The Amherst Planning Board has been asked by private developer American Campus Communities to rezone a 10-acre area on which to build more student housing. While the school needs more housing for students, another on-campus complex will simply further the growing isolation of UB from the Buffalo community.
The Texas-based company developed both the Flint Village Apartments and the Hadley Village Apartments on North Campus. According to an article in The Buffalo News, the rezoning would allow American Campus Communities to build a 272-unit complex consisting of 10 three to four-story buildings that would house 800 students.
The recent trend of placing students in hotels clearly shows the need for more on-campus housing. However, another on-campus apartment that technically isn't on campus will not encourage students to indulge in everything the Buffalo area has to offer.
UB has always claimed that it wants to nurture and be part of the Buffalo community, yet further expanding the Amherst campus only increases the isolation of the college from the city. There are other ways to approach the issue of creating additional housing, and UB must look in the direction of the city.
One interesting solution is for UB to buy out houses in University Heights. Instead of building a new complex, the university can purchase a block or two of Heights houses from their landlords and simply perform a few repairs on the buildings. This would not only move more students to the city of Buffalo, but the increased revenue of these students would help the economy of the city.
If the university buys a few blocks of houses, this would create a centralized population of students similar to what an apartment complex would provide. There could also be a designated area of houses reserved for Greeks, bringing the families together instead of having them randomly dispersed through Buffalo. By doing this, the rowdiness of college students notorious in the Heights can be confined in a single area so there will be fewer complains from permanent Heights residents.
Solutions like this will take a considerable amount of effort, but UB must foster the Buffalo community by trying to extend its arm into the city. Building another apartment complex on North Campus will help the problem of housing the quickly growing student body, but it is the easy way out. The university is simply isolating itself and earning a quick buck instead of embracing the community it clams it wants to nurture.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
