The planned apartment complex on Sweet Home Road can be an excellent addition to the UB community. By adding over 800 beds near North Campus, American Campus Communities is providing a valuable service that will benefit the school and the students. While the preliminary plans are impressive, there are enough questions to raise some early red flags, which must be addressed.
The immediate and most obvious danger is putting a college dorm complex across from Sweet Home High School. The two entities can coexist peacefully, but there may be some tensions resulting from having the two in close proximity.
Out of that problem comes the question of policing. Since the building is not an official piece of university housing, there may be questions about jurisdiction. There have been problems in the past of University Police officers being out of step with local precincts. Since the apartments are not part of the university, local precincts will be dealing with any issues that come up and they must be prepared for those situations.
In tandem with the outside officers, the apartment complexes plan on having student resident advisors to enforce some sort of residential code. This proposition could not be any more vague. Will the proprietors of the new apartments hire students? Will those students be held to the same standards as normal Resident Advisors? Are there a finite number of students who want to have that role, creating a possible conflict? Will any non-students be hired? Having RAs is a good idea, but they must find an intelligent and cohesive system.
The other major question regards transportation. Since it is not part of the university's housing, there does not need to be an extension of the shuttle's around campus. It is only slightly out of the way for the various lines that cover Creekside Village, but the inconvenience of everyone else on the route would almost necessitate another bus on that route, if the school was responsible.
The proposed location is too far from campus to walk and too close to drive. Optimally, it should be the responsibility of the developer to provide the bussing to the university. Moving people that close to the university should be hopefully for alleviating some of the parking issues, but only if the students do not drive from that spot - something that will only happen if there is a functional transportation system.
Lastly, developers must be wary of sinking properties. Millions of dollars have been spent in the Amherst community so that buildings do not become submerged, and it would be a shame if the new apartments did not have adequate foundations and cost even more money in a few years.
Hopefully, this apartment complex will encourage other developers to build things in the area for students. The community must open its doors to this new development, and once the specifics are laid out, it can be a promising situation for many years to come.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
