As more high-density residential developments spring up around campus, University of Oregon students should become increasingly concerned. Although they offer luxurious amenities and convenient locations, Eugene’s student housing boom threatens to fundamentally transform students’ place in the local community.
Most importantly, high-density developments like The Patterson and 13th & Olive, alienate students from their neighbors. These buildings are concrete sanctuaries, replete with high-tech security systems and automated gates. While the idea of safety is comforting, such measures keep students and local residents at arm’s length.
Students should be involved in their communities, even if it’s as simple as volunteering for the neighborhood watch, planting flowers or going to a city council meeting. But in a secure high-rise, there’s little chance for the kinds of neighborly interaction that produce such efforts. Students from out of state risk living in a bubble for four years, only making memories of sitting in class and visiting other sterile apartments.
College students also don’t need granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, heated swimming pools, fancy cabinets or rooftop fire pits. Indeed, most graduates won’t be able to match that standard of living for the foreseeable future – so why set the bar so high, so early? Your college apartment shouldn’t be nicer than your first home.
That perceived desire for unnecessary luxury leads to the construction of big new buildings, which in turn poses an aesthetic challenge for the city. The UO’s west and south borders are zoned for high-density residential development, meaning that 18th Avenue and Hilyard Street could soon be completely lined with six-story metal and glass behemoths. Coupled with questionable architectural choices that will surely look outdated. Our university might soon lose some of its character.
Eugene will also lose some of its appeal – part of that appeal lies in open skies and lush trees. Some of the best hangouts in town, like Max’s and Rennie’s, are charming precisely because of their relatively modest locations. Towering grey buildings might be attractive short-term investments – I’m looking at you, developers – but they’ll quickly become boring properties with boring prospects.
Future costs over transportation and pedestrian access loom, too. Most new large developments include underground parking, a convenient bonus for residents. But without commensurate upgrades to the UO’s parking accommodations, students who would have otherwise walked to campus will soon fill up already overcrowded lots and streets during the school year. Meanwhile, those who do walk will have to forge across Franklin Boulevard and 18th Avenue without dedicated pedestrian thoroughfares.
Fortunately, there’s an opportunity for change: the City of Eugene allows its citizens to petition for special zoning districts. Currently, the neighborhoods directly to the west and south of campus are simply zoned as high and limited high-density. Zoning that regulated height limits, high rent and anonymous design could give Eugene a chance to build a unique identity out of its influx of well-off students.
UO students should also demand that more attention be paid to the infrastructure that should accompany new high-density residential development. New parking structures, development of better-protected crosswalks and revamped pedestrian access along Franklin Boulevard would go a long way toward making the surrounding neighborhoods safer and more efficient.
Ultimately, the choice to live in an old house or a shiny apartment is a matter of taste. But remember: Living a real life — problems with the leaking faucet and all — is a part of the authentic young adult experience. Learn about plumbing, grill with your neighbors and do some gardening – it’s better for you and the community than paying $800 a month to live in a hotel.