This town was made for you and me
Daily Tar Heel - 29 Feb 2008
... CHAPEL HILL, NC - Students, this is the town of Chapel Hill. Town of Chapel Hill, these are our students.

This is an introduction I've never fully realized. The Apple Chill festival at least gave me some sense of this, but as we all know, that great community event was "shot down." While the University fosters a good relationship with the town, students are disconnected from the town. The Chapel Hill community is great, and it would be nice to feel more like part of it. The town could provide a real-world training ground; UNC could do a few things to encourage that ...

One-day audit of rental properties in student neighborhood planned
WEBWIRE – 29 Feb 2008
... KINGSTON, ON - This Friday, teams of city officials and specially trained students will conduct a one-day housing assessment in a designated student neighborhood to assess the safety of rental housing and educate tenants about their rights.

Teams consisting of one fire inspector, one property standards officer and two AMS sponsored and city-trained Student Property Assessment Team (SPAT) members will knock on doors on University Avenue between Princess and Clergy Streets starting around noon. Tenants can pre-book specific times or simply welcome the team at the door.

'Friends' look to university to generate downtown business
Daily Tar Heel - 29 Feb 2008
... CHAPEL HILL, NC - Chapel Hill will always be a college town with a college atmosphere despite the increasing amount of services for students on campus, such as Student Stores.

"Once the University started to provide services for the students, the town began to wither a little," ...

The issue Chapel Hill business owners face is how to generate consistent revenue from the non-student population, Morris said.

"It is important to better understand the demographics of downtown Chapel Hill. It's not just students buying beer and pizza," ...

Landlords elicit a sinking feeling
Daily Emerald - 29 Feb 2008
... EUGENE, OR - How can a city like Eugene, which prides itself on acceptance, helpfulness, community strength, legal and social rights, allow for businesses to treat students, young people and low-income tenants so poorly? I guarantee that if I had a higher income and had a higher quality rental agency, my broken sink would not have even been an issue. If you cannot feel safe - emotionally and physically - in your own house, where can you feel safe? Community responsibility begins with people working together in an effort to make a better environment for all. We are the human race, and we are meant to help each other whenever possible - especially when rent is $1,200 per month ...

It's the 'city' of Amherst
Bulletin - 28 Feb 2008
... AMHERST, MA - With our city's budget of $65 million-plus, the myriad of state and federal laws and mandates, our increasing population and the complexities of technologies, it is not productive to hold on to the old view of Amherst as "a quaint, small New England town" with a quaint New England form of government.

As a friend once said to me: "Yes, the students are the 900-pound Gorilla in the room and even if he doesn't vote and isn't a resident, and doesn't pay much tax, you still have to ‘feed' him, and supply some of his stuff." Then he added: "Your kind of town government is funky - whose in charge?" ...

Book review: Profit by Investing in Student Housing
WalletPop - 28 Feb 2008
... USA - In his book Profit by Investing in Student Housing: Cash In On the Campus Housing Shortage, veteran real estate investor Michael H. Zaransky makes a compelling argument for a long-term bull market in college-town rental properties ...

Park improvements will help both the city and the university
News Times - 28 Feb 2008
... FOREST GROVE, OR - We are proud of the partnership that Pacific University and the City of Forest Grove have developed with the construction of the Lincoln Park Athletic Complex. This partnership is a model that several other college towns in the Pacific Northwest are studying in the hopes that they might enjoy a similarly successful relationship. Lincoln Park is a unique facility that will benefit the university, the city and its citizens for years to come ...

Fla. ad agency aims to capitalize on Austin's small business market
Business Journal - 28 Feb 2008
... AUSTIN, TX - "We've had great success helping people in Gainesville, as well as all over the Southeast, to get the best return for their marketing dollars even when they can't afford a huge advertising campaign. I felt it was time to keep moving and help folks in new markets. I chose Austin because frankly it is very similar to Gainesville. It's a university town with lots of new business opportunities and an increasing need for marketing expertise that small business people can afford." ...

Commentary: City Council proposal hurts student renters
Northeastern News - 28 Feb 2008
... BOSTON, MA - Recently, City Councilor Michael Ross pushed a petition to try to change zoning codes to limit residences so that no more than four students are allowed to live together. The Boston Zoning Commission will vote on the proposal next month and it has many potential points of harm to students.

Ross says the new zoning will eliminate the slums college students are forced to live in; however, he refuses to set a square footage stipulation in the petition. There are many legitimate five-plus bedroom apartments in the city, all of which will have to limit their intake of students to four.

Family sues friends who partied with Jax as she got drunk, died
Star Tribune - 28 Feb 2008
... MANKATO, MN - The family of Amanda Jax, the woman who drank herself to death at a Mankato nightspot in celebration of her 21st birthday, is suing the bar and the friends who bought her a steady stream of drinks.

The lawsuit, being filed today in Blue Earth County District Court, says that Jax's college-age friends on Oct. 29 brought her one drink after another in less than two hours ...

Green Scheme plants seeds of good will; Initiative sees students working with residents to plant trees in neighbourhood
Whig Standard - 28 Feb 2008
... KINGSTON, ON - As many as 100 new trees could be planted this year in Sydenham district, but the roots being buried underground aren't as big as the relationship that is being cultivated, according to those involved.

Students from Queen's University and residents involved in the local neighbourhood association are waiting to see if they will receive funds through a national program to pay for the city to plant new, mature trees.

The program would replace trees in the downtown district and add "green" to the student housing area around the university, more commonly known as the student ghetto ...

A growing off-campus empire
Santa Clara plans to build new dorms from 87 properties owned off campus
Santa Clara - 28 Feb 2008
... SANTA CLARA, CA - Santa Clara owns more than 80 individual properties within a half-mile radius of campus and plans to knock down houses to build new residence halls in the near future, according to university officials and property records.

A search of Santa Clara County property records by The Santa Clara found the university has purchased at least 68 properties off campus since 1996. In all, the university owns 87 off-campus properties in Santa Clara County, according to property records ...

Enquête sur les conditions de vie et de logement des étudiants étrangers en cité
Doubs - Besançon
PleinAir - 28 Fev 2008
... FRANCE - Le Réseau Education Sans Frontière de Franche-Comté entend réaliser une enquête sur les conditions de vie et de logement des étudiants étrangers en Cité Universitaire.

L’anonymat des participants sera préservé.

RESF souhaiterait également faire la lumière sur une Directive nationale qui obligerait tout étudiant étranger à avoir un cautionnaire garant résidant dans l'Union Européenne ...

Moudenc attaque Cohen sur le logement social
20minutes - 28 Fev 2008
... FRANCE - Sur la création de logements étudiants, son bilan est nul », a-t-il lâché, s'engageant à construire 1 500 nouveaux logements sociaux chaque année ...

Durham makes affordable suburb list
Seacoastonline - 28 Feb 2008
... DURHAM, NH — The New Hampshire town of Durham has been listed as one of the most affordable suburbs in BusinessWeek magazine, despite having one of the highest property tax rates in the region ...

Code proposals pose problems
Badger Herals- 28 Feb 2008
... MADISON, WI - While most of the revisions make sense and are necessary, a troubling new section that states when the university can punish a student’s off-campus behavior is vague and ill-defined. As it stands, this particular revision could potentially shove authority into parts of a student’s affairs where it has no business ...

Ian’s Pizza founder inspires UW crowd
Daily Cardinal - 28 Feb 2008
... MADISON, WI - Ian’s Pizza founder Ian Gurfield,spoke to members of the UW-Madison Entrepreneurship Association about his personal experience as an entrepreneur Wednesday at his State Street location.

Gurfield, a graduate from the University of Massachusetts, opened his first Ian’s location on Frances Street in 2001—when he was only 21 years old.

He said his hope was to find a college town that had a late night scene, admitting his “target market is drunk college students.” ...

Madison stands out in Wisconsin Film Festival 2008 programming
A look at a few movies slated to screen this spring
Isthmus - 28 Feb 2008
... MADISON, WI - Spring can’t arrive any sooner after this interminable winter. Thankfully enough, one of the surest signs of spring is approaching sooner than expected. The tenth annual Wisconsin Film Festival set to begin in little more than five weeks, and with it arrives a wealth of movies, some of which are tied directly to Madison.

Colleges Teach 'Urban Development 101'
Involvement in Projects Reflects Need to Upgrade Schools' Surroundings
WSJ - 27 Feb 2008
... USA - One of the most ambitious real-estate-development projects in Philadelphia involves revamping a 42-acre eyesore on the banks of the Schuylkill River into a hub featuring gleaming office towers, apartments, a hotel and restaurants. The catalyst for the $2 billion redevelopment: the University of Pennsylvania.

Universities, increasingly, are extending their reach to off-campus development in an effort to give their surrounding areas and town centers a vibrant and modern feel. In the process, they are becoming major drivers of economic development after concluding that their fortunes are directly tied to those of their cities ...

Paris students can't find housing
France24 - 27 Feb 2008
... PARIS, FR - According to a study done by the French magazine l'Observatoire on student life in Paris, a third of students have trouble finding housing in the capital. A whopping forty-two percent live in family homes - 37% have to put up with their parents, while only 7% live in a shared flat. Thirty-one percent live alone or in a couple, while 14% stay in the dreaded ‘residences' (shared toilets and showers and hospital-style food). But thanks to ongoing complaints from UNEF and other associations, the subject has become an important issue in the local elections in Paris, which are to take place on March 29 ...

Student Housing Bucks Property Weakness
Asset Class Surges In Europe As Values In Rest of Sector Fall
WSJ - 27 Feb 2008
... EUROPE - While Europe's property market remains shaky as values fall and financing opportunities wither, one real-estate asset class is bucking the trend to deliver double-digit returns: student housing.

Residential quarters for university students are finding favor with investors looking for property immune to the cyclical downturns to which other real-estate asset classes, such as offices, have proved vulnerable. Increased interest in university education across Europe, partly on government drives to encourage young people, is underpinning demand for student housing ...

Rocking on the Web
City’s new approach seems to work
Telegram & Gazette - 27 Feb 2008
... WORCESTER, MA - Food on Shrewsbury Street. Concerts at the DCU Center. Worcester Sharks hockey games. Beautiful campuses.

All these attractions have been captured in “Worcester Rocks,” a four-minute video posted on YouTube.

At the end of the video, the screen reads, “If that’s not a college town, we don’t know what is.” ...

'It still is our home'
Ingleside residents in way of development
Herald-Leader - 27 Feb 2008
... LEXINGTON, KY - The bulldozer showed up Monday morning at Lexington's Ingleside Mobile Home Park to start razing the mobile homes, clearing the site for a student housing complex.

On Tuesday, only 13 families remained, and 11 of those own their mobile homes. They say they are angry that they're being forced to move and not being reimbursed for the value of their homes ...

Oxford Idol 2008
... OXFORD, OH - YouTube presentation of fundraiser for Kramer Elementary School put on by Miami University/Talawanda Schools/City of Oxford ...

American Campus Communities snaps up new properties
SmallCap Investor - 27 Feb 2008
... USA - American Campus Communities, Inc. (NYSE: ACC) shares are increasing moderately after the real estate investment trust announced it is buying the student housing business of GMH Communities Trust (NYSE: GCT) for about $1.4 billion. The deal includes outstanding debt of approximately $963 million ...

Oxford film festival increases repertoire
Miami Student - 26 Feb 2008
... OXFORD, OH - The Oxford International Film Festival (OIFF) reprises its role this year as the only major film festival in the region. After the first OIFF in April 2007, the Miami Association of Filmmakers and Independent Actors (M.A.F.I.A) continues to produce the festival in what it hopes will become an annual event.

This year's festival will include live bands, guest celebrities and over 45 international films.

The festival will run from April 10-14 and premier movies, host filmmaker panels as well as many other activities at Miami University's Marcum Conference Center, the Oxford Arts Center and Uptown Park ...

Open Day at Sorbonne Abu Dhabi
AME Info - 26 Feb 2008
... ABU DHABI -
Under the high patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, minister of presidential affairs, Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (PSUAD) held its open day on Tuesday Feb 19th at its campus ...

$80,000 bought more than a logo
Coloradoan - 26 Feb 2008
... FORT COLLINS, CO - Did the city of Fort Collins pay $80,000 for a new logo? As pointed out in a Coloradoan editorial last week, it came as part of a package. That package is described by the city as including "... powerful brand-building ideas and effective communication strategies ..." devised by North Star Destination Strategies (a Tennessee company).

I read the executive summary of the report on the city's Web site and found many items of interest ...

Borough initiative must include trust
Collegian - 26 Feb 2008
... STATE COLLEGE, PA - If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the State College Borough Council is bestowing serious praise on other college towns with its discussion to adopt strategies that would better relations between students and local residents.

But in addition to flattering the creative town leaders that work with universities, like University of Florida, University of Colorado and Clemson University, this borough initiative is flattering to another group: the Penn State students.

It's a move that says, "Hey, neither of us are going anywhere, so let's work with each other, not against each other." ...

Rock in a good place
'Mission Control' looks back to alternative rock predecessors - Georgia's own R.E.M
East Tennessean - 26 Feb 2008
... ATHENS, GA - If built, a nativity scene for the sound R.E.M. spawned could be seen just around the corner from where the Georgia Bulldogs will beat the Tennessee Vols in football this October.

Yes, a little college town called Athens is the Bethlehem to alternative rock as we know it today.

It's also where The Whigs went to college and got their start. (Your history professor may not agree with this point.) ...

Cockroach award isn't dead
Whig-Standard - 26 Feb 2008
... KINGSTON, ON - Re: the editorial "Playing nice with landlords" (Feb. 15), concerning the decision by Queen's University's Alma Mater Society not to award the Golden Cockroach Award this year to the worst student housing landlord.

The Alma Mater Society is not going soft on landlords. But neither is the AMS going to condemn landlords on anything less than compelling and corroborated evidence. To do so would be irresponsible and would make its advocacy efforts addressing the enduring housing predicament faced by students and the community less credible.

The dramatic impact and public awareness created by the Golden Cockroach Award cannot be underestimated ...

Student housing strategy draws support
Free Press - 26 Feb 2008
... LONDON, ON - A plan to maintain the quality of neighbourhoods near London's post-secondary schools was unveiled yesterday amid concerns a "student ghetto" could develop in the city.

Mutual disrespect between students and homeowners, run-down rental homes and student misbehaviour are among the problems cited in the strategy to improve the neighbourhoods around Fanshawe College and the University of Western Ontario ...

State Funding Fortunes Start Falling
InsideHigherEd.com - 26 Feb 2008
... KENTUCKY - In fiscal years 1996 and 1997 — 1997 being the year that Kentucky’s Legislature approved the landmark Postsecondary Education Improvement Act — the state ranked 24th nationally in terms of per capita state higher education appropriations. By fiscal year 2008, Kentucky had climbed to 11th place, according to data from the Grapevine project based at Illinois State University.

“These last 10 years, Kentucky has been among the national leaders in reform of postsecondary education,” said James C. Votruba, president of Northern Kentucky University. “This current budget is going to put that to a test, I believe.” ...

Brown Ends Tuition for Lower-Income Students
nytimes.com - 26 Feb 2008
... PROVIDENCE, RI - Brown University is eliminating tuition for students whose parents earn less than $60,000, after decisions by fellow Ivy League universities to bolster financial aid as their endowments grow.

The university, in Providence, R.I., said on Saturday that it also planned to substitute grants for student loans in the financial aid packages of students whose families earned less than $100,000 a year. The new program cuts reliance on loans for all students regardless of family income, the university said in a statement posted on its Web site ...

Staff Editorial: Keep College Park rich
Our View: The College Park City Council should actively promote local business ownership by creating an independent business alliance.
Diamondback - 25 Feb 2008
... COLLEGE PARK, MD - Independent businesses have been found to have three times the economic impact on a region than analogous chain stores. A typical chain bookstore returns about $13 to the local economy for every $100 spent at the store, whereas independent booksellers have been shown to return $45 out of every $100.

This may seem startling, but the causes behind the staggering disparity are quite simple. Independent businesses tend to have smaller reach in terms of their employment pools and tend to hire local labor; be owned by people who live in the area and keep the profits within the regional economy; and support secondary employment of artists and authors ...

$750 million mixed-use development
East Village design will be presented to council Tuesday
State Journal
... EAST LANSING, MI - Developers hoping to reinvent an area along the Red Cedar River are ready for the next design phase - if the City Council signs off.

The San Diego-based Pierce Education Properties will pre-sent what it believes is a financially feasible plan for the East Village project - a $750 million mixed-use development of retail, entertainment and residential elements - to council members at a Tuesday work session ...

Fullerton to Add New $140 Million, 1000-Student Housing Project
Students suggested some designs for the rooms, which come fully furnished
Daily Titan - 25 Feb 2008
... FULLERTON, CA - The days Cal State Fullerton is referred to as a 'commuter school' might be numbered as the Fullerton City Council recently approved a student housing project that will be located on the corner of Commonwealth and Chapman Avenues.

The Jefferson Commons Plaza will be ready for pre-leasing September 2009 and for move-in in 2010 if all goes according to plan. The cost of the project will be roughly $140 million. It is expected to house 1,200 students in 351 apartments ...

Housing master plan in the works
Diamondback - 25 Feb 2008
... COLLEGE PARK, MD - University administrators have been quietly moving for the past six months to create a new "housing master plan" in an effort to consolidate all future projects into a single document.

With seniors banned from on-campus housing this year and many juniors being kicked out next year, both the university and private developers have scrambled to put up as many new housing units as possible ...

Frustrated neighbors seek to cap enrollment
Community Assoc. upset over student behavior, increased rental properties
Towerlight - 25 Feb 2008
... TOWSON, MD - Some members of the community are seeking a cap on University enrollment until Towson can provide on-campus housing for at least 40 percent of its students.

Citing persistent behavioral issues along with increasing numbers of rental properties, the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations president Ed Kilcullen sent President Robert Caret a letter asking to request the University System of Maryland cap enrollment.

"It's a combination of the rental properties and the continued alcohol problems that go along with having students from a university," ...

Antioch College to Close After Talks Collapse
BizJournals.com - 25 Feb 2008
... YELLOW SPRINGS, OH - Antioch College is scheduled to close this summer for the 2008-09 academic year after trustees confirmed a decision made last year.

The board of the Yellow Springs school said at a meeting in Los Angeles that it opted to suspend the college effective June 30 and close it for the 2008-09 academic year after it ran out of time to reach an agreement on the transfer of the college to an independent group called the Antioch College Continuation Corp. The board hopes to reopen for the 2009-10 academic year ...

UNC scene less greek-powered
Chronicle - 25 Feb 2008
DURHAM / CHAPEL HILL, NC - Those looking to diversify the social options available to Duke students in and around campus may find an unlikely model 10 miles down Tobacco Road.

The social scene at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is perhaps the only asset of the school that entices the envy of some Duke students.

UNC's combination of greek life, the perks of a major college town and a vibrant arts district make the social scene at the university suited to many different tastes, students said ...

Accountability legislation a good first step
Daily Local - 25 Feb 2008
... PENNSYLVANIA - A new piece of legislation authored by state Sen. Andy Dinniman, R-19th, of West Whiteland, could go a long way toward reducing alcohol-related problems in college communities. The legislation would give local law enforcement more power to enforce liquor laws and would place accountability for students’ actions where many people already feel it beongs: with the colleges themselves.

Under the new piece of legislation, which is being called the Alcohol Accountability Act, colleges would be required to make quarterly reports to the surrounding communities on how they handle offenses. No extra penalties or rules would be put into place to punish offenders of alcohol-related crimes, however. Any crimes students are convicted of, regardless of whether they involve alcohol, will be reported back to the student’s school. These changes would affect 14 state universities and four state-related universities ...

Greed destroying our Oxford
Oxford Mail - 24 Feb 2008
... OXFORD, UK - They cut down the beautiful old trees at Bonn Square in Oxford (luckily, minus our brave protester) and what do we see?

An old church with kind invitations to visit inside or out, the end of an old building and a hideous glass what? It's awful.

And now another house of character in Iffley Road is to be pulled down for Exeter College student housing (102 flats) - another glass and concrete monster that doesn't blend in will soon look shabby, with milk, trainers and laundry on the sills.
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Oh, beautiful Oxford, the greedy colleges are turning you into a concrete slum ...

Collegetown at U of R?
WHAM - 24 Feb 2008
... ROCHESTER, NY - University of Rochester leaders long ago began referring to one corner of campus as a "college town.” That corner is an off-campus strip ripe with restaurants and other businesses.

“We're trying to see how we can tie our students into going up there and supporting the businesses and spending time up there,” ...

New vision for Union
Union moves quickly to revamp its long-range building plan after storm
Sun - 24 Feb 2008
... JACKSON, TN - It will be hard for Union University freshmen Ericka King and Erin Palm to get used to the empty space where dorms once stood on their campus.

They want the campus to return to the way it was before the Feb. 5 tornado that damaged the Hurt and Watters student housing complexes. But they know that it won't ...

Spartanburg hangs hopes on arts initiative
Planning group using model of Massachusetts town
GoUpstate - 24 Feb 2008
... SPARTANBURG, NC - Whilden's advice to Spartanburg: leverage resident participation, be user-friendly and mix people.

"Pittsfield has had a remarkable turnaround in the past few years, and arts and culture has led the effort," she said. "I've spoken to representatives from Spartanburg, and they have great ideas. I hope they're successful, because it can do so much for a community."

Spartanburg: Creative Energy will officially launch in mid-March, but Evins and other organizers - in partnership with the city and county - have already planned initiatives to involve residents and attract newcomers ...

College jazz combos get a chance to shine
Telegram - 24 Feb 2007
... WORCESTER, MA - The College Town Fest will feature combos from Holy Cross, WPI, Anna Maria College, Assumption College and Clark.

Kay Bassett of the Music Worcester board spearheaded the college jazz fest after hearing from a Clark student that such events never take place. Bassett, who is the wife of Clark president John Bassett, figured she was in a position to change that.

“Some of the bands share players, but it seems the bands as a whole never get together,” she said. “This is a great way to showcase the talent in the colleges here.” ...

Could city do more for seniors?
American - 24 Feb 2008
... HATTIESBURG, MS - "What I would like to see in Hattiesburg is a development that includes all levels of living options," Pittman said. "One where retirees could live in efficient, well designed and well appointed homes in a beautiful neighborhood with supportive services offered for those who wanted or needed them."

Pittman said the segment of retirees who are still active and vibrant tends to not consider assisted living facilities as an option for living arrangements.

"Developers tend to think 'congregate' living arrangements for this group but what is needed is small community developments with updated cottages or small-scale housing with easy access that provides for home and lawn maintenance and yet be affordable for many," ...

Town tears into gown
New Ear - 24 Feb 2008
... LANCASTER, PA - "History is not a prison," say historians. But at Wednesday night's meeting of the city Planning Commission, history became a hot and stuffy room from which neither Franklin & Marshall College nor its neighbors could escape.

In Lancaster City Council chambers, a debate on an F&M housing proposal designed, college officials say, to alleviate some of the problems that students have caused in the west end community, quickly devolved into a dialogue of the deaf.

F&M officials and its developer, Kevin Silverang, an alum whose Silverang Hallowell Development Co., will purchase, renovate, own and manage residential properties for student housing, attempted to allay residents' fears ...

 

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