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College Town Life | Featured College Towns | College Town Issues | |
1-9 Neighborhood’s
numbers add up to success It’s all part of The Star’s research into the most livable residential areas in the city. We are profiling the top-performing cluster in each section, one section each day. Today’s section is the Southeast Side, generally from Brush Creek to 85th Street. In that section, 49/63 finished best in The Star’s analysis because 49/63 is almost a textbook example of what good urban neighborhoods are supposed to be. It has aged well — the middle-class homes have gone through a wave of rehabilitation, and the streets and sidewalks have been kept up. It’s diverse — one of the few neighborhood clusters that straddle Troost Avenue. It’s got a personality — kind of a mini college town around the campuses of Rockhurst University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Plus, it offers the kind of urban milieu where people are often on the streets, walking. College faculty members walk to work. Commuters walk to bus stops lining Troost and the Paseo. And dog owners like Susan Kurtenbach go for evening strolls... BRADBERRY:
Lessons from the other end of Route 104 Fortunately 20 years ago next year, a few people realized the value of their waterfront on Lake Ontario where the river and the lake converge, and Harborfest was born, and it has been something of a boon to the local economy ever since according to the data analysis provided by Cornell University’s Department of Applied Economics’ Economic Impacts of Harborfest 2005 on the Oswego County Economy. Today, the economic impact of the annual event is nothing short of HUGE as nearly 300,000 people flood the tiny town every day for one weekend per year leaving behind $32 million in overall economic benefit, supporting 637 local jobs as the result of average family spending of $542 resulting in $14.1 million in direct benefit to the local economy... Area
needs stop-Gap measure There is nothing inherently insidious about the khakis sold by The Gap. If they sold them in Really Big Boys sizes, I'd buy some myself -- at the mall. The problem with the arrival of such Yuppie outfitters in neighborhoods is that the people who purchase their pseudo-hip, overpriced wares are the same ones who purchase pseudo-hip, overpriced coffee, pseudo-hip overpriced furniture, pseudo-hip, overpriced jelly beans. As a Durham resident for more than a decade, I consider the Ninth Street business district the Crown Jewel of the Bull City, if not the state. With its mix of bars, bookstores, bagel shops and restaurants, among other things, it is the closest-to-avant-garde section in the state... Duke officials need to realize that their retail and restaurant plans along Anderson Street threaten not only the Ninth Street merchants who welcome and depend on Duke students for survival, but also the link to a section of Durham that gives the school whatever funkiness it possesses. It would be a shame to see Duke or Durham have such distinctiveness gentrified right out of Ninth Street. S.C.
State foundation to buy University Village “It will be a wonderful new amenity to house our students,” said Maurice Washington, the SCSU Board of Trustees’ chairman and its representative on the foundation trustee board. “It’s also an investment for our future,” he continued. It will “support the enrollment goals of the university as we move from where we are right now at 4,300 to 4,400 students to about 8,000 students.” “We can’t wait until we get there to expand” the student housing capacity, Washington said. “We have to be doing that right now.” Separately, on-campus housing units for 755 students are scheduled to go into service by the end of this month. Those structures were financed with a nearly $40 million federally guaranteed loan... 10
years of TLC restores Grant Park Victorian The cove-ceilinged front parlors hold an extensive collection of antiques, such as reupholstered Victorian couches and chairs, a working vintage Victrola and a violin played by one of the first members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Morse's aunt. "I like that people come in and say they see different things every single time," said Morse, 38, Oglethorpe University's information technology director... Gen
Y makes a mark and their imprint is entrepreneurship So armed with a hefty dose of optimism, moxie and self-esteem, they are becoming entrepreneurs. "People are realizing they don't have to go to work in suits and ties and don't have to talk about budgets every day," says Ben Kaufman, 20, founder of a company that makes iPod accessories. "They can have a job they like. They can create a job for themselves."... He started out with financial help from his parents, but he now has more than $1.5 million in venture capital. His line of cases, armbands and belt clips is produced in China, which he visits several times a year, between classes at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt., where he's a sophomore majoring in business... EDITORIAL:
Oxford's expansion Oxford's growth is well known and documented. It is an attractive, even idyllic place for retirement, plus its economic expansion is related in large measure to the impact of the University of Mississippi.
University
seeks change in calculating affordable-housing obligation Borough
may ask PSU to pay more Attempting to maintain both for the more than 40,000 university students that overrun State College for most of the year costs a pretty penny. And the borough says it may need more university dollars to pay for the extra police, fire and sanitation services a college town demands. But Penn State, citing the almost 775,000 it already pays the surrounding area, maintains the non-cash contributions a research university of its size and prestige gives back more than enough... Neighbors
complaining about noisy students since ordinance Crime analyst Judy Stanbery said the department received 1,471 noise and loud music complaints in 2004 and had already received 2,683 as of Nov. 21. The ordinances that prohibit loud music, yelling and other loud noises in residential areas between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. were passed in August 2004, according to City Commission meeting minutes. Sgt. Paul Bostick said the increase in noise complaints is probably a combination of students throwing increasingly loud parties and residents phoning in complaints more often. “A lot of it’s the fact that people know they can call,” he said. “Before the ordinances were passed, I think people didn’t want to get involved a lot of times.”... Crackdown
on UA parties is bold but good Notably, most red-tagging occurs in midtown areas near UA. This year, the police Midtown Division already has issued 293 red tags
in the area, up from 283 last year. This effort, which begins in January, will help students learn that actions
have consequences. Mother
Earth News brings long-time resident to Tahlequah A rural university, according to the article, is “frequently a delightfully kinkier version of the much more common straight country town. Often still clean and beautiful (since its major local industry is a tree-lined campus rather than a pulp mill or factory), such a village also tends to view ‘unusual’ behavior with a rather tolerant eye. ... Far from the madness of great centers of population, these small colleges have often created something of an oasis of individual freedom in the middle of a society that appears to be increasingly restrictive.”... Strategic
Plan Shown £9.1
million Dominion student block ‘one of best buildings in Bristol’ Developed and managed by Dominion Housing Group, Woodland Court is one of eight new buildings to be praised by the Society for its benefits to the community and the local area. Now in its 15th year, the competition saw winners picked for their quality, originality and positive community impact, by members of the Society and the public. The winners included a combination of new developments and restored/converted buildings. Built on the former site of the University sports hall – with a section retained for refurbishment – the scheme contains 200 ensuite rooms in a highly desirable location, close to the University... OU
master plan booklet chock full of details on future of campus Currently, OU houses about 8,000 undergrads in residence halls, though that number will increase when a new building comes online next fall, and again when another opens in fall of 2012... Neighbors
pass resolution opposing keg ban The ANC represents District 2E, which encompasses the Georgetown campus. “We’re adamantly opposed to it,” ANC Commissioner John Lever said. “The overall point is it’s a silly idea to try to outlaw what students can or can’t do.” The resolution, which was introduced by Brett Clements (COL ’07), the ANC’s lone student commissioner, contained six grounds for objection. The objections included a greater likelihood of large off-campus parties, increased consumption of hard alcohol and canned beer, more trash and open container violations in the neighborhood, as well as the fact that a keg ban does not directly address the issue of binge drinking... Affordable
housing: Arcata's most vexing challenge Still difficult, Arcata’s housing market for low and moderate wage earners has nevertheless expanded since 2001, when a price spike peaked. Gentrification seemed to be happening and City officials realized that unless affordable housing policies emerged, there would be no room in the market for first time homebuyers... Arizona's
New Law Complicates Struggle to Designate Tempe's Oldest Area Located between downtown Tempe and Arizona State University, the Maple-Ash neighborhood contains 240 houses, most of which were constructed between 1900 and 1940. "We have a tremendous amountt of development going on around us. We have probably eight high-rise projects within less than half a mile of us," says Jenny Lucier, a resident in favor of the designation. "Historic preservation hasn't been very popular here in Tempe." If Maple-Ash is named a historic district, owners would have to wait six months to demolish a historic structure and also ask the city's historic-preservation commission to approve exterior changes to houses, according to the city's ordinance... Students
hit hotels as power outage continues Parts of St. Louis, including areas around Washington University, are still without power since last Thursday's storm. Although the Ameren Electric services' Web site has been continuously updating its customers with information, it makes no promises as to when residents' power will be restored. According to Cheryl Stephens, associate director of Residential Life, the east wing of Greenway apartments has not had power and the University itself has little control over when the power will come back on... Regents
approve plan to build more student housing for downtown The 100 (m) million-dollar-plus project will be located on the northern end of the downtown Phoenix campus and will be entirely funded by a private developer, who will in turn charge students rent... Mifflin
Street Co-op: Its time is over The co-op's membership has also been reluctant to change course. It repeatedly rejected offers to close the store, choosing instead costly alternative options offered by the board. It also rejected a plan in 2003 to move the store to Metropolitan Place, which, when completed, will have more than 300 condominium units in the 300 block of West Mifflin Street. A market analysis conducted for the co-op by Anya Firszt, general manager of Willy Street Co-op, said the move to the 7,500 square feet of space would have worked... Residents
petition city about rentals "Hopefully, there will be more to come," Woodside Avenue resident Susan Kurkowski said before the council meeting in City Hall. "People were really responsive to it." The petitions request that the city take a "comprehensive look at the present situation regarding student rentals and baseball rentals located within and around our residential neighborhoods." "We don’t propose to know how to handle it, but we hope that (the Common Council) will work with some reasonable solutions on how to handle it," Kurkowski said. "It’s not necessarily that we’re asking for more regulations. There’s got to be some sort of compromise.".. Rent
trends, old rifts: B Street poses conflicts with tenants and owners Mark and Kris Boreen, who both work as accountants at WSU, have lived in their home on B Street for five years now, and are concerned the levels of noise and drunken behavior in the area have dramatically increased, they said... “Certain blocks of B Street used to be all single-family homes; they’re not anymore,” Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said. “Now, there’s a brand new triplex and duplex, as well as a new apartment building that houses quite a few students. One side of the street has become almost entirely student housing. “ In fact, the Boreens said they believe they are the last owner-occupied house on the entire street... Are
rowdy renters wrecking the place? The renters -- many of them college students -- defend their right to party and argue that their landlords should provide more parking and do more upkeep... Student
housing firm bought for €225m It has just bought out Victoria Hall, which owns 4,500 purpose-built student bedroom units in eight university settings in Britain. It has developments planned or in train to boost that number to 6,000 beds, producing a huge annual income stream at up to €4,400 per bed per year. It has now been fully acquired by the O’Flynn Group/O’Flynn Construction, which has been involved since Victoria Hall’s inception in 1996. It values each student bed at €50,000. The O’Flynn Group also has student accommodation in Ireland, with 189 beds in Bishopstown and 240 in Crosses Green, Cork... In
dorm rooms, two’s a crowd Berklee
seeks to build dorm tower and theater The college, which will present some of its ideas for the high-rise to a community task force tonight , expects to spend $200 million to $300 million over 10 years on the building complex and other projects. The projects, which would add more dorm space, practice rooms, and other facilities, would double Berklee's physical space. The proposed 25- to 30-story complex would replace two buildings, the Berklee Performance Center and a two-story academic building... UC
Merced trying to fill empty dorms "From this point forward, it's our goal to offer continuing students the ability to live on campus," Santos said... Labyrinth
bookstore to open in Princeton as Micawber closes "We are proud of what we created at Micawber and when we decided the time had come to pursue other interests, we were determined to sell only to someone we felt would continue in its tradition," said Logan Fox, Micawber's founder and co-owner. "We selected the University, which has partnered with Labyrinth Books, because Labyrinth is exactly the sort of store that will fill the needs of the Princeton community." "Micawber has served the needs of this community -- town and gown -- exceedingly well," said Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman. "This is a community that needs and deserves an absolutely first-rate bookstore, and I can't imagine a better successor to Micawber than Labyrinth. I am truly delighted that Labyrinth has agreed to operate a store on Nassau Street. I am also pleased that the U-Store will now have a presence on Nassau Street for its apparel and insignia business, while continuing to provide other services to students and the broader community in its current location on University Place.".. Something’s
brewing The fast-growing brewery-restaurant group is the first retail business selected to occupy space in College Row, a 200,000-square-foot mix of retail, residential and commercial space being built in the 800 block of Harrisburg Avenue. The $30 million complex, across from the F&M campus, will include housing for about 400 students... Local
landlord fined This is the latest in a long line of issues students have had with Jim Eischens, a Twin Cities Housing and Realty landlord, and many said these sorts of occurrences are quite common and even expected from the landlord... Love
Me, I Celebrate Diversity Workshop
brings smart planning to Elm City "There was a perception in the field," Plattus said, "that professionals could make a significant contribution to their communities by making their expertise accessible to neighborhood groups and disenfranchised constituencies - people who wouldn't think that they have access to design professionals.".. Campus
plan hearings wind down A new report from the NUS and Unipol states that the average cost of university accommodation has risen by 23 per cent since 2003, currently sitting at £83 per week. This marks a 37 per cent increase on figures for 2001... College
town leaders mull possible booze ordinances One potential ordinance would restrict alcohol sales to people who are obviously drunk. Other changes could bar alcoholic beverage sales below wholesale cost or ban the sale of unlimited servings of alcohol... University
rent rises 'pricing students out' The figure is "well above" the rise in rent in the private sector and more than three times the percentage increase of student loans in the same time period. Veronica King, vice president of NUS welfare, described the increase as "shocking" and said students were being forced to stay at home to study locally rather than going further afield for more suitable courses... Students
discuss struggle to pay whopper bills Books are a major out-of-pocket cost. I save for books and other expenses by staying on campus during all vacations and holidays but Christmas. I have managed every summer to find a job, but during the summer, I have to finance housing, food and transportation on my own. Loans have been the only way for me and many other students to cover the extra costs each year. But many of my friends have been forced to drop out of college for financial reasons. Worrying about being able to stay in college is an added burden for anyone trying to keep up with their coursework. My only option is to apply for loans and worry about the repercussions later... Regional
theater leads the way in originality They are all currently running on Broadway, and their world premières took place at nonprofit regional theaters. Small cities have become incubators for Broadway's offerings, and very few plays and musicals make their way to the Broadway stage without starting elsewhere. Broadway producers are heading to the most unlikely cities to scout new talent in American theatre: Waterford, Conn., Shepherdstown, W.Va., and Louisville, Ky., (and, yes, Wilmington) to name a few. You'll be able to experience this first-hand this month in Wilmington when Delaware Theatre Company premières "Sam Cooke: Forever Mr. Soul," by Kevin Ramsey... Just
What Do Young People Want Today? They’ve gathered pieces up in forums and advocacy groups hoping to make it all fit together. College students say it’s simple. They are looking for something to do - perhaps something after 10 p.m... YOUR
MONEY Forget drug stocks and investment communities. "A less obvious play has to do with the children of the boomers now crowding college campuses: Buy apartment buildings in college towns," points out Forbes.com's Matthew Swibel. Today's college-age population is up 20 percent from a decade ago, and almost three-quarters of these kids live off-campus. Someone has to house them. Absentee landlording. For hands-off investing, you have to look for a certain type of REIT (or real estate investment trust): an "equity REIT," and specifically one that invests in college-area housing. The class act of the bunch is American Campus Communities, with a 4.8 percent yield, says Forbes magazine. Two others in the 4 percent range are Home Properties and Mid-America Apartment Communities. Forbes cautions that two with higher yields, Education Realty at 5.6 percent and GMH Communities at 6.8 percent, have had accounting-related problems. Back to the old alma mater. Just think of what Animal House's Bluto would make of one of these clean, professionally managed campus homes - especially the new ones with the tanning beds... College
housing incidents spark condo design dialogue Attention to architectural design in student communities comes as Arden's Run developer Blair Rinnier announced immediate steps to beef up security at the complex plagued by recent and ongoing complaints of loud music, thefts, assaults or gunshots... Talks also involve officials at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where an increasing number of students are expected to move off campus as the 4,000-student institution expands, Parker said. Currently, at least one fourth of the student population lives off campus, according to UMES officials. "Our goal is obvious: We want students to be comfortable with the community and the community to be comfortable with the students," Parker said last week. "This is not an easy achievement. What we've got is an evolving situation and we're discovering what would be effective." Indiana's
college towns are dialing 1-800-JOBS Now IBM has put the two college towns on its short list for up to 1,000
call center jobs. Our
view: Work together to change our city’s culture of binge drinking We also should note that La Crosse’s tolerance of unsafe drinking habits is by no means limited to young people. This is a community problem and needs to be addressed by the entire community. Johnsrud has complained in the past about the “bad press” the city has received as a result of the river drownings and the reputation as a “hard-drinking college town.” (That’s how The New York Times described La Crosse in a headline.) Taking strong actions couldhelp curb the activities that lead to such headlines... Our
View: Let’s celebrate! EIU’s not on this list “No one wants to be known as a ‘party school,’” Eric Davidson, associate director of health services at EIU, said last week in our Ch@t Room page story... Colleges
scramble to meet housing demand Leeds
hits 'saturation point for student flats Planet Work Ltd wanted to demolish a Victorian linen mill and create
160 student cluster flats with 634 bed spaces. Turning
a street around This was a comprehensive approach to reversing the long-declining fortunes of Raleigh's historic street connecting the state Capitol with our leading university focused on technology, science, engineering and applied research. This stretch of Hillsborough Street has at times been a ceremonial corridor, a business center and the focus of neighborhoods along the old streetcar line. Since the 1970s, however, it -- like many "college town main streets" around the country -- had become a poor reflection of its past. Businesses had suffered as buying patterns and demographics changed, the street's appearance suffered from lack of investment and safety declined as congestion and conflict between automobiles and pedestrians became worse... Stringing it all together The
Hackensaw Boys and The Packway Handle Band Critics have regularly lumped The Hackensaw Boys in with the renegade string sounds of Old Crow Medicine Show. But there is less of a Prohibition-era feel and more of an open-ended country attitude to The Hackensaw Boys' music. Maybe that's because the band hails from Charlottesville, Va., a cosmopolitan college town that sits near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains... College-Town
Committee Welcomes Local High-School Students on Campus Committee members and a few art majors greeted the students when they arrived in the morning and split them into two groups—one for photography and one for painting. The former group began with a tour of the art museum, followed by a photography activity. Meanwhile, the painting students visited the two murals in Frary Dining Hall and subsequently designed their own on Walker Wall. “The College-Town Committee wanted to reach out to local high schools so that they could experience the college with respect to art. We wanted to give them an introduction to the art department,” said Kelly Schwartz ’10, who devised the idea for Art Day. This event also gave the students an opportunity to experience college life, and Schwartz hoped to inspire students to become involved in college programs here... Thoroughfare
plan: Public concerns voiced at forum With nearly 100 area citizens in the audience, the speakers vocalized many concerns about housing development and questioned the necessity and legality of proposed "roads to nowhere" cutting through existing properties. The issue of city control over township planning also was a major concern. Many complaints stemmed from general frustration about the lack of public input reflected in the planning process itself and unresponsiveness of TetraTech, the firm that released its final version of the plans this November, which will be considered by both... Off-campus
Miami students will be better represented Secretary of Off-Campus Affairs Jen House said off-campus senators elected this past September have been assigned districts of about five to six blocks, including one large apartment complex... Senators will serve as liaisons between Miami students and the university, as well as between Oxford residents and Miami students. "If residents have to say something to students, they now have someone to talk to about that," she said. "It's helping neighbors, trying to make Oxford feel like one community instead of two." House and Burke agreed that another goal is to bring the two communities together by organizing block parties and ice cream socials for districts with higher percentages of Oxford residents... Student
documentary examines Miami University's alcohol culture But Miami faculty member Joe Sampson and his Advanced Electronic Journalism class are bringing Miami's drinking culture to a different venue — the classroom — in their documentary, "Restoring Honor: A Campus and Community Response." The documentary, which will be screened on Dec. 7 in Williams Hall, focuses on how Miami's drinking culture affects not only students, but every member of the Miami and Oxford communities... State
system schools return investment 10-fold, study says Living just outside the entrance to Shippensburg University on a residential block, he and his wife tolerate problems that have driven away many of their other neighbors... But on the whole, Underkoffler, who has lived by the college for 19 years, said the positives of living in a college town outweigh the negatives. "Economically, our town would probably die without this college," he said. "A lot of business would, anyway." A recently released economic-impact study of the 14 State System of Higher Education universities suggested he's right... UW-L
seeks ideas about off-campus housing At least six to seven groups or individuals have indicated they want to talk with UW-L officials since a public meeting about the concept was held in October 2005, campus planner Matt Lewis said Thursday. Most interest has centered on building west of campus, he said. The housing would be owned by the developer and leased by the university... $300M
will boost student housing Officials presented the York Hill Campus, an 1,867-bed enclave off Sherman Avenue with a graduate medical education center and student center next to the sports complex the school is now building on Rocky Top Road. There also will be parking for 1,800 cars, said Joseph Rubertone, associate vice president for facilities administration... CCSU
Tackles Rowdy Parties Armed with suggestions gathered at a lengthy forum on the issue Wednesday, Miller and senior staff members spent two hours compiling a list of initiatives, one of which they hope to implement within a week, said Mark McLaughlin, a spokesman for the university...
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