Community concerned about rental houses
By Jessica Moore
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News
The Slippery Rock community is concerned with an overabundance of rental houses for students, and as a result, the borough has established an exploratory study committee to try to resolve the issue.
Slippery Rock Mayor Ken Harris said that rental houses are necessary for students and the community.
"The university clearly does not have enough housing for all of the students," Harris said.
Community members have not yet been surveyed for their opinions about rental houses for students, but the borough has just established an exploratory study committee to start talking about these issues, Harris said.
Harris said that one issue of concern to the committee is making a plan for dealing with surplus rental houses.
Paul Dickey, a Slippery Rock township supervisor, said that the only real concern the community has with rental houses for students is the abundance of them.
"I think there is a general concern for how many have been constructed in the recent past," Dickey said.
But Dickey also said the community is generally pleased with the location of the rental houses.
"Most of the rental houses have been in a general vicinity to campus, which the community feels is a good location," Dickey said. "The closer to campus, the better."
John Hines, another Slippery Rock township supervisor, said that local residents have not commented on rental houses for students.
Most of the feedback comes from another source, he said.
"The biggest controversy on the issue comes from other developers opposing competition," Hines said.
Hines also said that rental houses for students are both positive and negative for the community.
"Oversaturation is negative," Hines said, "but it is a matter of opinion whether we are there yet."
SRU President Robert Smith said that some rental houses could potentially become a serious problem for the community.
The rental houses become a problem for the community when the landlord violates the code and allows parties, permits more students to live in the house than it is meant to accommodate or doesn't provide off-street parking for the students, Smith said.
"A meeting is organized twice a year with all of the off-campus landlords where healthy communication takes place about issues such as these," he said.
Jessi Jacobs, 19, a sophomore education major, said she lives in a rental house rather than an apartment because of the number of bedrooms needed to accommodate her and her roommates.
Jacobs, and other students living in rental houses agree that they're not bothered by having community members as neighbors.
Another main reason students live in rental houses rather than apartments is the price.
"It's just cheaper," said Marlon Dye, a 24-year-old senior creative writing major. "I'm only paying $265 per month."
Dye even said that it's advantageous to have community members rather than other students as neighbors.
"It is less noisy," Dye said. "You don't have to put up with annoyances such as people running up and down the halls screaming."
Slippery Rock Mayor Ken Harris said that rental houses are necessary for students and the community.
"The university clearly does not have enough housing for all of the students," Harris said.
Community members have not yet been surveyed for their opinions about rental houses for students, but the borough has just established an exploratory study committee to start talking about these issues, Harris said.
Harris said that one issue of concern to the committee is making a plan for dealing with surplus rental houses.
Paul Dickey, a Slippery Rock township supervisor, said that the only real concern the community has with rental houses for students is the abundance of them.
"I think there is a general concern for how many have been constructed in the recent past," Dickey said.
But Dickey also said the community is generally pleased with the location of the rental houses.
"Most of the rental houses have been in a general vicinity to campus, which the community feels is a good location," Dickey said. "The closer to campus, the better."
John Hines, another Slippery Rock township supervisor, said that local residents have not commented on rental houses for students.
Most of the feedback comes from another source, he said.
"The biggest controversy on the issue comes from other developers opposing competition," Hines said.
Hines also said that rental houses for students are both positive and negative for the community.
"Oversaturation is negative," Hines said, "but it is a matter of opinion whether we are there yet."
SRU President Robert Smith said that some rental houses could potentially become a serious problem for the community.
The rental houses become a problem for the community when the landlord violates the code and allows parties, permits more students to live in the house than it is meant to accommodate or doesn't provide off-street parking for the students, Smith said.
"A meeting is organized twice a year with all of the off-campus landlords where healthy communication takes place about issues such as these," he said.
Jessi Jacobs, 19, a sophomore education major, said she lives in a rental house rather than an apartment because of the number of bedrooms needed to accommodate her and her roommates.
Jacobs, and other students living in rental houses agree that they're not bothered by having community members as neighbors.
Another main reason students live in rental houses rather than apartments is the price.
"It's just cheaper," said Marlon Dye, a 24-year-old senior creative writing major. "I'm only paying $265 per month."
Dye even said that it's advantageous to have community members rather than other students as neighbors.
"It is less noisy," Dye said. "You don't have to put up with annoyances such as people running up and down the halls screaming."
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 5
Jody
posted 2/25/08 @ 9:08 AM EST
I think this article has gone in a different way than what the committee has been set up for and what the actual concerns really are. I think the major concern of residents of the Borough not the township are how many of the houses in the Borough have become rental houses for the no tax paying students instead of haveing tax paying familys that live in them. (Continued…)
Laura
posted 2/25/08 @ 11:38 AM EST
I think the concerns you mention are definitely legitimate. The only part you mention that I disagree with is that the students do not contribute to the town at all, even though we use the streets, etc. (Continued…)
Jody
posted 3/12/08 @ 1:14 PM EST
As Steve resents my comments I wrote them due to I also resented the article as it was written. This is a subject about the concerns the community has over rental properties. (Continued…)
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