After I came back from abroad, I arrived home to a cozy little house at 80 Home Ave. with five of my good friends. As soon as I heard of the living conditions of some other juniors in my same position, such as a one-room double in Hi Rise (ouch), all I thought was, “Thank god I picked off-campus.”
But as most people know, this option is about to melt away due to the boxy, ugly construction site being built on Foss Hill, otherwise known as the new efficiency apartments juniors will be forced to live in rather than having the option of living off-campus. How will Ted Charton buy his adorable little kid new snow boots for winter if half his profit is gone? He will have a hard time trying to sell those houses back to the Middletown community. Who will want to live in flimsy, decrepit, perfect-for-college-students houses on a street where the weekend noise doesn’t die down until four in the morning? These houses are not fit for permanent residency. Wesleyan is selling these houses back to Middletown so they can benefit from the real estate—but who’s gonna even want them?
All right, I admit it; I’m not sitting here thinking only of the woes that Ted Charton will have to eventually deal with. Everyone knows that off-campus landlords are a pain in the ass and try to charge you for random, undocumented storage spaces. You don’t get some cleaning person once a month, nor can you call physical plant for anything. And you have to worry about your own bills rather than let your parents deal with it on your student account. But who cares? The fact is it saves you money. A lot of money.
I live in one of the most expensive off-campus houses (not due to the luxury amenities but the amazing can’t-even-tell-it’s-off-campus location), and I’m still saving around $1,500. Some people save $3,000. It also allows you to have a real house with all your friends and space to have parties and dinners, without having to be at the mercy of the housing lottery. Students and parents have a right to decide whether or not they want to get their money’s worth/want to live in an overpriced 8-by-12 room in Lo Rise/want to move four huge pieces of furniture in between junior and senior year.
I know they are not going to tear down the new stuff they have built, but I still think it might be possible to keep a portion of off-campus houses. Wesleyan is expensive and bureaucratic enough without losing one of its best ways to save money and time.
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