Student housing in France to get an upgrade from the French government starting in 2008
Web in France - 16 Feb 2008
... FRANCE - In France, a shortage of housing for university students has long been an issue. A leading student organization in France estimates that there are currently only 156,000 rooms in university towns for 2.2 million students. As a result, students in France have had to resort to creative arrangements, renting rooms in strangers’ homes, exchanging their services for a bed, or are compelled to remain at home with their parents, limiting both their choice of university and their lifestyles.

But on Friday, February 15, Valerie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education in France, and French Housing Minister Christine Boutin announced at a joint press conference on student housing the government of France would commit to the construction of new housing for 5,000 students and 7,000 restorations of current student residences per year over the next four years. The government of France will invest 620 million euros between now and 2012 in the project ...

College students ask community for support to change street name Video
WJRT - 16 Feb 2008
... FLINT, MI - College students in Flint are going door-to-door trying to drum up support.

UM-Flint and Kettering students want to change the name of Third Avenue to "University Avenue."

Saturday their mission was focused on getting neighbors to sign a petition. They believe the change would help boost the local economy and surrounding neighborhoods ...

The Best In...
A RICH SETTING ON A BUDGET
WSJ - 16 Feb 2008
... USA - "For many people who live in cities and areas with a high cost of living, moving to a small college town will allow them to stretch their retirement dollars. At the same time, they can take advantage of the academic setting, whether it's going to classes, mentoring students or doing volunteer work." ...

UT starts new alcohol policy
Students who call 911 during an emergency will not face disciplinary action from the university.
American-Statesman - -16 Feb 2008
... AUSTIN, TX - "Students have told us that when someone passes out or when there appears to be some kind of medical emergency around the use of alcohol, then they experience a reluctance to put themselves or the other person in danger of getting in trouble," said Chuck Roper, a program coordinator for the university's health services. "This program is intended to remove that particular barrier." ...

Ordinance could help renters keep units safe
Missoulian - 16 Feb 2008
... MISSOULA, MT - A proposed residential safety ordinance comes Wednesday to a committee of the Missoula City Council.

It would encourage landlords, tenants and even homeowners to voluntarily request building inspections to make sure homes, apartments and other dwellings are safe. Safe places would get a certificate of approval as an incentive ...

Development Gets Council's Approval Posted 2008-02-16
More Than 1,000 New Units OK'd For City
Daily News Record - 16 Feb 2008
... HARRISONBURG, VA - Harman Realty Inc. can move ahead with plans for 1,054 residential units and a commercial development on Stone Spring Road catering to college students.

In supporting the rezoning, Vice Mayor George Pace repeated his arguments that developing the site could create a short-term glut of college student housing in the city ...

ISU trustees approve money to demolish residence halls
Pantagraph - 16 Feb 2008
... NORMAL, IL - Those changes led ISU to announce a few weeks ago that it was limiting its on-campus housing options for some juniors and seniors.

A group of students critical of the announcement, and its spring semester timing, had asked to address the board, but was turned down. ISU President Al Bowman read a statement before board action stating the trustees’ agenda Friday didn’t include information on the student housing plan, so there was no appropriate point for the students to have their say in that meeting ...

The Magic of a Winter Getaway
TransWoldNews - 15 Feb 2008
... BURLINGTON, VT - Burlington is a college town if there ever was one. It is home to the University of Vermont, St. Michaels, Champlain College and Burlington College. Plan to visit Burlington in February when Winter Fest is in full swing. The highlight of Winter Fest is the ice sculptures ...

State of the City
Pipe Dream - 15 Feb 2008
... BINGHAMTON, NY - In the City of Binghamton, Mayor Matt Ryan’s State of the City address this week, he touted the interdependence between the campus and City.

“As we all join together to convince those at the state level that the Binghamton University law school should become a reality in our Downtown, we can see how important town-gown relationships are to our future,” ...

Staff Editorial: Left out in the cold
Our View: The university is neglecting graduate students in its East Campus redevelopment plan.
Diamondback - 15 Feb 2008
... COLLEGE PARK, MD - If a meeting last week with graduate students is any indication, the university is poised to abandon key parts of its mission to develop 38 acres on the east side of Route 1 into a major player on the retail scene. Everyone agrees that the planned East Campus should be a place where an academic community can flourish and could provide a much-needed boost to improving downtown, but for now, business interests running rampant could leave graduate students out in the cold ...

State Looks to Crack Down on Underage Drinking Video
WFMZ - 15 Feb 2008
... PENNSYLVANIA - Heavy drinking on college campuses can often lead to serious problems in small college towns. Those problems include unruly behavior and sometimes, unwanted violence within the community. But tonight, some Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to put an end to drunken behavior in those towns, like Kutztown. A bill being proposed in the state Senate will help local police departments take control of enforcing liquor laws, allowing them to better target bars and restaurants seen as problem areas ...

Nuisance law lowers noise level
No second offenders cited in East Campus.
Tribune - 15 Feb 2008
... COLUMBIA, MO - A city ordinance passed more than a year ago to crack down on out-of-control parties has changed the neighborhood, East Campus resident Janet Hammen said.

"It’s quieter," Hammen said. "I saw, from my standpoint, an immediate change. It was pretty dramatic." ...

Student housing battle: part II
News Durham Region - 15 Feb 2008
... OSHAWA, ON - Homeowners near the Durham College and UOIT campus have succeeded in lessening the number of students who will be able to rent homes in the neighbourhood and are now turning their attention to the next phase of the battle -- a proposed student apartment building ...

SC4 to look into housing
Officials think students can help revive city
Times Herald - 15 Feb 2008
... PORT HURON, MI - Forget the benefit downtown Port Huron sees from its waterways, its proximity to a major border crossing or the quaint facades of its buildings. It’s college students who will lead downtown out of the doldrums ...

BREAKING NEWS: Gunman opens fire at Northern Illinois University
Register-Mail - 14 Feb 2008
... DEKALB, IL - A gunman opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday, injuring as many as 15 people before he was killed, authorities said. DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler told the student newspaper the Northern Star that the gunman was dead. It was not immediately clear how he died.

The university issued a statement on its Web site about an hour after the 3 p.m. shooting that "the immediate danger has passed. The gunman is no longer a threat." ...

Illinois official talks project with council Normal, Ill., has ongoing, $80 million development
Record-Courier - 14 Feb 2008
... NORMAL, IL - The city manager of Normal, Ill. addressed Kent City Council Wednesday on an on-going $80 million redevelopment in the community with similar component projects on the cusp in Kent.

Mark Peterson described his city, which is home to Illinois State University, as a dying little college town when Normal City Council began planning in 1999 for a robust redevelopment ...

Party control
Hot topic revisited
NewsReview - 14 Feb 2008
... CHICO, CA - The Chico version was modeled after Santa Barbara County’s “nuisance party ordinance,” which was passed back in 2002 and is directly aimed at the student population in the area of Isla Vista. Similar ordinances have been passed in other college towns across the country, including Iowa City, Iowa; East Lansing, Mich., and Bowling Green, Ohio ...

Cupid Lives on Campus
DiverseEducation - 14 Feb 2008
... OXFORD, OH - Miami University in Ohio has an unusually large number of graduates who have married other Miami University graduates — 26,046 people, or about 14 percent of the school’s living alumni population.

To celebrate, Miami University’s division of university advancement this month is mailing out valentines to the 13,023 couples, also known as “Miami Mergers.” The university has been sending out Valentine’s Day cards to coupled alumni since 1973.

According to the university, one unofficial survey found that the percentage of marrying alums from the same college is typically in the 3 to 8 percent range ...

Liberal Berkeley says Marines are welcome after all
Reuters - 13 Feb 2008
... BERLELEY, CA - he city council of Berkeley, California reversed on Wednesday a decision to tell U.S. Marine Corps recruiters they were unwelcome in the ultra-liberal college town.

The decision came early on Wednesday, after council members listened to four hours of testimony from anti-war and pro-military protesters, many of whom had camped outside City Hall since Monday night ...

City worries about lackluster iProvo subscription numbers
Tribune - 13 Feb 2008
... PROVO, UT - Mayor Lewis Billings said the city is talking with iProvo's providers about the situation, but he downplays the "churn" rate.

"We are a college town," Billing said. "We have a high turnover." He said the city is compiling a study of how its churn rate compares with other system ...

Duluth Planning Commission wants to keep 300-foot rental rule
News Tribune - 13 Feb 2008
... DULUTH, MN - The latest salvo in the long-running debate over solving rental housing problems in the university area came Tuesday night from the Duluth Planning Commission.

The 11 commissioners present unanimously advised that the 300-foot ordinance remain intact until an ultimate solution is determined. The current ordinance bans new rental licenses within 300 feet of existing rentals ...

Boarding houses no longer option for housing
Brookings City Council votes unanimously to stop issuing boarding house permits despite 'severe' housing shortage throughout city.
Collegian - 13 Feb 2008
... BROOKINGS, SD - The Brookings City Council decided Feb. 12 that it will not issue any more boarding house passes.

The council voted 7-0 to pass Ordinance 01-08. While the vote was unanimous, council members Tim Reed, Tom Bezdichek and Ryan Brunner emphasized the need for more student housing in Brookings during discussion on the ordinance ...

UA-area neighborhood eyes rules for infill development
Star - 13 Feb 2008
... TUSCON, AZ - At a meeting tonight, neighborhood leaders hope to gather additional support for the plan, which asks the city of Tucson to stand up to what neighbors deem inappropriate development, despite a state law that could make the city liable for reducing the value of property there.

The neighborhood plan itself is no guarantee that the rules for building will change in Jefferson Park, north of the University of Arizona's medical complex, where residents have complained for years that "mini-dorms" full of students are inappropriate intrusions in a neighborhood zoned mostly for single-family residences ...

18-story student-housing tower planned
"It's the perfect town-and-gown location. It's in the new city center area, located by Google and it's right on central campus, so you have an opportunity to attract both the student population and the third-party buyer population." - developer Michael Concannon.
News - 13 Feb 2008
... ANN ARBOR, MI - An up to 18-story, mixed-use student housing tower may rise where the Ann Arbor Professional Building has stood for 46 years on East Washington Street, just east of Division Street, in downtown Ann Arbor ...

Third Avenue or University Avenue? Petition drive under way to change street name
Journal - 12 Feb 2008
... FLINT, MI - "I think it's a great effort," said Kettering student Joel Stone, 21. "Obviously I think it's going to take a lot more than renaming the street to change the city but I think it's a great step towards what they're trying to do."

He said he has seen a big increase in students organizing community events, such as Relay for Life, and colleges working together.

"To see students taking initiative to better the community around us, that's in my mind one of the greatest steps we can take here," he said. "Petitioning for the street name change is a symbol of that community spirit."

The move also comes just as UM-Flint plans to open student housing in the fall and new business and university partnerships aimed at nurturing a college town ...

Oxford Film Fest: Movies and Panels and Parties, Oh My
Cinimatical - 12 Feb 2008
... OXFORD, MS - Eric Snider and I spent this past weekend in lovely Oxford, Mississippi with our friend Jen Yamato from Rotten Tomatoes, where the three of us participated in a panel on Film and New Media for the Oxford Film Festiva ...

The three of us had an absolute blast in Oxford. I love these small town film festivals ... everyone is so nice, the pace is laid-back and mellow -- a nice change coming off the craziness of Sundance ...

Mayor talks town and gown
Flat Hat - 12 Feb 2008
... WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Flat Hat: You’re the mayor of a tourist town, a college town and a retirement town all in one. What do you think of this dynamic?

Mayor Jeanne Zeidler: I think it’s great. I love the diversity that’s here — I think people come here and people live here who value that. They either work at the College, they work in the tourism industry, they may work at businesses that support that industry or the College, and I think the fact that we have so much variety is great. It’s a very special place ...

Smartest city? Iowa has two, stirring old rivalry
The Gazette - 12 Feb 2008
... IOWA CITY, IA - Hawkeye fans and Cyclone fans have one more thing to argue about.

Forbes.com, the Web site of Forbes magazine, last week released its list of "America's Smartest Cities" and Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa, was 10th. Not bad, considering it ranked above Raleigh, N.C., Madison, Wisc. and Austin, Texas.

But scan up to No. 6 to find Ames, home of Iowa State University ...

Ontario Students appalled by Oshawa's anti-student by-laws
CNW - 12 Feb 2008
.. OSHAWA, ON - . Yesterday, the City of Oshawa passed a Revised Residential Rental Licensing By-law that will effectively control where students are allowed to live in the city. The by-law is meant to
systematically target students since the only area of the city affected is the neighbourhood surrounding Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).

The by-law places new restrictions on basement apartments and the number of rooms in a house that can be rented. It also introduces a new licensing fee only for landlords whose properties surround the school but does not include any plan or provisions for transitioning students who currently rent in the area ...

New ASU housing offers luxury amenities with dorm rules
Republic - 12 Feb 2008
... TEMPE, AZ - Student campus living and the luxury resort experience collide at Vista Del Sol, a new Arizona State University student housing complex that has some parents thinking the kids should stay home and mom and dad should go back to school ...

ASU and ACC's Vista del Sol's relationship is a public/private partnership, said Michael Coakley, university housing director. He said ACC has leased land from ASU for the project and at the end of the lease the property and all improvements revert to ASU ...

GMH Communities Trust Announces Sale of the Company
FOX Business - 12 Feb 2008
... USA - Gary M. Holloway Sr., Company Chairman, CEO and President stated "ACC and GMH are the established leaders in the student housing industry. This combination represents a tremendous outcome for both companies' residents, employees and investors. As major shareholders in the combined enterprise, we have the utmost confidence in ACC's ability to grow our combined platforms in this dynamic industry." ...

Capstone to pay $15 million settlement
Connecticut dorms plagued with safety, fire code violations
News - 12 Feb 2008
... STORRS, CT - Birmingham-based Capstone Development Corp. will pay $15 million to the University of Connecticut under a mediated settlement stemming from fire code and safety problems at a dormitory complex ...

American Campus Communities to Acquire GMH Communities Trust
BusinessWire - 12 Feb 2008
... USA - American Campus Communities, Inc. (NYSE: ACC), one of the nation’s largest developers, owners and managers of high-quality student housing properties, today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which American Campus Communities will acquire GMH Communities Trust (NYSE: GCT) for approximately $1.4 billion including outstanding debt totaling approximately $963 million. This transaction relates solely to GMH’s student housing business ...

Vehicle hire and moving firms join car share market
CarRentals - 12 Feb 2008
... USA - U Car Share is now ready for business and has already started operating at a small handful university campuses and in well known college towns, such as Ann Arbor (Michigan) and Berkeley (California).

Avis also appears to be interested in the car share business, but is not yet willing to commit to launching a comprehensive program or a subsidiary. Nevertheless, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Avis is “watching from the sidelines,” even though it may take some time before an official announcement concerning a new car sharing scheme is actually made ...

New Vision to Improve C-Town Cohesion and Business
Cornell Daily Sun - 11 Feb 2008
... ITHACA, NY - Amidst the controversial moratorium on Collegetown development, the Collegetown Vision Implementation Committee is moving forward to create a plan for future growth in the area. On Feb. 18, the CVIC will meet with Goody Clancy, the recently selected architecture firm that will be working on the project.

Last October, the Ithaca Common Council voted to halt approval of further development proposals in Collegetown in an effort to create a more cohesive design plan for the area. Since then, the CVIC has been collaborating with Goody Clancy, in addition to the real estate company WZHA and traffic firm Nelson Nygaard. Additionally, the University and the City each have donated $75,000 towards the planning process ...

Questions to ask when looking for Carbondale's new city manager
The Southern - 11 Feb 2008
... CARBONDALE, IL - This is an historic opportunity for Carbondale. It's not as exciting as the Obama/Clinton/McCain struggle that flashes across our televisions, but it will affect us as much, if not more than, the national contests ...

We have some questions that we hope our council members ask of the candidates. Perhaps others in the business community, the faith community, students and faculty can generate their own questions for the council members in the selection process.

So, here we go ...

Nine Cities, Nine Ideas
Local governments around the globe are coming up with some of the most innovative ways to cut energy use. There are lessons here for places of all sizes.
WSJ - 11 Feb 2008
... WORLD - Ann Arbor, Mich., and Beijing, China, have precious little in common. But the modest college town and sprawling national capital do share one trait: They're part of a world-wide movement by cities to rein in their runaway energy use ...

UNCW, activists debate sacrificing forest for housing
Star News - 11 Feb 2008
... WILMINGTON, NC - Both sides profess they want a balanced approach to meeting the school's needs for more student housing.

But officials of the University of North Carolina Wilmington and some faculty and students vehemently disagree whether cutting down 573 longleaf pines should be part of that answer ...

Church opens Inn to Union students
Sun - 11 Feb 2008
... JACKSON, TN - A Jackson hotel is closing for business, and that will solve the housing needs of about 300 displaced Union University students.

The membership of Englewood Baptist Church voted unanimously Sunday to convert the Old English Inn, a hotel the church owns and operates on North Highland Avenue, into housing for students who lost their homes in Tuesday's tornado. About 180 women will live on the top floor, 120 men on the bottom floor ...

Controversial proposal; Oshawa will seek to limit the number of rooms that can be rented out in neighbourhoods surrounding colleges there
Tribune - 11 Feb 2008
... OSHAWA, ON - The City of Oshawa may have a solution to a problem that affects communities across the province where colleges and universities are located.

A bylaw that Oshawa's city council will vote on today will limit the number of rooms that can be rented out in the neighbourhoods surrounding Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. It will also require landlords to obtain licences to rent out student rooms.

The bylaw - the first of its kind in the province ...

Fears raised for future of Cray Mansion
Developer plans to make it rental property
Free Press - 11 Feb 2008
... MANKATO, MN — The impending sale of the Cray Mansion has triggered a last-minute effort aimed at preventing what historic preservation advocates fear will be a disaster for the historic building.

The developer interested in buying the mansion from the YWCA, however, said he’d like to preserve its Victorian appearance as a rental property ...

College Students to Develop Marketing Plans to Retain More Grads for the 55% Initiative and use Manchester as Pilot City
Additional data analysis shows that more than 50% may currently be staying, but those who have earned four-year degrees leave at the highest rates
University System of New Hampshire
... NEW HAMPSHIRE - The 55% Initiative sets a goal of convincing 55% of new graduates to “work, play, and stay” here, as compared to the roughly 50% who currently stay. The effort was unveiled by USNH a year ago, has received significant support from the business, government, and nonprofit community, and now has substantial data that can be used to develop a “tourism-like marketing campaign” later this year.

“We do a great job marketing the state to tourists. Why can’t we do a better job marketing it to soon-to-be graduates?” Chancellor Reno asked the audience. “What better way is there to develop a campaign aimed at college students than by tapping the ideas and creativity of current marketing students?” ...

This bus's destination: town-gown heaven
Globe - 10 Feb 2008
... BOSTON, MA - Imagine a cordial town-gown relationship, where the university sees neighborhood needs aligned with its own interests. Imagine neighbors inviting college employees to consider buying local property, investing in affordable housing, and coming to local barbecues. Imagine college students and local high school students knowing one another by name, sharing classrooms and recreation facilities, or just chatting together on street corners ...

A plan for building better communities
Two N.H. experts plot a course for towns' smart growth
Seacoast Online - 10 Feb 2008
... NEW HAMPSHIRE - "Communities & Consequences: The Unbalancing of New Hampshire's Human Ecology & What We Can Do About It," by demographer Peter Francese of Exeter and co-author Lorraine Merrill of Stratham, the newly appointed New Hampshire commissioner of agriculture, markets and food, looks at factors affecting development, growth and tax rates in the state.

The book intertwines interviews with young professionals, town officials, business owners and active citizens with demographic facts and statistics, speaking to the consequences of a state with a rapidly aging population ...

For more information visit the Communities and Consequences Web site. The New Hampshire College & University Council was one of a number of funders togethere supporting the study.

The heart is a thrifty hunter
Six dates in six days, each for under $21: Can it be done?
Globe - 10 Feb 2008
... BOSTON, MA - At first, I had this dating business all wrong ...

I'm still young, but wiser, and with Valentine's Day looming, I felt sufficiently confident to conduct a bold experiment. Over six days, I would go out with six different young women. We would visit places open to those under 21. And each night would cost less than $21 ...

Young legislators introduce Clinton, Obama Saturday
PolitickerME - 10 Feb 2008
... MAINE - Members of state government took on the task of introducing both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during separate events Saturday.

This included two members who are in their 20s – Reps. Emily Cain and Jeremy Fischer. This was a measure taken on by both candidates to encourage young people to get out to the polls ...

The Registry again under new owners, management
Daily News - 10 Feb 2008
... BOWLING GREEN, OH - The Registry Apartments, a residential facility on Old Morgantown Road geared toward college students, has changed management and ownership again.

Now owned by Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Katsur Management Group and managed by Asset Campus Housing, The Registry’s 20,000 square feet of commercial space still has no tenant after two years of operations ...

Forum editorial: Challenges to growth near NDSU
Forum - 10 Feb 2008
... FARGO, ND - probably the most problematic impacts would come in neighborhoods adjacent to the university. The days when the campus seemed remote in north Fargo are gone. On its southeastern fringes, the main campus is an urban campus. The effects of growth – both in student numbers and in new buildings – will generate dislocations and opposition. Student parking and traffic congestion because of routine university operations, special events and loud parties in off-campus student housing already cause irritation among neighbors. That irritation will be communicated to Fargo City Hall, where enlightened solutions will have to be developed with the university.

Additionally, the old neighborhoods already are changing rapidly as new residential housing aimed at students and faculty spring up. The shift from neighborhoods that happen to be near the campus to housing constructed because it’s near the campus will accelerate as enrollment grows ...

Normal looks ahead on pedestrian/bike plan
Pantagraph - 10 Feb 2008
... NORMAL, IL - A Normal town committee intends to ask the City Council to hire a planner to move ahead with an official pedestrian/bike plan.

The 16-member bicycling and pedestrian transportation committee plans to present its proposal to the council at its Feb. 18 meeting. Estimated cost will be $50,000, said committee chairman Doug Oehler.

“Our mission was to look throughout the community and say, ‘Is it going to be feasible to go ahead and have a planner come in? Do we have the obvious pieces in place?’ The answer is now, most certainly,” Oehler said. “Our recommendation to the council will be quite positively to go forward.” ...

Restless coach syndrome hits Athens
Eagle-Gazette - 10 Feb 2008
... ATHENS, OH - As much as its most ardent fans will argue against it, Ohio is a stepping-stone program, much like that first or second job right out of college. It's a place where athletes - and coaches - can make mistakes on and off the field, learn from them and then move on. There isn't an overwhelming media presence serving as a watchdog in Athens. Save for the efforts of a student newspaper, a local daily and the occasional drive-by coverage from some of the area's larger media outlets, stories - good and bad - are vastly unreported inside the Ohio University bubble ...

 

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