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College Town Life | Featured College Towns | College Town Issues | |
21-27 Esteemed
novelist stays close to small-town charm "My hometown of Roslyn was a barren place -- culturally inert, racially homogenous, and, like all suburbs, predicated on the pathology of the automobile," he said. "So it's wonderful to find myself in an environment where concerts, coffee shops, decent restaurants, pretty good theater and first-run movies are all in walking distance of my house. I still can't get over that. "State College is a particularly good locus for a writing career because we're not far from a host of major cities, which means it's easy to put together an elaborate book tour. In recent years, I've done promotional events in New York, Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Hartford and Scranton." ... Families
are moving back to Headingley This is a consortium of interested parties who are trying to address the explosion in student numbers – there are now more than 50,000 in Leeds. Headingley, Hyde Park and Burley have borne the brunt of the influx and
in the last 10 years have seen an exodus of families who have been offered
high prices for their properties by opportunist landlords. "We are now starting to see empty houses in Headingley. Is that because of the number of purpose-built student complexes that are going up thick and fast? "We are talking about 2,000 to 2,500 empty bed spaces which is equivalent to several hundred properties ... Housing
sparks row The petition, which contains 314 names, was presented by Heslington councillor Ceredig Jamieson-Ball, and has received the backing of the Heslington Parish Council. Coun Jamieson-Ball said: "There is clearly a great deal of concern about the impact of student housing on local communities. I believe that it is important that an analysis is carried out to learn more about the potential effect of increased student housing and what can be done locally to address any problems." ... Town/Gown
Fault Lines In Court At the end of the day, the Alameda County Superior Court jurist announced she would issue a ruling by Monday afternoon on a case that has brought nationwide attention to the tree-sitters nested in the branches west of UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium. Tuesday’s arguments pitted a world-renowned university intent on developing a massive complex of new buildings near a beloved campus landmark against a city worried about seismic calamities and increased demands on an overburdened infrastructure, neighbors worried about safety and congestion, and environmentalists out to save a grove of threatened trees ... Fire
Displaces Trinity Students John Mihalko, a junior from Shelton, was at his computer on the second floor of the three-story house on Crescent Street about noon when he heard the smoke detectors sound an alarm ... [Editor's Note: See Off-Campus Fires in CollegeTownLife] The
Gold Standard of Green Standards Bates, a senior at Williams College, heads an environmental student group that has spent recent months distributing 1,000 of the fluorescent bulbs. “It allows us to make a difference with an energy footprint, and it gives us the chance to have discussions with students about global warming and energy consumption,” Bates said ... Campus
departments adjust to higher student wages But for the Department of Housing, Dining and Guest Services, the increase hasn't been a headache - it's been beneficia ..l. Business
is booming Rhodadendron, the latest addition to Marshall Square Mall, was brought to campus by a fashion-savvy Syracuse University alumna. The store offers an eclectic collection of earrings, necklaces, bracelets, watches, scarves, hats and bags ... Ben
and Jerry's departure hurts the heart, helps the stomach I happen to think State College is also an amazing college town. Shouldn't your flagship be in the same town as the institution that taught you your craft? ... Study
says money should go to help public-university towns The study by the Pennsylvania Economy League cited several reasons why universities can be a drain on municipalities. For example, students often do not work or work fewer hours than non-students, leading to less tax revenue per capita. College towns also have higher rates of properties being converted into rentals, which can also erode revenue. That can make it difficult for local governments to pay for public services ... Community
advisers to spread out over city Students
take hard-hat tour of future residence hall "I think [Park Hall] is an incredibly beautiful building that addresses what students told us they wanted," Hargrave said. "There are great places in the building for student interactions - that was designed intentionally. Student rooms provide more space, the views are terrific, the design is beautiful and I really think students will enjoy living there very much." ... Councilman
pushes for student housing inspections That's what Councilman William Peduto wants to say to landlords in student-heavy areas of Pittsburgh that have been the scenes of debris, overcrowding and safety violations. He has drafted legislation requiring that all rentals in three zones favored by college students face mandatory inspections. Pass, and owners would pay a modest fee for a certificate of livability. Fail and don't fix the problems, and they'd be barred from charging rent ... Inspectors
audit E.L. homes Ryan, like other students living in off-campus rental homes, face inspections on an annual basis. With the possibility of code violations looming over their heads, several students say they dread the day when East Lansing's inspectors come knocking at their door. Project
near WKU would reconstruct ailing area into upscale consumer boulevard The Boulevards At Bowling Green would run from 12th to 14th avenues, taking everything on those two blocks – now occupied largely by run-down rental housing – except the existing Grant Village Apartments and Community Church of Christ at 12th and Kentucky. It would also include a 48-house “alumni village” across Kentucky Street, straddling the 13th Avenue intersection, according to concept plans. The developer would be Fairmount Properties, a Cleveland, Ohio-based developer with a decade’s experience in building similar developments adjacent to college campuses ... Mayor
may pose binding streetcar referendum Cieslewicz said Thursday he will propose a binding referendum on any proposal the committee study group draws up. “I won’t go ahead with streetcars unless they make sense for Madison and have the support of the public,” Cieslewicz said in a statement ... Students
join visioning endeavor “There is a tendency to believe that students shouldn’t have a part in this because they eventually leave,” said Jeffrey Williams, co-chairman of the vision committee. “They might not be able to profit from the decision, but the students that come after them will. We want to hear their opinion.” ... Cooperative
learning Local students form housing co-op based on environmental sustainability Hands stained red, Bishop chopped beets for a veggie stir-fry and mentioned how it's a joy to cook from scratch. Gregor -- who stepped away to give a potential resident a brief tour of the house -- prepared garlic and brown rice for the dish. These preparations one evening this week were nothing exceptional for the Meristem Co-op, a new kind of housing option for local college students .... How
many students in a house are too many? Then last year, a rarity happened on his block - a family moved in where students had once lived. The conversion of rental property to single-family, owner-occupied homes is something most residents of the university area say they want to see more of. But at a hearing last week to address university-area quality-of-life issues, Medcraf warned that swapping students for families isn't a cure-all ... UC
Santa Cruz gives cops money for off-campus party crack down The $25,000 is designed to step up enforcement of the 2005 city ordinance that increased fines for behavior considered a threat to public safety or “the quiet enjoyment of residential property or general welfare.” About half the university's 15,000 students live off campus ... Red-tag
solution lies with students, Monday, we analyzed the red tag law passed by the city of Tucson and found unacceptable logistical errors. To start with, the ordinance is inappropriately broad, enabling the Tucson Police Department to net virtually any group of five or more people for offenses that would hardly constitute an "unruly gathering." Perhaps more troubling, the law contains a provision that could punish responsible roommates who refuse to take part in the unruly party in the first place ... Councilwoman
suggests: Either fence Halloween or kill it Other city officials, however, say there not sure how feasible that would be, or if it would serve the city's best interests ... Judge
limits Boulder's ability to regulate Boulder County District Judge Gwyneth Whalen ruled last week that Thunderbird
Burgers, a restaurant in the popular University Hill area near the University
of Colorado campus, could continue selling alcohol until 2 a.m. despite
a city zoning condition calling for it to stop selling alcohol at 11 p.m. City
of Kent looks into sin tax for alcohol The tax would probably be 4 cents, City Manager Dave Ruller said, with the revenue going toward the Kent Department of Public Safety, though what they would fund and how much of it would be implemented has not been set. While Ohio allows counties to implement sin taxes, if Kent were to apply the extra tax it would be the first tax of its kind in a city ... Note
to DeKalb: Loosen up on city liquor laws and regulations Rather than making DeKalb a fun and accommodating place for students to spend four years of their lives (or more), the mayor and the city council seem to be intent on enforcing their misguided views of students' best interests. The mayor and the city council said they wanted to curb binge drinking and consequently raised the minimum liquor prices. If that was truly their concern, perhaps they should've focused on underage parties with no control or regulation on drinking, where $5 will purchase all you can drink. Students over 21, for the most part, know their limits and really just enjoy going out and having a good time without spending $30 or more at the bar ... New
Alcohol Ordinance Passes Last night, the Iowa City City Council unanimously passed the new law. It says that if an underage drinker is busted for the first time in Iowa City, but has another offense in another town, it will count as their *second* offense in Iowa City. Under the old ordinance, the city disregarded drinking citations from other towns in Iowa ... UW
hopes to build condos for faculty The university bought two parking lots last fall and has formed a nonprofit real estate foundation to look into building about 250 condo units in the University District neighborhood west of campus. Private developer Jim Rose estimates it would cost about $50 million to build 250 condos on the two lots. The university also is considering redeveloping a former Navy barracks it owns near Magnuson Park, which may be configured to yield 150 more housing units ... Spice
up downtown with more options My sister came to visit as the semester was starting, and while giving her the obligatory tour around town, I realized how much I love Pullman. But at the same time, how much I get frustrated with it. Some people will say, we’re a small town – what do you expect from us? We’re not Seattle, and we’re not trying to be. But what if Pullman city planners used a little imagination to attract more people downtown? ... New
rules awaiting downtown businesses On-campus
alcohol ban may be lifted at Ole Miss Lifting the ban was a contentious issue among the task force members, with 20 voting for it, 15 voting against it and three choosing not to vote for either, according to the final report. Word of that recommendation was just filtering its way to the students, said McNeal, who was a member of the task force and helped draft the recommendations. "It's uncertain at this point how they'll take it," he said. "It's hard to say whether they're going to accept it or whether it's going to remain contentious." ... Judge's
Ruling Could Limit Boulder's Alcohol Rules The judge agreed with Thunderbird's attorneys that only the state can regulate the hours during which alcohol is served. The city and CU formed an advisory committee in August to study ways zoning regulations could be used to help reduce alcohol abuse. The committee was part of an effort the city and the university launched to curb binge drinking following the alcohol-poisoning death of a CU freshman in September 2004 ... Michigan
developer buys lot near LSU Baton Rouge real estate appraiser Wesley Moore said Victory Commons is the latest in a string of high-end condos to spring up around the LSU campus over the past several years that have targeted affluent sports fans. Prices for The Fieldhouse, for example, start at around $180,000 but top $500,000, according to the project’s Web site. The 104-unit complex is also on Nicholson Drive north of campus ... Town
home plan near ND hits snag The St. Joseph County Council's Land Use Planning committee gave an "unfavorable" recommendation to the proposal, which calls for the construction of 33 luxury town home units on a site located east of Juniper Road and north of Kintz Street, just north of the Indiana Toll Road ... UCSB
student president vetoes newspaper punishment The issue surrounds Conquest Housing, which evicted about 55 low-income tenants before embarking on a massive remodel that will result in higher rent prices. The council passed a resolution last fall stating student funding would be pulled from any entity that did business with Conquest. Conquest Housing later paid The Daily Nexus about $20,000 for a full-page, color ad promoting the newly refurbished units, which will open in August, editor-in-chief Kaitlin Pike said. It will run for about a month, she said ... UW
student leaders vote to expand conduct code UW students who receive police citations for committing serious offenses and "quality of life" offenses -- such as noise violations and property damage in the neighborhood surrounding the campus -- could face sanctions by the university under a resolution approved by the student government, student body president Cullen White said. The student conduct code has previously dealt with students only when they are on campus or involved in university activities ... Bill
Aimed At Couch Burners The couch fire bill makes it a felony on second offense to either set or incite someone to set fire to personal property in a public right of way ... Rental
housing, ruined neighborhoods Across the country, universities have tried to help stabilize the neighborhoods around them, and the University of Minnesota could learn from efforts that have succeeded in Philadelphia, Hartford, Conn., and Baltimore, experts say. "Universities and cities across the country ... are trying to be partners in urban neighborhoods," said Anthony Flint, a public affairs manager with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Mass. Such efforts "should yield some results, instead of strained relations, if both parties are willing to participate." ... From
Parking Lot to College Town? Project
Town Gown Memphis resident Dorothy Cox was at first skeptical of Rhodes College’s
plan to improve the surrounding Hollywood Springdale neighborhood. Now
the project manager for the Rhodes Hollywood Springdale Partnership, Cox,
seen here convening a community meeting, tells residents the college is
not going to fix the neighborhood. “We’re going to do it together.” New
halls planned to make room for incoming students The new halls will eventually house more than 1,200 students, ASU spokeswoman Leah Hardesty said in an e-mail ... Tubbs
Jones Introduces Campus Fire Safety Legislation Student
parties push out Oshawa residents That's left even more properties for investors to snap up in the two main new subdivisions near the schools, renting homes out to six, seven and sometimes more students for $400-$550 per person, per month. Since UOIT opened beside Durham College in 2003, attracting more out-of-town students than there are on-campus rooms to house them, residents near the schools at Simcoe St. N. and Conlin Rd. E. have endured a litany of woes: loud parties, property damage, drunkenness, pot-smoking, vandalism, threats, rowdiness, traffic and parking problems, garbage and overgrown lawns ... Party
Patrol - friend or foe? Owens-Hart's residence is on a list of 41 "party houses" tagged online by the Party Patrol - a task force consisting of VCU administration, VCU police, Richmond police, the Fan District Association and Councilman Bill Pantele. The patrol's purpose is to look into noise complaints, destruction of property and other party-related offenses in the Fan area. The tagging makes Owens-Hart feel disconnected from the Fan community. "I find it (being tagged) ridiculous," Owens-Hart said. "Everyone has a right to their own peace, but we're paying rent." ... SUSTAINABILITY
101 Yet Pacific University, using student participation throughout the project, has provided a sustainable-living lifestyle for undergraduates in a new eco-friendly dormitory, Burlingham Hall. New
UC student digs slow to fill up In its first year, the development - which is independent of the university - fell short of projected occupancy rates. It filled about 70 percent of its 693 beds when the target was 80 percent to 85 percent. By its second year, it had drawn only six of UC's 22 fraternities and sororities and was left with six of its 20 houses unoccupied. The nonprofit University Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. borrowed $17 million from UC to pay for the development. So far, project overseers admit that Stratford Heights hasn't met expectations. But they also say it won't stay that way ... New
business flocks toward Cedar beacon "There are a lot of reasons why businesses have been sprouting up here recently," he said. "First of all, it creates many job opportunities for the locals, especially young college students." ... Council
debates zoning changes Earlier this month, the council deterred the first step of creating a new student apartment building at 256 E. Beaver Ave., the former home of Kappa Sigma fraternity. "The community has made it clear that no more student apartments are needed for downtown," Borough Council President Cathy Dauler said ... Neighborhood
rallies to reduce number of students living off-campus The South East Neighborhood Association, an organization of local residents devoted to protecting family neighborhoods in Syracuse, intends on reducing the density of SU students living in off-campus rental housing. "There was a time when all the houses owned were by residential families," said Giancarlo Moneti, professor emeritus of physics at SU. "Now, 75 percent of the houses in my area are student-rental houses - and that is too much," said Moneti, who has been a SEUNA member for more than 20 years and a Syracuse resident for almost 40 years ... UW
may expand student conduct code to cover off-campus behavior Student leaders may decide this week to expand the conduct code, hoping to ward off a bill in the Legislature that might hold students accountable to the university for disruptive behavior outside the Seattle campus. The UW conduct code now applies to students only when they're on campus or involved in university activities and dictates behavior expected of a college student. Neighbors of the university long have sought to expand the code, citing the loud parties and public drunkenness involving students ... Dozens
Of Students Moving To Downtown Hartford About 60 students are moving into the Temple Street town houses, part of the redeveloped Sage-Allen building. The building gives students an off-campus housing experience, and Hartford
officials said they hope the students will give Hartford some renewed
vitality downtown, NBC 30 said. The town houses have a gated entrance, covered parking and a common lounge with Flat-screen TVs. Each unit has four or five bedrooms, two or two and a half baths, a full kitchen, and a washer and dryer ... Ten
questions for Michael T. Benson Cal
State East Bay faculty housing plans opposed California State University, East Bay, and the Hayward Unified School District on Wednesday introduced an idea to pool 7 acres on and near the closed Highland Elementary School site for development of affordable faculty housing and shops. But most area residents in attendance voiced opposition to such a plan ... Housing
surplus? If Athens-Clarke County's housing growth continues on the same course it has followed for the past several years, a housing surplus will continue, county planners said. Builders in Athens-Clarke County appear to be getting way ahead of the county's population in terms of housing needs, according to projected figures compiled by the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department ... "The ones that are in zoning districts that allow more than two unrelated individuals to live in them are selling," Griffin said. "That seems to be the market because it's more of an investment type for students." The 2002 surge in apartment permits, the increase in student condominiums and the 2004 opening of UGA's 1,200-room East Campus Village on campus hurt the Athens apartment occupancy rate in 2004, when the rate for many large complexes fell to less than 90 percent ... Fire
revives inspection talk When asked about the possibility of re-introducing the proposal in the wake of the Emmons fire, Neely said that she believed it still needed to be done. But, she said she still harbored some fears that rental property owners could oppose the plan. If recent statements by some landlords are any indication though, Neely could find some support among rental property owners ...
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