Neighborhoods oppose housing for UW-W students
WHITEWATER — The expansion of university student housing is causing hardships to residential neighborhoods, said Dr. Roy Nosek, a member of the Whitewater City Council.
It’s an old problem that has spread beyond the central university area into all districts within the community.
Students often disrupt the normal routines, the quiet and aesthetic beauty of those neighborhoods, Nosek said.
They are parking illegally across sidewalks, hosting loud parties and failing to keep their lawns free of litter and trash.
Last year, several university students rented a house next door to Council President Marilyn Kienbaum.
One evening she was awakened by them yelling at their dog to hurry and go to the bathroom.
When she heard the dog yip, Kienbaum got up and went to scold her young neighbors, she said.
“I asked them if they could go to the bathroom while someone was yelling at them,” Kienbaum said.
She took care of the problem, Kienbaum said.
The city has two ordinances, however, that could help eliminate the student-housing problem.
One of the ordinances prohibits more than three unrelated people from living together in a house zoned for a single family, while the other ordinance prohibits more than two vehicles from being parked regularly in the driveways or in front of those homes.
“The trouble is in enforcing the ordinances,” Nosek said.
The student-housing dilemma has been compounded by the university’s five-year construction project that has included the razing of Baker and Salisbury residential halls to accommodate the new College of Business and Economics.
Two other residential halls, White and Sayles, are scheduled to be razed in 2008, the same year that construction will begin on a suite-style hall. But the new hall will not be completed until 2010.
Frank Bartlett, associate director of the university’s office of residence life, said the exact number of students living off campus because of the loss of on-campus housing is unknown.
“We started the semester with students living in lounges,” Bartlett said. “We’re tight for space, but we’re not to the point where there is no room at the inn.”
Older students often don’t want to have roommates, and single rooms are at a premium, Bartlett said.
The citywide advance of students into neighborhoods also has been aided by parents, who buy properties for their kids to occupy while they attend the university.
“They put their kids and three to four others in these homes,” Nosek said.
In addition, many of the older homes that could be sold to young families as starter homes are being bought for student housing. That has driven up the cost for such homes, he said.
“The pinch is being felt by a larger and larger segment of the community,” Nosek said.
Enrollment in the school district likely could be higher than it is if young families could afford to buy houses here, Nosek said.
“It’s going to take guts on the part of the city council to promote a resolution of this problem,” Nosek said.
Dec 5, 2007 at 8:49 a.m.
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I own several rental properties in Whitewater for students and non-students. I am personally insulted by this article. We try to do a good job and provide affordable, safe, and nice housing. There are landlords in Whitewater who DO CARE about their tenants, the properties, and the community.
Dec 3, 2007 at 1:51 a.m.
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There is a long history in Whitewater of opposing anything having to deal with students. It seems to me the people in this town do not realize how much of a benefit the University is to this, other wise, one horse town. Maybe the University should leave and take with it it’s world class gym, amazing theater and music programs, huge library, and great athletics (all of which can be taken advantage of by city residents. Not to mention the 10,000 citizens who spend millions yearly in this city and the business that come with such a population.
We (students) will just leave and take with us all of the excellent facilities mentioned above, a good amount of your taxes, the walmart (oddly the main shopping center of WW), most of the gas stations, nearly all of the restaurants and bars, half of the downtown stores, and any future this town has…..When it comes down to it, Whitewater is nothing without the university. Especially with the highway bypassed around the city now, the students are the only thing keeping Whitewater alive. Of course legitimate concerns are out there in regards to noise violations and disorderly conduct, yet, most concerns coming from life long city residents are not legitimate, they are mean spirited and discriminating. Do not blame students for property values going up (what are we supposed to do about that), do not blame students for the actions of one or two idiots, do not blame students because we vote in “your” city………the city needs to come to the realization that the students are part of this town, and until the city begins to work with students in good faith, nothing will be accomplished ..
Nov 30, 2007 at 11:31 a.m.
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Baker and Salisbury halls were offices, not dorms. Baker was Admissions, Registrar, and College of Letters and Sciences offices. Salisbury was CLS offices too. They have not been dorms in many years. Sayles was vacated a year ago and torn down last summer, and White was converted to faculty offices last summer and will be town down when the new business building is done and the old business building is ready for CLS to move in. So while the construction has put a crunch on dorm space, it is only two buildings, not four.
As for the rowdy students, doesn't Whitewater have ordinances dealing with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, etc? Why not enforce those? If a parent buys a home for their kid to live in while at college, did they not just become taxpaying members of the city? How about work WITH the university instead of against it?
Nov 30, 2007 at 10:55 a.m.
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I agree with the part that young families cant afford to buy homes in whitewater- the prices are absolutly rediculous! The cheapest homes here are still expensive and their in desperate need of work, the same house in another county would be $30,000-$50,000 less.
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