Affordable housing and parking accessibility at the new downtown Phoenix campus topped student concerns at a forum held Wednesday afternoon by the College of Public Programs.
ASU is working with Phoenix to "develop a smorgasbord of housing offerings" that students at different income levels can afford, said Kevin Cook, the vice provost and dean for student affairs of the Downtown campus.
The availability of affordable living worried recreation management senior Matt Besenfelder, who was one of about 20 students at the forum.
"There's virtually no housing available to students as it is," Besenfelder said.
He questioned how the city might provide rental housing in previously occupied areas and said he felt the cheapest options were University residence halls.
"They're not going to raze whole neighborhoods just to provide housing for students," Besenfelder added.
The University will offer rooms for about 300 students through the existing Ramada Inn in fall 2006, campus provost Mernoy Harrison told The State Press last week. Additional residence halls could be constructed to accommodate about 2,000 more students by fall 2008.
ASU is also studying how much parking will be needed before purchasing spaces, Harrison said at the forum.
Students will likely pay a single fee to park both at the Tempe and Phoenix campuses, said Shelia Stokes, vice provost for Academic Affairs at the Downtown campus. Decals won't cost extra if a student has to park downtown and in Tempe.
A free shuttle bus arriving every 30 minutes will let students travel easily between the two campuses, Harrison said.
But the shuttles will cease running when light rail service begins in December 2008, Stokes added.
Students also asked about available dining options.
There are 11 restaurants at the Arizona Center and a cafeteria and food court in the lower level of the Bank One tower. Harrison said the College of Public Programs building at 411 N. Central Ave. could also house a new eatery.
ASU is also negotiating with local merchants to let students use their Sun Cards, he added.
The University will soon establish a student advisory committee to address concerns , Stokes said.
Reach the reporter at grayson.steinberg@asu.edu.
