Campus Housing: Is There a Solution to Overcrowding?

By Danielle Hanson

It is 7:00 on a gloomy Monday, and it's time to get up for school.  She double-checks the weather report and gets ready for her 9:00 class.

Trying to avoid the large raindrops on her way to the bus stop, she makes the 25-minute trip from downtown to Buffalo State College campus.  Cameron Davis, a 22 year-old junior transfer student, has two classes in the morning, with a break until her next class at 4:30.  She sits in the library or the union, searching for new ways to spend her break time.

Her room is too far away to go back to, only to come back to campus for another two classes. So she sticks it out until her classes end at 7:15, and then heads back to her room at the Adam's Mark Hotel.

Davis's hotel room, one flight up from the lobby is dim despite the three lights strategically placed throughout the room.  There are two full-sized beds and a bathroom that she shares with another student.  The room door remains closed at all times because the hotel does not allow students to keep them open.  Plastic bins filled with clothes fill the empty wall space because the dresser and small closet are not enough for the two people that live there.

Over 100 students are housed at the Adam's Mark Hotel because the campus cannot accommodate them and these students have no other options for immediate housing available to them.

Buffalo State College is not the only school that has issues with campus housing, but other schools have found, and are trying, alternative ways to eliminate or resolve the problem.

Buffalo State has made progress with housing, with the re-opening of Cassety Hall.  An additional 150 students are housed on campus now, and according to Vice President of Finance and Management at Buffalo State College Stan Kardonsky, "We will continue to look at new options for expansion, but nothing is final at this time."

Housing costs at Buffalo State can range from $5,400 for a double room to $7,500 for a single in an on-campus, apartment-style suite for the school year.

University Village at Sweethome, adjacent to University at Buffalo North Campus on American Campus Drive, is a privately owned housing complex.  Shuttle buses take students back and forth from the complex to the campus.

At $610 a month, students residing at University Village can rent a single room with four people per suite, and the rent is all-inclusive of cable, Internet, and utilities.  Each suite is fully furnished with a bedroom set, kitchen, and washer/dryer combo.

"Housing is part of the whole package," said Jeanette Zalba, Associate Director of Residence Life for the University at Buffalo.  "They can love the academics, but if where they live isn't up to par, they won't enroll.  Living on campus provides convenience for students.  Even with all the other options, some students prefer to live on campus because they can utilize the campus' services."

Ed Hogle, of Atlas Steel Company, is preparing to build a $10.5 million structure that will be open to all college students residing in Buffalo.  Rock Harbor Village will be a 150,000 square foot, 3-story structure, and is expected to open next fall.  It will house 350 students in 4-person suites with two bathrooms, private loft, and full kitchen included.

The construction of the building includes a theater for live music and concerts, a cafeteria with wi-fi, movie and game rooms, a common room and a fireplace.

"Students living there will know they're making a difference in the fabric of the community," said Rock Harbor Village Community Liaison Newell Nussbaumer.  Wanting to create a green building, Nussbaumer and Hogle spent time researching a green student housing model in Montana that would be equally efficient and effective in Buffalo.

At Rock Harbor Village, plans are being made to install a "greywater system"--a process that recycles water from bathing, washing and laundry for non-human uses.  Within the village, local products such as coffee, produce and pop, will be sold to encourage growth within Buffalo. There will also be accessible bicycles, so that students will be able to use bikes instead of cars.  In keeping with a green theme, there are also plans to fuel Rock Harbor shuttles with recycled cooking grease from Jim's Steak Out, according to Nussbaumer.

Rock Harbor Village has not finalized any prices yet, but Hogle assures prices will be cheaper then BSC. Also there will be 10 or 12-month leases available.

Another option for off-campus housing is Collegiate Village, on Affinity Lane (formerly Kenville Road), a 50-acre housing development near Kensington Avenue and Eggert Road.  This village has apartments designed for undergraduate and graduate students of all local colleges, though currently students from UB occupy most of the apartments that house up to four students each. Prices range from $823 for a single with one roommate, to $515 for a two-bedroom double.

"Phase one is complete and can house about half of the expected 1,400 beds," according to Acting Leasing Director Thomas Baines. He added that Collegiate Village also provides 24-hour security at the gated community.

These private communities are not made to replace housing for students on campus.  "They are just another choice for students who wish to move off and gain a sense of responsibility," Baines said.

Although hotels are a perfect short-term solution, some students, like Davis, have been living there for an entire semester.  With no finalized plans as yet, BSC students may need to look for alternate means of housing that can accommodate them.

Davis is less than pleased with her living arrangements and feels that it segregates her from a full collegiate experience. " We never know when we're moving out," she said, "and we are excluded from everything on campus."

Pictured: Perry Hall