ASU students and Tempe officials don't seem to make very good neighbors.
Student housing has become a hot issue lately, with city officials questioning the role students should play in Tempe's neighborhoods and ASU attempting to change its status as a commuter campus.
ASU is in a tug-of-war between the city's wish to keep communities family friendly and the ever-growing need for on- and off-campus student housing.
Trouble in Tempe
One source of conflict began when the Tempe City Council unanimously passed the Tempe Loud Party Ordinance in October 2003. If police are called for noise complaints at the same residence twice in 90 days, the ordinance allows for a $1,000 fine.
City Council members claimed the ordinance was not aimed at students, but students took it personally.
"They say it's not about students, but it really is," said political science and history senior Kevin Bondelli. As Undergraduate Student Government vice president last year, Bondelli fought the noise ordinance.
Bondelli said much of the discussion about the ordinance took place during summer, when few students were around to debate the issue.
"They weren't really trying to involve students," he said.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, who was not on the council when the ordinance passed, told The State Press in a November article that the noise ordinance should help teach students to be responsible.
"Slowly, what is happening is more people are understanding what it means to live in a community," he said.
The City Council has had a strained relationship with students ever since the ordinance was passed.
During his candidacy for mayor last year, Hallman said he would like to see students occupy fewer single-family rental homes in Tempe.
"We [don't have] long-time residents who cause problems, what we have is the transient nature of students in our neighborhoods," Hallman said in a mayoral debate on Jan. 27, 2004. "It's not enough to keep applying Band-Aids, like the party ordinance."
Lately, Tempe's position on student housing has again come to the forefront.
Tempe Councilwoman Barbara Carter spoke out about getting students into apartments and campus residence halls in a January meeting.
"I know it's the position of this council to get students out of our neighborhoods," Carter said. "We want to get students out of single-family homes and into apartments."
ASU offers fewer than 6,000 beds for a campus that numbers nearly 50,000. This leaves more than 40,000 students to seek housing in the outlying areas.
Hallman wrote an opinion column for The East Valley Tribune on Feb. 1, showing support for more on-campus housing at ASU.
"Our single-family neighborhoods have been overrun with rental homes and temporary uninvested [sic] renters," Hallman wrote in his column. "We should support ASU's effort to build more on campus [sic] student housing at all speed possible."
On-campus options
Not all students are looking for a place to sleep off campus.
The number of students looking for bed space at ASU has been climbing slowly over the years, with a 5 percent increase in applicants since spring 2003.
The number of students living on campus has increased by 10 percent since that time.
Kevin Cook, associate vice president of Student Affairs, said Residential Life is gearing for a dramatic increase in beds -- as many as 7,000 -- in the next five to 10 years.
About 8,000 students applied to live in residence halls this fall, but only about 5,400 were able to live on campus.
Cook said he is working to make sure all freshmen who want a bed have one.
The South Campus Academic Village promises an additional 4,800 spaces with the construction of the McAllister Academic Village, a new Barrett Honors Complex and apartment-style housing.
Making on-campus housing mandatory for freshmen is not being considered right now, but Residential Life has stepped up recruiting efforts.
The administration is offering various incentives such as Apple iPods and reduced prices to entice students to stay in campus housing after their first year.
ASU President Michael Crow has stressed that those living in the dorms are more likely to stay in school after their freshman year, stating 83 percent of freshmen who lived in the dorms last year returned in fall 2004, 16 percent more than those who lived off campus as freshmen.
"I think we have a responsibility to provide housing options so students won't have to live in the community and that they can live with us," Cook said.
Students on their own
For some students, being a part of a community is a crucial part of becoming an adult, and they want the right to have a house in Tempe.
Justin Jaquays, a mass communication junior who rents a home in Tempe, said there is a negative stigma following ASU students.
"I know there are negative vibes toward college kids, especially homes that have families," he said.
Jaquays said he has a good relationship with his neighbors.
"It's been very good for my independence in that I have my own privacy, and [the house] is near campus and the neighbors are really, really nice," he said.
Not all Tempe residents have problems with students.
"Rental property certainly is a problem," Ernie Nickels, chair of the Daley Park Neighborhood Association, told The State Press on Feb. 10. "But it's not necessarily the students who always seem to take the blame."
Jaquays has experienced all kinds of housing, having gone from the dorm his freshman year, an apartment the following year and now a rental home.
He said he doesn't understand the push to get students into apartments, as there are just as many families living there.
Pushing all of the students into apartments results in unsupervised residence halls, Jaquays said.
"Isn't it just like another dorm, minus the [residential assistant]?" he said.
But Jaquays said he does think dorms are a good training ground for students.
"It offered an opportunity to mingle with people and learn a new way of life," he said. "I think everybody should experience it just once."
Mathematics junior Raenuka Bhadriraju left the dorms after her freshman year. But rather than jumping headfirst into the surrounding neighborhoods, she made a smaller step into the Adelphi Commons at ASU, which are not managed by the University but a third-party company.
She said Adelphi gives her a middle ground between the many rules in the dorms but keeps the communal feeling not always found in an apartment.
"It's just an easier change and it's so much more convenient from living on campus," she said. "There are rules, but they're not as strict."
The flack that younger homeowners and renters are getting, Bhadriraju said, is based on the poor behavior of some, but she doesn't think all students behave that way once they're out of the dorms.
"Some people have a hard time transitioning and still think they're living in the dorms," she said.
Help with the move
For students who want to live off campus, Cook said programs are in place to make sure they won't be pegged as the "not-so-good neighbors."
"[Living in the dorm] sort of acts as a precursor for them moving into the Tempe community," he said. "Hopefully we've done some good work in helping them understand they're living in a community right now."
Jennifer Pregler is the person in charge of this movement; she acts as a liaison between Tempe and ASU to prepare students for what comes after the dorms.
"One of the benefits of living on campus your freshman year is to help students adjust and transition from living with mom and dad down to living in a community on their own," she said.
Pregler hopes to create programs, in addition to the general community experience in the dorms, to help students move into the surrounding communities.
She is also available to students who are in need of legal and practical advice when looking for rental properties, dealing with leases and grappling with landlords.
The programs are in the early stages, but Pregler said she has high hopes for the future.
"I feel like my strongest role is in educating students and helping them so they can make the best decisions," Pregler said. "I don't agree with any woman who says our students shouldn't be living in the community or renting."
Reach the reporter at rkost@asu.edu.
