Bloggerific Daily
The New West Side’s Dale Winling and U of M Housing Public Affairs director Alan Levy square off on the student housing situation in the weekend section of today’s Daily. Levy’s painstakingly “balanced” perspective doesn’t offer much hope that the university will act as a student advocate:
Two successive years of very large freshman classes with the attendant pressure on being able to house both returning on-campus residents with contracts for the new academic year along with all those freshmen has generated some media attention and campus commentary that U-M and Ann Arbor have a student housing “shortage.â€
…
While there are some landlords who press prematurely for students to make decisions about next year’s leases, there are students (and sometimes parents) who want first crack at the “best†housing and prod landlords to finalize lease signing before they would otherwise choose to do.
So that’s why the landlords have been so supportive of the mayor’s proposed ordinance that would push back lease-signing and free them from all this unwanted prodding.
Meanwhile, Dale hits most of the important points, but we have to disagree that, unlike native Midwesterners, “Arrivals from Boston or San Francisco think they’re getting a great deal for living in a cute downtown with amenities like museums and music venues within walking distance.” As a Boston arrival, we can say that this is not always the case. He’s right about Chicagoans being justly appalled by A2 rents, though. We recently visited a friend of ours who just moved into the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. That’s Lincoln Park, the upscale North Side yuppie haven immortalized as the home of the Lincoln Park Trixies. The rent on her two-bedroom third-floor walkup, within a few blocks of the L and DePaul University, is $800 a month.
In the same issue, Murph talks about the local blog scene while presenting himself as a strong contender for best-dressed A2 blogger. If we ever launch “How Do I Look?: City Council Public Comment Edition”, (”Tie-dyed sweatshirts and two-tone hair are the latest looks for OWS fashionistas”), we’re going to need some stylish bloggers.
I don’t think they’re really “squaring off”. It sounds like they’re both saying the same thing, in that there are a lot of students and not a lot of housing, and it’s not the university’s role to provide that housing if it doesn’t choose to do so. The main difference seems to be that Alan is summing up the university’s position of “we’ll do what we can to help, but we won’t try too hard,” while Dale goes more into local homeowners’ reluctance to support plans that may affect their propery values.
posted by JCP2 on January 12th, 2006 at 1:25 pmYeah, I moved from San Francisco for grad school and definitely do NOT think I’m getting a great deal for living in a falling-apart, 400 square foot apartment for $1000 a month that is nowhere near walking distance to a freakin’ drugstore.
posted by n on January 12th, 2006 at 1:36 pmAlan opens by essentially saying that the housing shortage is a media-created myth, which is something of a straw-man argument since the problem is a lot more complex than a shortage, and then goes on to offer a number of bland assessments of various problems: There are bad apartments and there are good apartments. There are landlords who pressure students to sign early and there are students who pressure landlords to sign early. At no point does he make any mention of rent prices.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on January 12th, 2006 at 1:36 pmPleated pants?
posted by Brandon on January 12th, 2006 at 2:51 pmSo does anybody know if there actually is a ’shortage’? There certainly seems to be quite a number of places for rent, many of which have been so since we arrived in September.
That said, and despite the fact that the place next door and a couple doors down are for rent, the landlord just showed our apartment to a couple, telling them the rent would increase another 5 percent on top of the already ridiculous rent we’re paying.
If nobody points out that the emperor is naked, does it matter if they happen to be wearing no clothes?
posted by David on January 12th, 2006 at 4:03 pmIt depends on what you mean by a shortage. There’s enough housing for every student to have a roof over his head. But there doesn’t seem to be enough to create meaningful competition in the market. And there’s clearly a shortage of parking, which could be a result of a shortage of housing within walking distance of campus.
My experiences have also convinced me that there’s one housing market for students and another one for non-students. If I ever have time, I might try to investigate this.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on January 12th, 2006 at 4:11 pmThe shortage, in my mind, is not in aggregate number of units; the shortage is in meaningful options.
posted by Dale on January 12th, 2006 at 4:36 pmI think I drove by the vacant units today in an errand in the far reaches of Scio Township. There appear to be several bland apartment complexes along Stadium Blvd… maybe if that street was someday converted into a pedestrian-oriented mixed-use district (nice try with the “historic” streetlamps recently installed) it might be a desirable place to live.
posted by Brandon on January 12th, 2006 at 5:34 pmI’ve noticed a number of rentals in the OFW lately…don’t know what the rent is though.
posted by OFWinsurgent on January 12th, 2006 at 5:49 pmWhen I was apartment hunting (not so long ago), it didn’t seem to me I was being given “non-student” options. I think I still look young enough to where I could be presumed to be a grad student, but anyway — it didn’t seem to matter either in what I was shown or what I was told was the rent. I know that’s all anecdotal and your mileage may vary, etc., but FWIW.
posted by Dave on January 13th, 2006 at 1:10 amI don’t live in Ann Arbor anymore, so the places to look for ads may have changed. I’m assuming the more general way things work hasn’t.
It used to be that there was very little overlap between the realestate companies that dealt with student and non-student housing. The way to find the non-student rental options was to look in the Ann Arbor News classifieds at times other than April or August. It tended to be advertised at most a month or two before it became available (none of the looking for housing ten months in advance that the student housing residents were doing), and had leases with start/end dates other than September 1 or May 1. It was also usually a bit farther away from campus than the student housing, and (as a student-aged non-student) sometimes involved competing for the landlord’s attention with perspective tenants who were older and had more established rental histories.
posted by scg on January 13th, 2006 at 10:42 pmHey Ann Arbor - Don’t you know what is happening to your town? First, you hold an anti-Semitic, anti-Israel student conference. Then you give permission to oppress women by dressing them up in bed-sheets and allow them “special permission” to swim in your pools - see: http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-16/113690763014580.xml&coll=2. Now, the latest word of instituting Sharia or muslim law comes to town: the Ann Arbor Bank has created a special subsidary to create loans according to muslim law.
Instead of worrying about Coke boycotts or who is stealing cars, you’d better get going and save yourselves from becoming Dhimmis under Sharia.
posted by Jeff Joury on January 14th, 2006 at 10:35 amLive and let live dude. Perhaps you would prefer everyone dressed in gingham and attends ice cream socials at the methodist church.
posted by OFWinsurgent on January 14th, 2006 at 11:43 amSigh. The old equation of “anti-Israel” (whatever that is) with “anti-Semitic” trick… does anyone still fall for that one? Ideally, as an American, I’d say the problems of the Middle East aren’t my business. They’re all assholes over there. Over here, OFWinsurgent said it best: live and let live. On the other hand, maybe renting in Ann Arbor under sharia law would be better/easier. Ha.
posted by Dave on January 14th, 2006 at 3:38 pmHey Jeff Joury - The Qur’an forbids charging interest! I’ll gladly become a mortgage or chequing account Dhimmi… If Allah is also anti-late-fees, I’m signing up tomorrow! Oh, and banking was invented in Mesopotamia - the same place where muslim law was later handed down. Make of that what you will, and get off your paranoid anti-muslim soapbox.
posted by FAA on January 14th, 2006 at 7:17 pmYou so-called “liberals” have no idea what “dhimmitude” or “sharia” means. These are very oppressive systems which are antithetical to your way of thinking. Homosexuality, women’s rights, and alcohol are but a few ideals which are prohibited under Sharia. Stealing is meted with beheading, adultery with hanging. Before you make light of these warnings, you’d better look into the miror.
posted by Mike on January 14th, 2006 at 9:24 pmI think most people who throw around the terms “liberal” and “conservative”, be it derisively or otherwise, really have no idea what they mean.
posted by HNG on January 15th, 2006 at 12:59 amIf you bastards just once strangled each other with a communal bowl of your own intestines…THEN!!! THEN you’d break your mirrows!
posted by A Different Jon on January 15th, 2006 at 1:08 am…. did someone say ice cream? Washtenaw Dairy, anyone?
posted by Sketchy on January 15th, 2006 at 3:27 amBack to the original comment regarding housing.
I haven’t heard the term Lincoln Park Trixie in a while and i thank syou for that. It reminds me of days in Buck town and watching these type coming through with their designer bags and purses buying my art.
Anyway, i’m back in AA and from what i’ve noticed, is that AA rents are just about the same as in various Chicago neighborhoods. When we first moved back we paid 1200.00 for 2 bedroom at the Old Brewery that looked nice, but was loud and, basically, needed a little TLC.
Now, we own a house in AA and it was well worth the investment which seems very neglible based on the rent/own equation.
My point, AA, with its fancy University, reactionary city council needs to look at infrastructure more critically so that these two entities can co-exist in harmony.
We do need student housing, affordable (non-university) housing, anda “real” downtown with more then fluffy shops… someplace where, for example, you could actually buy a screwdriver!!!
posted by The Lorax on January 15th, 2006 at 4:11 pmBuying screwdrivers is so Ypsi. Just call your carpenter and tell him to get his lazy, blue-collar, red-meat-eating ass over to your house. He can park right in front now that the parking is permit only.
posted by Parking Structure Dude! on January 16th, 2006 at 9:07 amWhat the fuck, Mutt and Jeff? And if we let people dress according to their own beliefs, they’ll come for your children next!
posted by js on January 18th, 2006 at 1:11 pm(And you best check yo’self before attempting to lecture on what “liberals” believe. Liberals are a lot of things, single-minded is not one of them.)
lok it plz
posted by Pymngainy on January 7th, 2008 at 7:00 pmxyrisoperculata