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College Town News:
College Town News is a collection of news stories from national, local, and student newspapers. Articles are chosen for linking because of their relation to college town life. The College Town News hopefully will provide residents of college towns and university cities with information on current events in other communities, and provide links to examples of best practices at home and elsewhere ...

- Community Development
- City Plans
- Student Volunteerism
- Student Perspective
- Town and Gown Alliances
- New Businesses
- Housing Issues
- Near-Campus Neighborhoods
- Politics
- Historic Preservation
- Zoning

Snippets of news text are kept brief. Readers are strongly encouraged to follow the link to the news source for complete information provided by the originator.

"Like individual human beings, landscapes and civilizations display distinctive characteristics. While they change in the course of time they retain a uniqueness derived in large part from the set of conditions under which they emerged and also from the factors which influenced their subsequent evolution. The phrases "genius loci" and "spirit of place" symbolize the forces or structures generally hidden beneath the surface of things which determine the uniqueness of each place."

Rene DuBois


Included in WorldCat database, OCLC FirstSearch (2001) as Families and students living in a college town.


College Town Life ™
College Town News ™
College Town Issues ™

College town life
College towns make great hometowns. Students, singles, families, working people, and retirees all can find connections and a niche for themselves in the wide variety of college towns across the United States.

CollegeTownLife
P. O. Box 223
Oxford, OH 45056
Robert Karrow, editor

 

“You got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.
- Yogi Berra
College Town Redux
(.pdf format)
presentation by Robert Karrow, editor of CollegeTownLife.com at

Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference
November 3-4, 2005
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

Co-sponsored by EPA, SCUP, APPA, and
the University of Maryland College Park

 

25-30 November 2007

Landlords in WL fined close to $47,000
Journal & Courier - 30 Nov 2007
... WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - A Tippecanoe County judge has ruled that property owners and managers Patti and Jerry Weida owe the city of West Lafayette $44,000 for letting too many people live in one of their rental homes.

The Weidas also were fined a combined $1,500 for submitting false information to the city and $1,404 toward the city's attorney fees, according to a judgment filed Friday by Judge Thomas Busch of Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 ...

Neighborhoods oppose housing for UW-W students
Gazette - 30 Nov 2007
... WHITEWATER, WI — The expansion of university student housing is causing hardships to residential neighborhoods, said Dr. Roy Nosek, a member of the Whitewater City Council.

It’s an old problem that has spread beyond the central university area into all districts within the community.

Students often disrupt the normal routines, the quiet and aesthetic beauty of those neighborhoods ...

All Things Reconsidered | CS City Limits
The Batt - 30 Nov 2007
... COLLEGE ATATION, TX - MOST PEOPLE would not have the audacity to compare College Station's music scene to that of Austin. The big city of Austin has been labeled the "live music capital of the nation." Anyone who walks down 6th street on a Saturday night will find numerous bars bursting with quality, live music.

Unappreciated, under-signed and unknown are probably the words most used to describe the much smaller music scene in College Station, which holds no titles ...

College Admissions Together:
It Takes a Family

Book Review - Nov 2007
... USA - Steven Goodman and Andrea Leiman have designed a manual that takes the subject of college admissions beyond academics and into the realm of transactional psychology—further, in fact, into the realm of culture. Of course the college experience is one with many larger parallels: a high-ticket family financial investment, a rite of passage, and, as this book details, a major decision-making nexus between generations ...

Amherst Center: Economic development -- let's get specific
Bulletin - 29 Nov 2007
... AMHERST, MA - What other development might make sense? Here are three specific ideas.
* Create a "green" research park ...
* Build a (taxable) "student village" near the university, outside existing neighborhoods ...
* Redevelop the north end of the downtown as an attractive and vital gateway ...

Construction on campus: Just add cash
The great expanding American university
Economist - 29 Nov 2007
... USA - In its annual survey, College Planning & Management, a trade magazine, calculates that America's colleges and universities completed $15 billion worth of building in 2006—an astonishing 260% increase since 1997—and will start projects costing about the same amount this year. The study's author adds that these figures probably understate the amount universities are spending because of gaps in reporting. Many campuses are investing in laboratories, better student housing and recreational space. But with university fees already exorbitant, how can America's universities justify their building binge? ...

City planners seek a new look for UO's doorstep
An updated Franklin Boulevard design features living spaces, shopping and a new traffic plan
Daily Emerald - 29 Nov 2007
... EUGENE. OR - ranklin Boulevard from Onyx Street to the Willamette River, considered by many to be the main gateway into Eugene and the University, boasts no bicycle lanes or sidewalks, and is missing large-scale housing and vibrant commercial centers. This major artery has been neglected over the years and left to wither, but the boulevard may soon have a whole new look.

With such great potential to wow visitors and residents cruising into Eugene, city officials and a group of University students led by Architecture professor Mark Gillem are in the midst of creating more than just a new look for the commercial strip: They are developing the area into a vibrant neighborhood ...

University neighborhoods less affected by foreclosures
Since January, only 13 properties in four neighborhoods have been foreclosed.
Minnesota Daily - 29 Nov 2007
... MINNEAPOLIS, MN - "If overoccupancy was strictly enforced, I think you might see quite a bit more property on the market in and around the University," he said, "because the landlords who paid premium prices for the houses wouldn't be able to pay mortgage payments just renting lawfully." ...

National Student Housing Survey 2008 Opens to New Entrants
Higher Education Institutions invited to participate in annual survey to help improve student living standards in the UK.
OpenPress - 29 Nov 2007
... UK - Red Brick Media Group Ltd is today announcing that it is open to new submissions from universities and other H.E. Institutions wishing to participate in the National Student Housing Survey for 2008.

Last year, the student survey attracted respondents from over 40 Universities and Colleges across the UK including King's College, University of Westminster, UCL, LSE and University of Warwick. Some key findings from the report included:
- 75% of students seeking accommodation were unaware of Deposit Protection Schemes, raising the possibility that students are being unfairly (or illegally) treated due to a lack of knowledge of new legislation impacting the housing market.
- University halls were lagging behind private halls in some key satisfaction ratings including quality/condition of accommodation and neighbourhood safety. However, students in both university and private halls felt considerably safer overall than those in private rented accommodation.
- Location and transport links were found to be even more important factors than price for students choosing between accommodation options. A significant number of students were prepared to pay for the right postcode ...

Rental housing ordinance passes committee
Brown Daily Herald - 29 Nov 2007
... PROVIDENCE, RI - An ordinance passed at Monday night's City Council Ordinance Committee meeting could improve housing for Brown students living off-campus. The ordinance mandates annual inspections of Providence rental units and was passed unanimously by the committee.

It will most likely penalize negligent or absentee landlords - but could also result in more tenant evictions, depending on how it is amended in the coming months ...

UR Off-Campus Housing Complex Criticized Video
WHAM - 29 Nov 2007
... ROCHESTER, NY - They say Riverview looks a lot different from the plans they were shown when the project was in the early stages.

“They said it would not be a gated community. The way it looks now with the drawings, it is a gated community,” said Rev. Hunt.

“They are a part of our neighborhood and when you walk down through or ride down through it, it should look nice,” ....

Historical society wins preservation award
Daily News - 29 Nov 2007
... PALO ALTO, CA -The Stanford Historical Society’s Historic Houses Committee received the 2007 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award earlier this month for its efforts to preserve old homes in the community.

The award — the state’s only official honor for historic preservation — “recognizes the efforts of the Stanford Historical Society’s Historic Houses Project to interpret, and gain recognition for, historic faculty housing on the Stanford University campus,” ...

Rental registration expansion proposed
Times - 28 Nov 2007
... TOWSON, MD - The bill would apply to boarding houses and homes converted into multiple apartments. It also would close the loophole on owner-occupied homes that can be rented out to up to two other unrelated individuals, according to Gardina.

Under current law, those homes did not have to be licensed or inspected.

There is a trend of parents buying Towson-area homes for their children attending Towson University, according to county officials and area residents. The children are frequently added to the deeds and then rent to two and sometimes more students to cover the mortgage ...

A Working Education
Work colleges reduce operating costs while giving students valuable experience-and less graduation debt.
University Business - Dec 2007
... USA - STUDENTS AT MOST COLLEGES AND universities across the nation choose to work for a number of different reasons: as a way to obtain spending money, to help pay tuition, or simply as a social outlet. At work colleges, student jobs are serious business-an integral and compulsory part of the educational journey. Relying on student labor, the small fraternity of work colleges strives to reduce the debt load of students while providing practical work experience ...

Developing Dorr Street
Blade - 28 Nov 2007
... TOLEDO, OH - Colege students typically haven't taken an active civic interest in the area around their campus, but that's starting to change locally. A dedicated group of University of Toledo students are rallying in support of improvements in nearby neighborhoods. They are right that the Dorr Street corridor, as it is known, needs development. And while the area adjacent to UT should be made more appealing, there are other sections of Dorr all the way to Washington Street near downtown that cannot be forgotten ...

Kearney Neighbors At Odds Over Rezoning Video
NTV - 28 Nov 2007
... KEARNEY, NE - Residents want their property downgraded. People in the Poineer Park area in Kearney asked to have their property changed to strictly single family use. Residents wanted to protect their investment. Homes in the area are classified as R-3, which means it can be a multi-family dwelling. 55 petitioners voluntarily asked city council members to re-zone their homes to an R-1 or a single family house. The Kearney City Council voted unanimously to accept the home owner's request. Officials say they don't normally see people ask to have houses changed from an R-3 to an R-1 because it could decrease the value of the property. People that do own multi-family houses in the area, between 4th and 8th Avenue just south of 25th Street were opposed to the re-zoning ...

Lipscomb to build 'green' housing
Tennessean - 28 Nov 2007
... NASHVILLE, TN - Construction of an $8.2 million, 50,000-square-foot apartment-style complex with several environmentally friendly features will begin Dec. 5 at Lipscomb University.

The housing, the first new student residences since 1983, is to open next fall and accommodate 168 students ...

Student Housing at Cornell: Changes and Challenges
Daily Sun - 28 Nov 2007
... ITHACA, NY - As attractive as the residential houses are, they are not the only housing option open to students after the first year. In fact, the number of beds available on West Campus when the five houses are complete will be virtually the same as before the project began. Apartments in Collegetown, traditional residence halls, co-ops, the Greek houses and program houses all provide important alternatives for Cornell students. As part of the Cornell continuing commitment to freedom with responsibility, Cornell continues to let people live where they want beyond the first year. More than 50 percent of undergraduates and 85 percent of graduate students do not live in university housing ...

International students still looking for housing options as winter break approaches
Royal Purple - 28 Nov 2007
... WHITWATER, WI - After Residence Life announced the decision to cancel all housing during breaks due to residence hall overcrowding, several international students found they had no place to live during the break. Some students are still looking for housing while others have found places to live.

Fifty-two international students are living in the residence halls this semester ...

Building freeze fight costs city $328,000
Free Press - 28 Nov 2007
... LONDON, ON - Council, concerned about the increase in student housing in that area, passed a bylaw that temporarily froze development near the University of Western Ontario.

But RSJ's plan was later approved when the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed the development freeze because council debated the matter in private twice ...

First-Ever Livable Communities Award Winners Announced by AARP and NAHB
PRNewswire - 27 Nov 2007
... WASHINGTON, DC - AARP and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today announced that two builders, two developers and one remodeler will receive the groups' co-sponsored 2007 Livable Communities Award for forward thinking in the field of home and community design. The Livable Communities Award honors builders, developers and remodelers that create attractive, well-designed homes and communities, which are safe, comfortable and accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

The winning projects include an affordable, co-housing complex that preserves open space and community gardens; a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly college town community in an evolving urban setting; an "Easy Living" home featuring built-in user-friendly design elements; a state-of-the-art energy efficient home designed for all ages with the architectural details of its adjoining historic neighborhood; and a house remodeled with function and fashion in mind to be a "home for a lifetime." ...

For more information, photos and video clips on the winning projects, visit the AARP Web site.

Ohio's little piece of New England
Home of Denison University
Enquirer - 27 Nov 2007
... GRANVILLE, OH - If you need a one-night vacation for less than $200, go to Granville, Ohio. It will rejuvenate the weariest travelers and their appreciation for Ohio's culture and history.

Any season is a good time to travel to the town of 5,500 in Licking County, 30 miles northeast of Columbus. At dusk, you can walk along tree-lined streets, absorbing the soft illumination of living rooms with their wooden staircases and built-in bookcases. A blend of architectural styles from the late 1800s and early 1900s, the houses collectively represent the quintessential American home.

Granville looks unusual to Ohioans because New Englanders settled it and designed the kind of town that they knew: white steeples, churches on the town square, two wide thoroughfares, and long front porches. The whole town is a piece of New England transplanted to the middle of Buckeye country ...

Keep the money; I'll take better parking
Daily Tar Heel - 27 Nov 2007
... CHAPEL HILL, NC - To shed a light on the situation, the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership recently fronted the money to hire a parking consultant. During the next three months a Michigan consulting firm will be paid $27,000 to study the area and suggest improvements.

Nobody is paying me anything, but with that kind of money getting thrown around, I got giddy. Here's what I would've done, had the CHDP hired me to solve its conundrum ...

Can Higher Education Manage Talent?
Inside Higher Ed - 27 Nov 2007
... USA - ... does higher education model what it espouses? One would expect that, in a knowledge economy, the producers of knowledge (those institutions of higher education) would value “talent management” and even have a competitive edge in that realm. But the data suggest that colleges lag behind industry in developing and retaining their own talent ...

Annville to hear comments on rental licensing
Daily News - 27 Nov 2007
... ANNVILLE, PA - The proposal is based on similar ordinances in other college towns, including Elizabethtown. About one-third of the 1,500 dwelling units in Annville are rental properties, and some are occupied by Lebanon Valley College students.

Richard Charles, vice president of the board, is one of the driving forces behind the ordinance and said the measure has several benefits.

“I think it will make it a better place to live in the sense that it will stop the deterioration of properties that are not attended to by absentee landlords, particularly,” he said. “That is the one issue that is of the most concern.” ...

Protesters Blast City For Approving Columbia Expansion Plan
NY1 - 27 Nov 2007
... NEW YORK, NY - Columbia University's plan for a major expansion into West Harlem is one step closer to becoming reality, but the university's opponents insist they will stop shovels from ever hitting the ground ...

Columbia expansion faces key vote
Crain's - 26 Nov 2007
... NEW YORK, NY - The Planning Commission is expected to deny community requests that it block the use of eminent domain.
Bloomberg News

Columbia University's controversial plan to rezone 17 acres in West Harlem for an arts, business and science campus is zooming through the approval process virtually unaltered ...

Life of luxury comes with a price
The University's housing plan focuses on making student housing modern and appealing, but may not accommodate low-income and non-traditional students
Daily Emerald - 26 Nov 2007
... EUGENE, OR - Affordability and modernity do not often go hand in hand, but the University is attempting to blend the two in its new housing plan.

The Living Learning Center, an addition that revolutionized University Housing and emphasized integration of academia and students' social lives, set a precedent for future housing endeavors. The Housing Strategic Plan will, upon completion, offer students a similar living environment, and it will focus specifically on retaining students who would typically move out of the residence halls after their freshman or sophomore year ...

A DVD tour of 20 top universities
Three brothers produce a video after touring campuses to show each school's unique personality
Sun - 26 Nov 2007
... CANADA - Called UTours, the double-set DVD aims to find the heart of each institution so that students can select the one that best suits their personal style ...

High-rise project affects local stores
Yale Daily News - 26 Nov 2007
... NEW HAVEN, CT - With the announcement of the College Square Development project, which will build a 19-story luxury high-rise on the block that Cooper’s currently occupies, Cooperstock is biding time before an inevitable — and she says unwanted — move.

“After 47 years of business, I would have stayed here as long as I could,” Cooperstock said. “I’m not ready to leave.”

Joint leases pose problems
Lantern - 26 Nov 2007
... COLUMBUS, OH - When Ohio State students move from the dorms to off-campus houses and apartments, many unknowingly become trapped in a "joint" lease that could cause legal and economic problems.

And most students have no idea what they are getting into when they sign one of these group leases ...

At peer schools, college systems face expansion
Daily News - 26 Nov 2007
... NEW HAVEN, CT - With the anticipated construction of two new residential colleges looming and an increase in student enrollment on its way, students and faculty have been wondering how the landscape of residential college life will change — at Rice University, that is.

As Yale considers adding to its residential college system, two other colleges with similar systems are preparing to make big changes of their own ...

More student housing planned
Diamondback - 26 Nov 2007
... COLLEGE PARK, MD - Like its future neighbors, the StarView Plaza will be a mid-rise building with plans for a brick facade and a mix of student housing and retail. The building will include 540 beds and retail space on the first floor. An atrium on its second floor will feature a pool, work out facilities and meeting rooms.

But the StarView Plaza differs from the other projects with a slew of eco-friendly initiatives that Majmudar said would make the apartment complex one of the greenest buildings in the city ...

Lucrative bar fundraisers safe in A2
After underage drinking busts, bar nights have drawn ire in Evanston
Daily - 26 Nov 2007
... ANN ARBOR, MI - The bar night - a lucrative fundraising method often used by campus groups - has drawn criticism in one Big Ten college town because of perceived problems with underage drinking. In Ann Arbor, the bar night is alive and well, and it's one of the most convenient moneymakers for University of Michigan student groups...

USC outgrowing its neighborhood
With demand increasing, students look far and wide for off-campus housing. The city and the school are trying to ease the strain.
LA Times - 25 Nov 2007
... LOS ANGELES, CA -
As USC attracts a substantially higher number of students from out of the state and nation, more students are moving into areas around the campus that used to be considered too distant or too unsafe, and developers are eagerly courting renters willing to pay for the convenience of skateboarding to chemistry class.

The results have included complicated demographic shifts, zoning disputes and debates about how to balance the needs of USC's burgeoning off-campus residential population with those of longtime residents, including middle-class homeowners and low-income renters ...

As new rental ordinances take effect in Duluth, some renters face eviction
News Tribune - 25 Nov 2007
... DULUTH, MN - Three University of Minnesota Duluth students are juggling multiple jobs, final exams and holidays this season. The city of Duluth has just added eviction to the list.

An ordinance passed by the City Council in August bars new rental properties within 300 feet of existing rentals. When a city employee stopped by UMD senior Ashley Loose’s West Arrowhead Road home in October and asked if she charged her renters without a license, her roommate told the truth ...

Building problem
The Columbia housing market appears to be at its lowest — and slowest — point since the early 1980s, and people have differing opinions on when it might recover.
Tribune - 25 Nov 2007
... COLUMBIA, MO - One large residential project that is progressing is The Cottages of Columbia, a leased student housing development on about 25 acres at East Nifong Boulevard and Bearfield Road. The 145-unit development, which is being built by Cottage Builders Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., accounted for most of September’s building permits. But its units - which include more than 50 single-family homes - will be leased, not sold.
The development will have close to 600 bedrooms in a mix of single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes and apartments. In addition to buying lots of building materials locally, the development also is helping out local construction workers ...

University City program helps workers buy houses
Post-Dispatch - 25 Nov 2007
... UNIVERSITY CITY, MO - University City is one of only a few municipalities in the country to offer employees help in buying a house. In the St. Louis area, it's the only one. Crismon and Dozer now live happily on Purdue Avenue in the northeastern part of town. The house is just what he wanted: a 1 1/2-story brick house with a porch, and "extremely nice neighbors." ...

Southern comfort in a college town
NorthJersy - 25 Nov 2007
... OXFORD, MS - These days, however, Gorman and his wife, Jean, live a more settled life, even though they now split their time between North Jersey and their second home in Oxford, Miss. While on summer vacation visiting friends who live near Memphis, Tenn., the Gormans discovered the college town of 12,000 on a day trip exploring northern Mississippi ...

Arriving at home
Post-Star - 25 Nov 2007
... SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The reasons vary for why younger people remain in the area when many of their peers move to large cities. Some enjoy having a less hectic lifestyle.

Or, for the young professional who wants to be successful, competing for jobs and trying to get ahead in a big city can be difficult ...

Editorial: When revelry turns ugly in Blacksburg
Some bar patrons have gotten out of control.
Times - 25 Nov 2007
... BLACKSBURG, VA - What has been going on in Blacksburg lately, though, is beyond typical friction. Several people have reported assaults, and the Draper area has become a site of barely contained chaos when the bars close on the weekends. Overheated hormones fueled by alcohol have already erupted in several fights ...

UH-Manoa has wide-ranging plans for expansion
Star-Tribune - 25 Nov 2007
... MANOA, HI - New housing for both faculty and students and commercial, entertainment and cultural developments would encourage people to "live, learn, work and play" in Manoa, rather than commute.
The vision is part of an updated long-range development plan for the campus, approved in principle by the Board of Regents and being submitted to the city ...

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