potential solar income. A more modern, attractive campus.

For Lowell and the region: More housing supply where people actually want to live, plus a cooler urban environment. If the land is taxed for rental use that is a tax increase for the city. UMass Lowell should be buying anymore land while using so much land inefficiently and environmentally irresponsible

For Massachusetts: Real progress on both the housing crisis and clean energy targets.

Prime riverfront-adjacent land in a city with a housing shortage shouldn’t be sitting as giant parking lots in 2026. We can have parking and housing and solar.
What do you think?

u/Ok-Tell-1684 — 2 days ago

ELI5 box fan venting best method

If I have a box fan and it’s colder out side than inside what is the most efficient way to move the air. Should I point the fan inside or outside. Should the fan be close to the window or a few feet back. Do I want to seal around the fan or no. Do I want more than one window open on the other side. And why I would like to know the science in a simple way.

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u/Ok-Tell-1684 — 2 days ago
▲ 17 r/mbta

Where does MBTa hire for its regular operations jobs?

Iv looked at the MBTA careers website and all the jobs are similar level engineering or repair work. Iv never seen anything not super specialized and they all seem to pay pays more than 6 figures…

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u/Ok-Tell-1684 — 5 days ago
▲ 11 r/UMassBoston+1 crossposts

Student-Run E-Commerce Club Selling Used Dorm Items, to support food pantry

It might be a little late in the semester, but I wanted to share an idea inspired by my own online thrifting experiences—especially noticing how even nonprofits like Goodwill successfully sell donated items on these platforms.

When students move out of the dorms, they often end up discarding a surprising number of perfectly good items. Figuring out which ones still hold real value can be tricky—especially once you factor in e-commerce shipping costs, platform fees, and buyer appeal. For example, bulky items like mini fridges are expensive and difficult to ship profitably, while things like used bedsheets or half a board game usually aren’t appealing to online buyers.
Here’s the concept: A student-run e-commerce club would accept donations of used dorm items and resell the higher-value pieces on platforms like eBay, Poshmark, or ThredUp. Club members interested in e-commerce or entrepreneurship would gain hands-on experience by deciding what to accept, researching fair pricing, managing inventory, taking product photography, writing compelling descriptions, handling customer interactions (including returns and best-offer requests), choosing sales strategies like auctions or advertising, and fulfilling orders.

Any lower-value or bulky items that don’t make sense to ship—such as microwaves, refrigerators, lamps, or similar pieces—could be sold through a simple on-campus pop-up sale during move-out or donated to a local organization like Goodwill.

All proceeds would go directly to the campus food pantry. It’s a true win-win: students get an easy, responsible way to clear out their belongings, club members build practical business skills they can list on their résumés (complete with metrics like “Managed X sales and fulfilled Y orders for a campus nonprofit”), and the food pantry receives additional funding to support our community.

What do you think?

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u/Ok-Tell-1684 — 11 days ago

I was in Worcester recently and saw so many new apartment complexes either recently finished or still under construction. It seems like out of nowhere there are huge buildings going up everywhere.

They’ve done a lot around the Kelley Square area, near their train station, and up by Lincoln Square where they turned the old vocational school and courthouse into housing.

I don't know exactly what Worcester did to get all these developers on board so fast, but it’s honestly impressive. Does anyone know what their strategy was? Do you think Lowell could do something similar to bring more housing and development to our empty lots or near the train station?

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u/Ok-Tell-1684 — 17 days ago