Students who move into new areas are not islands. They will have to cope with the habits and routines of not only multiple roommates, but an entire neighborhood as well.
As a college town, Eugene is known for both its studies and its social life. Though it can be difficult to find a personal balance between the two, finding a balance for an entire neighborhood or apartment complex is often a never-ending battle.
University junior business major Danny Roth resided in apartments on 15th Avenue and Alder Street. He said he and his roommates were best described as “the loud ones,” occasionally being shushed by the neighbors upstairs.
“We liked to party and stuff,” Roth said.
He recalled a time where they had a get-together at the same time a neighbor upstairs was working on a big project. The neighbor’s partner grew irritated with the noise and asked him to turn it down.
Though they fancied a good party, Roth and his friends would always turn down the volume at another tenant’s request and never really had any serious issues with them.
Roth probably had more issues with his 4 a.m. guitar-strumming roommate than other tenants.
“You have to be respectful of other people,” Roth said.
Whether students are night owls, study rats, or stuck somewhere in between, they are bound to run into issues when dealing with neighbors who may have different preferences and habits. They will have to cope with the noise or sacrifice their raging house party to keep things fair between neighbors.
Disturbances will occur, but usually there is no need to get authorities involved.
“If people are being loud, I wouldn’t rush to call the police,” said University junior Sarah Gomez.
But she said if things get violent, you cannot wait around.
Gomez learned this just last year on the first night she moved into an apartment complex with three roommates.
Because they didn’t have any furniture, they were all camped out in their living room. It was about 8:30 or 9 p.m. when they began to hear yelling and screaming come from the complex next to theirs.
A girl and her boyfriend were in a shouting match about how she felt as though he was cheating on her and how she was pregnant. Before they knew it, he was threatening to hit his girlfriend.
Because one of her roommates had a father in the police force, they called him to see what they should do.
“We were freaking out … we never experienced anything like that,” Gomez said.
They ended up calling the Eugene Police Department, who quickly neutralized the situation.
Gomez said the campus can be an unsafe area and that if neighbors looked out for one another in this fashion, it would reduce the amount of harassment violence. She doesn’t think there is a way to end it completely, though.
Students on campus have to either adapt to the loudness or prepare to speak their minds. There are plenty of housing opportunities in communities farther from campus, which tend to be much more tranquil and reserved.
Gomez said that wherever students reside in Eugene, they should always keep their eyes open.
“Be aware of your surroundings and focus on your safety,” Gomez said.
[email protected]
Coexisting with neighbors is tricky
Daily Emerald
August 29, 2010
0
More to Discover