For many students, coming to college for the first time is an adventure. It's the first time we're away from our parents for a long period of time, and the first time we're tasked with taking care of ourselves.
Living on our own isn't exactly cheap, however. It's not exactly a big secret that the price for on-campus housing at UB is on par with your first-born child and many students look for a cheaper alternative and find the University Heights across from South Campus.
Landlords in the Heights take advantage of the students, operating on the "you get what you pay for" notion and leaving the houses that students rent in complete disrepair. Some have no hot water, some have dangerous electrical problems, and some are in danger of practically falling apart.
Last year in April, our editor in chief at the time, Andrew Wiktor, published a story exposing the atrocious conditions in the Heights after four fires in a year, and one caused by an electrical short in a wall destroyed a house.
Most of the landlords that own properties in the heights don't even live in Buffalo, opting instead to just sit back and rake in the cash.
UB's recent "housing blitz" has been helpful by getting the city to cooperate with the school and investigating the housing conditions.
What they've found has been a mixture of good and bad. Inspectors say that there have been some improvements made, but that there are still houses that aren't completely safe to live in, and one that students were forced to vacate.
Every landlord that owns property in the Heights should be embarrassed that even after everything that has happened, that their properties are still horrible and getting cited for issues.
Something has to give. It's obvious that the landlords couldn't care less about the students or getting a little fine, and the only people who get hurt in this equation is the tenants.
While the university has been helping with blitz, they need to take some extra steps. There should be a separate group set up by the school specifically targeted at giving the students who need it resources and coordinating with the Buffalo city to make this "housing blitz" a far more regular occurrence.
The only way to force every one of these scumbags to fix their properties and make them livable is to make it hit their pocket book.
Getting the city into the Heights more often will make it a necessity to fix the problems or face a fine every two weeks or a month.
Students themselves, however, can take the initiative as well. If you're going to rent off-campus, do more than a simple walk through to check on a place before you sign a lease. There are things that you would never think to look for that a building inspector would recognize as dangerous.
Also, utilize SBI's legal advice that it provides to students. Know that you have the power to stop the cycle of students walking into deathtraps and leaving them for the next poor sap to get duped into the property.
