If you're a student living off campus in Buffalo, finding adequate housing in a safe neighborhood is a nightmare. And it's a dream that I've pretty much stopped holding on to.
For the past year I have been living in a six-bedroom apartment in University Heights. When my roommates and I first found this three-story house it seemed like the perfect college home base, the outside was a nice gray siding with a cute porch and a yard.
Unlike other college houses it didn't have beer stains on the floor and there wasn't a stale party smell left from the previous tenants. It was everything we had been looking for and more.
My roommates and I happily moved into our new house and for about a month all was well.
Then on the fourth of July I got a phone call letting me know that our perfect dream house had been broken into and that two of my roommates had most of their possessions stolen.
The dream was shattered and thus began my journey through the hell of living in University Heights.
Following the first break-in was the October storm. Following that, we had no heat until November, and, to add insult to injury, we had another break-in on Christmas Eve.
We were left with one broken furnace and no heat for the three coldest days of the year.
Some may think these shenanigans can be attributed to renter's bad luck. That karma is just paying me back for bad deeds in another life.
I choose to believe that the one horrific event after another that has occurred since moving into the Heights is the result of just that, the Heights. It wouldn't have mattered which house we moved into or what street we lived on, the Heights curse would have followed us anywhere.
Now that I have paid my dues and put in my year living just off South Campus my two other roommates and I feel that it's our right to live in a decent apartment. One that's in a safe neighborhood where our biggest concern is shoveling the driveway, not avoiding the homeless guy at the end of the street.
However, finding an apartment that matches our criteria and doesn't cost an arm and leg has been a struggle at best, which leads me to the big question: is it possible for college students to find decent housing in Buffalo?
Based upon my recent experiences, my answer is no. That's not to say there isn't decent housing in Buffalo, but it is extremely hard to get a landlord with a decent property to rent to college students.
Our reputation as students precedes us thanks to those who have rented before us and that is the legacy that we pass on to those renting long after us.
Notorious for partying, staying up all night, being loud and generally disrespectful of everyone else living around us, college students are handed down a bad rap and not even given a chance to dispute it.
That is precisely why University Heights was created - to keep all of the college students in one area of Buffalo. That way if we are loud and disrespectful and have a raging party each night, no one cares except the police because everyone is a college student.
As students we are the lowest on the renter's totem pole. I've been searching for a new apartment for the past two months and so far have only found three decent places and one replacement dream home.
The replacement dream home we lost out to a married couple who wanted to make it their starter house. The second apartment was a great place in a nice location but the third bedroom was tinier than a closet. Finally the third house we looked at is manageable at best and also out of our price range.
Now my roommates and I are at the tail end of the renting window. Even the bad apartments are getting scooped up as everyone scrambles to finalize their living arrangements for next year.
Soon I will have to stop hoping that there is another replacement dream home out there and just decide which is worse: a closet for a bedroom or $100 more in rent each month?
While I make my final decision and pick a house just to have a place to live next year, I can't help but think - maybe if we had never lived in University Heights at all, we would have an easier time finding an apartment.
I guess we are all just doomed to either having housing bad luck or living in University Heights.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
