Lexington, KY - Years ago, I lived in a historic neighborhood bordering a nationally acclaimed university. Many who owned homes within this neighborhood worked at the university as administrators or faculty, and we felt committed to the university's students, its ideals and one another. We were also committed to maintaining the tone of the neighborhood, which was delightfully peaceful and family friendly. My favorite sight was the "walking school bus" each weekday morning, when students and parents would head toward the neighborhood elementary school, with the "bus" gaining length along the way.
But then our beloved university surprised us: It put enormous resources into persuading city leaders to dig a trench for a mass transit system behind our backyards. We were concerned that life in the neighborhood as we knew it would change. Residents of a nearby street hired legal counsel with no small degree of muscle to ensure that neighborhood concerns would be aired. The transit project took time and created headaches, but in the end the design preserved the neighborhood and residents were able to sleep peacefully. The university and the city leaders heard residents' concerns and acknowledged the importance of maintaining comfortable and secure neighborhoods around the campus.
Moratorium a wise step
Recent news reports in the Herald-Leader about the concerns of residents of streets bordering the University of Kentucky campus seem eerily parallel. Their worries about large additions being added to single- family homes in order to accommodate students are valid; their neighborhoods are indeed undergoing change. Many surely breathed a sigh of relief when the Urban-County Council approved a six-month moratorium on such additions, yet bated breath remains the order of the day until we see what results at the moratorium's end. The council now has time to study and enforce current ordinances. The University of Kentucky can use this time to develop detailed plans for a responsible partnership with the community for student housing.
Transylvania University, UK's academic neighbor, accommodates over 80 percent of its students in college-owned housing.
Say no to "campus creep"
By turning a blind eye to students' needs for suitable housing, both UK and the city of Lexington have silently condoned the onset of an unspoken, and unsupervised, campus creep. Reports of some rental properties not being up to code, possibly endangering student renters as well as neighboring residents, are the stuff of nightmares. The unsightliness of properties that are not well maintained is another matter, although distressing to those in the neighborhood who value tidiness. The university generally does a fine job of maintaining its buildings and grounds, but it has no ostensible obligation "off campus."
College search implications
When searching for the right college match, questions of residence life often loom large. Some students favor tightly knit residential colleges or house systems that enable them to be part of a small living community for four full years. Many colleges have introduced living and learning communities (LLCs, in an ironic twist on a business term) that foster a shared interest in a particular field and involve faculty. Other students are happy to choose from a melange of housing options, but want to know that plenty of housing is available on campus should they wish to remain on campus throughout their undergraduate careers.
Campus life, particularly residence life, can be a very important component of a student's college search. If campus housing appears scarce, gather information about how students find off-campus accommodations and how closely tied they remain to the campus community. Also, remember to ask how student renters co-exist with their adult neighbors. Do town and gown appreciate one another?
Finding the right solution
Building new residence halls takes significant planning time and funding; new buildings cannot materialize overnight. If UK intends to house more of its students over time, the community would no doubt welcome a public airing of those plans. A public-private partnership could be interesting to explore, allowing private developers to fund and profit reasonably from building new residence opportunities while leaving control of programming and staffing in the university's hands.
This is a critically important issue for UK's students and for the city of Lexington.
Jane S. Shropshire guides students and families through the college search process and is Business Lexington's Higher Ed. Matters columnist.
Contact her at jshrop@att.net.