Making the move off campus is a difficult transition for any student. Finding the right place, the right roommates and the right location near campus are all factors that go into selecting an off-campus residence. This search process is about to get even tougher if proposed restrictions on student housing regulations are implemented.
The Lexington Town and Gown Commission is considering changes in student housing regulations that will restrict how many students can live in residential neighborhoods around campus, according to a Sept. 17 Kernel article.
“The goal is to never have students living next to each other; there needs to be a space for buffering,†said Mark Meuser, crafter of the Student Housing Task Force Report. “Students respond to how adults around them are acting.â€
Preliminary plans require that no students will live next to each other.
This plan could not have anything more wrong with it. Residence halls on campus can only hold around 5,100 students, according to UK Campus Housing’s Web site. Where will the other 12,000 undergraduates live when students can’t live right next to each other?
This plan will push more and more students farther away from campus. If students live out of walking distance from campus, how will they get to campus for class? They certainly can’t drive to campus. The struggles of parking at UK have already been well documented over the years.
While concerns about noise, parking and garbage may be true, is it all the students’ fault?
This seems to be the impression that Diane Lawless, 3rd District councilwoman, and Meuser are under.
Students don’t need adults around them to know how to act. That’s why students have parents and guardians. Inserting random adults in between students is not the answer to cleaning up these problems.
Here’s an idea: They can call them “RRAs.†Residential Resident Advisers who can help these students “respond to how adults around them are acting.â€Â Didn’t students move off campus to move away from authority and become more responsible in the first place?
In response to the following editorial comment,
“This plan will push more and more students farther away from campus. If students live out of walking distance from campus, how will they get to campus for class? They certainly can’t drive to campus.”
There are these things called bikes and buses. Try Google for more information…
I want to thank the few students who live off campus and are good neighbors, as they do exist. However…
The concerns about noise, parking and garbage are very almost always students fault. Students did indeed move off campus to move away from authority (including that of their parents or guardians), but not to become more responsible. To think otherwise is delusional.
You can probably get a good look at ”responsibility” this weekend as students gather to celebrate the football game in a ”respectful” fashion. Please feel free to get up Saturday and Sunday mornings and tour the neighborhoods around campus. You can get a first hand look at the cleanliness and consideration students display toward their rented house and surrounding neighborhood.
Absentee landlords could care less about noise and garbage, they only want to squeeze as much rent as they can out of students pockets. It is in the landlords interest to prevent this measure and protect their wallets. Don’t be fooled into thinking they are concerned about the well-being or safety of any students.
The opinion written here is endearing in many ways, as it’s a reminder of how many young people view the world. But I’m sure once the author gets a bit older, has a family, a few kids, and a mortgage with property values, they, too, will understand why a buffer is needed. Until then, a couple of things:
1. College-ages students and older adults (especially parents with small children) spend their Friday nights differently. The first tends to be loud while the second hopes for quiet. Having some separation between the two is a good thing. There’s nothing worse than trying to put a toddler to bed next door to a house party.
2. College-age students who rent and older adults who own have a different sense of taking care of property. I have never seen any of my neighbors who live here permanently destroy or vandalize the area; but I have seen students litter in the street, leave beer bottles in the park, and urinate on trees just outside my house. And I should tell you, the relationship between this and property values is real.
The author asks, “is it all the students’ fault?” and I can most definitely say…unfortunately, yes. The fact is, there is a massive divide between the desires of students and those of long-time residents. Just come on down to Elizabeth Street during game day–or better yet, the day AFTER game day– and you’ll see the difference immediately. Providing a buffer between these two groups is essential, so everyone has the space that meets their needs.
I’m confident that one day, once the author has lived both sides of the coin, they will understand this issue more fully.
I do not think there is a need for a buffer zone. To touch what people are saying about trash and if there is a buffer with families living between college students that will influence how the college students act. I do not believe that. With a buffer, students will get pushed further out in Lexington and with their drunk walks home, they will still throw trash in random yards, make noise walking by, go to the bathroom in random yards, etc. Another thing, I could not understand why a family would want to live in the middle of college kids due to the fact of what was previously stated. I have talked with someone who stated that they lived on crescent when there was no college kids around. But with UK Pres. wanting to increase enrollment, that will push adults out of those certain areas or force them to deal with the noise.