Housing conflicts produce
new issues
By Anna Herkamp
Summer
Reporter
Off campus student housing is a heated issue being
debated by both sides of the community issues teams.
Members of PSG helped put Purdue students on the
University committee. The organization also invited city council members
into meetings to answer questions regarding their views on certain issues.
Allison Klinge, an undergraduate and Ronald Thorpe, a graduate student,
are on the Purdue Community Issue team.
Kyle Kasting, a city council representative for
PSG, said PSG is eager to work with the city and Purdue to open up lines
of communication within the community. He said what they hope to get
out to people is that students want safe, reasonably priced student
housing.
Jan Mills, a representative for District 2 on the
West Lafayette City Council and co-chair of the West Lafayette team
said, "The University is an integral part of the city. Everything Purdue
does affects West Lafayette and everything West Lafayette does affects
Purdue."
Several ideas came of a study conducted earlier
in the year that will hopefully help create a better quality of life
for students and other community members alike, said Mills.
With so many students living in these neighborhoods,
the quality of life changes because students' lifestyles are very different
from some of the other residents, said Mills.
For students living in single-family houses converted
into apartments, traffic is an issue. There may be four or five cars
parked outside a house where there is only room for two. Traffic and
parking are some of the major issues the West Lafayette committee would
like to address. "We want to work on issues that people think are a
problem," Mills said.
Neighborhood associations are working to bridge
the relationship between student residents and families living in the
area. The New Chauncey Neighborhood Association is the most active neighborhood
association in West Lafayette, said John Sautter, co-chair of the University
community issue team and vice president for housing and food services.
At the beginning of the school year, the association
holds block parties for all student residents as well as the permanent
residents. The parties give the residents a chance to get to know one
another. Mills said the association would like to have multiple functions
like this one to help get students more involved in knowing their neighbors
and taking care of the place they live.
There are some residents who are opposed to students
living in the surrounding communities. However, no one really expects
that to change said Mills. It is understood that the percentages of
students living in these areas has gone up and is the largest population
in the New Chauncey area. The issue that residents in the area are most
concerned with is the investment they've made in their homes.
"We want to make sure investments are secure and
the whole atmosphere is good for everybody."
One of the things Mills would like to see is the
University's contribution to the community by providing it more information
about student enrollment.
Because of her work with the council, Mills is
aware of how the city cannot plan more housing if Purdue doesn't tell
them how many students they are planning on letting in. In the past,
Purdue has not made the effort to inform the city about enrollment.
In order to help make students more responsible
and informed community members, Mills would like to see a link from
Purdue's Web page to a West Lafayette site that would give information
about local housing.
"It's obvious that both sides have a good feeling
of what's going on in the university and city council," he said.
There needs to be a mutual respect and sharing
that will emerge so we have a feeling of cooperation, he said. "If you
don't know things, rumors start."
Kasting said the New Chauncey Neighborhood Association
is making efforts to keep students out of the area by buying houses
on the market of substandard quality and selling them only to families
or individuals of adequate income.
Josh Andrew, director of development for the city,
insists getting rid of student renters is not the goal of the New Chauncey
Neighborhood Association.
Many students are concerned that the recent housing
ordinance passed in the spring will raise inspection fees for student
renters. However, Andrew said this is not the case. He said the inspection
fees are for property owners; rent may go up, but this won't apply to
all students who rent houses in New Chauncey. "I think you'll see the
better property owners being inspected only two to three years. The
houses in which there are more problem areas will be inspected each
year," he said.
Andrew also said the inspection fees apply only
to rented single family houses, not apartment complexes. Most of the
violation complaints the department of development gets are from single
family homes. Apartment complexes have professional managers to deal
with regulations; single family houses usually do not, he said.
For houses on the market that are of substandard
conditions, the New Chauncey Neighborhood Association will buy and fix
up the houses and sell the homes to families who must meet income requirements.
Because the houses are bought with federal money the New Chauncey Housing
Association has the right to sell the homes only to families or individuals
who meet the income requirements. Landlords are taken off the market.
"
"The stipulation is size of family versus income.
This is what determines whether or not they are eligible for federal
assistance," he said.
Sautter said he would like to see students learn
to care for their property through service learning. "What can they
do to make a difference in where they live?"
The committees are still in the process of involving
students. In the future, Sautter said he would like to create initiatives
to get students involved in the community.
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