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Fancy student apartments not so affordable
Lindsey Hughes
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: Life
It is impossible to drive around the surrounding area of UNCG and not see new construction of numerous student apartments everywhere. Seeing all of these buildings raises a few interesting questions. Who is profiting from these? Is the overall student lifestyle changing? And also, what are the options for students?
If working with larger companies doesn't appeal to you then don't move into the fancy, new student apartments. Twin City Real Estate owns the majority of student apartments, and they were not available for comment.
Large profiting businesses like Twin City have bought up land in undesirable locations around campus and believe that they can get away with charging top dollar for them. At the end of the day, most people could be paying a mortgage for what they pay in rent at these "luxury" student apartments.
These companies figure that if there is need, which there is, they can take advantage of it. While some parents foot their student's entire college bill, many do not. Most students are stuck with loans accruing in tuition and rent.
Most recently, Twin City has begun construction on its Fulton Place Apartments, which are located on the mostly non-residential Lee Street.
"Lee Street is sketchville, USA," says Paige Vance, a sophomore. "Every five seconds there is cop there. I would much rather live farther away from campus and commute than live there."
Amy Childers, a sophomore at UNCG and a resident of University Village explains, "I pay way too much for where I live. If I was on my own I couldn't do it."
And then there are The Edge apartments, which are not altogether terrible, despite their location right on the railroad tracks. The Edge does offer lower rent, but it's not really worth it when considering it feels like an earthquake is going through your apartment several times a day.
It used to be the norm to live in a dorm for all four years of college. There used to be an understanding that college life is supposed to be rougher than home life. This is not the case these days. While people before this generation used crates as coffee tables, people now are hiring interior decorators for off-campus apartments.
If working with larger companies doesn't appeal to you then don't move into the fancy, new student apartments. Twin City Real Estate owns the majority of student apartments, and they were not available for comment.
Large profiting businesses like Twin City have bought up land in undesirable locations around campus and believe that they can get away with charging top dollar for them. At the end of the day, most people could be paying a mortgage for what they pay in rent at these "luxury" student apartments.
These companies figure that if there is need, which there is, they can take advantage of it. While some parents foot their student's entire college bill, many do not. Most students are stuck with loans accruing in tuition and rent.
Most recently, Twin City has begun construction on its Fulton Place Apartments, which are located on the mostly non-residential Lee Street.
"Lee Street is sketchville, USA," says Paige Vance, a sophomore. "Every five seconds there is cop there. I would much rather live farther away from campus and commute than live there."
Amy Childers, a sophomore at UNCG and a resident of University Village explains, "I pay way too much for where I live. If I was on my own I couldn't do it."
And then there are The Edge apartments, which are not altogether terrible, despite their location right on the railroad tracks. The Edge does offer lower rent, but it's not really worth it when considering it feels like an earthquake is going through your apartment several times a day.
It used to be the norm to live in a dorm for all four years of college. There used to be an understanding that college life is supposed to be rougher than home life. This is not the case these days. While people before this generation used crates as coffee tables, people now are hiring interior decorators for off-campus apartments.
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