An LA Times article over the Labor Day weekend detailed the luxurious accommodations currently in fashion at college campuses, with developments like West 27th Place, which opened last month north of USC. The resort lifestyle is also available at schools not named UCLA or USC--the Camino del Sol complex opened last year on the UC Irvine campus, offering a 24-hour fitness center, billiards, a hot tub, barbecues, and a resort-style pool with a sun deck and cabanas.
It's not all cabanas and margaritas for the neighborhoods surrounding these schools--some affordable housing groups and community groups are concerned about displacement as a result of rising rents. Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, for instance, is leading a coalition in opposition to USC's University Park Campus Master Plan.
UCLA, at least, seems aware that rising tuition costs mean some families will have less to spend on housing, and is building several large projects for undergrads and grads with more modest amenities and rent--a total of 2,000 units at a cost of $347 million. But for some, the rising cost of tuition might have the opposite meaning for the price of student housing, as Developer Dan Rosenfeld claims in the LAT article: "Given what college costs today," he explains, "a lot of kids and parents are expecting more than a camp-out."
· College students living in the lap of luxury [LA Times]
· Tanning Booth Helps Sell Out New USC-Adjacent Student Housing [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...