For those who don't know, Pitt is in the middle of a huge housing problem. Currently many locals are complaining about parties and overcrowding (more than 3 people living in a house). This is forcing the police to go door to door to check for violations. Almost every house in South Oakland has more than 3 people in it, most have 5-7. People will start to be evicted as the city sues landlords. With more than 8000 students living off campus, and almost every house in Oakland being in violation of city regulations, what will happen to the students? Oakland only has so many houses for rent and it's getting harder and harder to find them at a reasonable cost. This could really hurt the university because kids don't want to travel that far for class and kids can only afford cheap places. Could Pitt build new apartments for upperclassmen at a reasonable price? Why don't they spend their money and buy these houses from the slumlords? And how will Pitt attract new students when they find out that the housing sucks, and they won't be able to go to parties after a week of working their ass off in class. Don't get me wrong, I love Pitt but this could be a major issue
OT: Pitt Housing
- Thread starter dv8765
- Start date
It's another reason Pitt should seek to win big in football.
No doubt Pitt would like the political and financial power to have Oakland slums seized, razed and replaced with clean, modern,efficient dorms.
In the current environment where Pitt is more despised than respected (Pitt's mediocre sports helping contribute to this, or at least, not helping the situation), Pitt can barely put a bird house up without hostility from the city and media.
Win like the Steelers (well, not so much lately) or Penguins, for enough years, and Pitt would be able to implode the Carnegie Museum for dorms if it wanted.
No doubt Pitt would like the political and financial power to have Oakland slums seized, razed and replaced with clean, modern,efficient dorms.
In the current environment where Pitt is more despised than respected (Pitt's mediocre sports helping contribute to this, or at least, not helping the situation), Pitt can barely put a bird house up without hostility from the city and media.
Win like the Steelers (well, not so much lately) or Penguins, for enough years, and Pitt would be able to implode the Carnegie Museum for dorms if it wanted.
In all honesty though, it may make sense for the university to spend the money now. They should make a large purchase of bad houses/ land in south O. If a slumlord refuses to give up the house, have the city fine them for over crowding which can be up to 600k. Then find all other problems and violations with the house and show the landlord that it would make more sense to sell it.
It wouldn't be THAT crazy of an idea to suggest that they build a football stadium in south Oakland where run down houses are, and around the stadium add new student housing for upper class men, and add a nice hotel near the stadium too for people coming in from out of town. Open the stadium for club use and allow students to work out on the field and running steps during the week. The stadium could even have a nice restaurant at the top and maybe even a VIP area/ bar/ restaurant for donors who donated over a certain amount. There's all sorts of options and I believe it could pay off in the long run
It wouldn't be THAT crazy of an idea to suggest that they build a football stadium in south Oakland where run down houses are, and around the stadium add new student housing for upper class men, and add a nice hotel near the stadium too for people coming in from out of town. Open the stadium for club use and allow students to work out on the field and running steps during the week. The stadium could even have a nice restaurant at the top and maybe even a VIP area/ bar/ restaurant for donors who donated over a certain amount. There's all sorts of options and I believe it could pay off in the long run
I lived in Oakland for a year in 04 and this was a problem then. At the time, the University more or less turned a blind eye to it and there really isn't any reason why they shouldn't. However, if they want to stem the issue and diminish some of the concerns that comes with an urban campus they should do as you suggest and raze some of the turds. It all depends on how they look at it.
Years ago I was asked to be a part of the Oakland housing committee as this problem has been long in the making.
Like so many committees it was created to silence people with the appearnce of concern. We met, discussed, and were ignored when we suggested some concrete stps. Like actually suing landlords for violating fire codes.
Pitt said it would not build more dorms....but it doid.
The City said it would enforce fire code violations, but it did not.
I suspect like most things, it will take a disaster to correct it. A fire is what I think will happen and people will die. Then people will ask why nothing was done.
My response will be that when people studied the problem it was clear that we had no more authority than the man on the moon and were told to speak when we were spoken to. Like most busy people, we had better things to do with our time than be puppets.
First off, there IS a big apartment building currently under construction on 5th Avenue. But here's a novel idea - why don't private entities buy up some of these houses, raze them and build apartment buildings? That is really the only viable solution to a long time problem. The University does not have the capital to embark on something like this. I'm actually kind of surprised this hasn't happened before now actually. There is $$ to be made. It could be made even easier if Pitt and the city of Pittsburgh could work together to incentivize this kind of development, not that the city has ever made anything easy for Pitt which is a subject for another thread.
Pitt guarantees housing through 3 years which is actually longer than many other schools. Pitt/Oakland is no different than many other urban located schools. I can only speak to what I know, but in the case of UMD housing is only guaranteed for 2 years and then GOOD LUCK. Not only is off campus housing hard to find, it is VERY expensive. Pitt is not unique.
Pitt guarantees housing through 3 years which is actually longer than many other schools. Pitt/Oakland is no different than many other urban located schools. I can only speak to what I know, but in the case of UMD housing is only guaranteed for 2 years and then GOOD LUCK. Not only is off campus housing hard to find, it is VERY expensive. Pitt is not unique.
They should do what IUP did to rebuild all their dorms. Buy the land and lease the land to a developer to build apartments. After 30 years the building will ten revert back to the university.
Ummmm......comparing the "land" around IUP with the "land" around Pitt is night and day. Not applicable.
And to add Pitt just built a brand new dorm 2 years ago. IMHO the problem isn't dorms but the lack of close off campus apartment buildings.
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It is a concern of some degree because admissions has been overshooting enrollment targets the last couple of years and it is creating strain. They have students staying in converted dorm lounges but it also affects academic resources. They overshot this year by 4%. They're reducing next fall's target from baseline to compensate. Frankly, they have to get more selective.
It is definitely not a dorm issue, although they could probably use another dorm. They've built something like six dorms in the last 15 years. Their 3 year housing guarantee and % of students in on campus housing is one of the biggest of any major university, particularly an urban one. For example, it is more than some nearby rural land grant scools. It really is sort of rare for a major school to have the numbers Pitt does in that regard....and that is good for Oakland and it is what the community implored them to do. Pitt, in the recent past, has also split the cost of a dedicated housing inspector for Oakland with the city and provided grants for community building and housing improvements.
One thing Pitt won't be doing is buying up large tracks of South Oakland. If these places were for sale, they'd own them already. They're cash cows for their owners and they have no incentive to sell at any reasonable market rate.. But the city also doesn't want Pitt to do that, and Oakland residents are vehemently against it. Even Bouquet Gardens, which sat as an empty lot for years because of community resistance to university encroachment (even while they were hypocritically begging Pitt to build more dorms), was controversial. Taking over more of South Oakland is a PR quagmire.
Keep in mind that a lot of non-Pitt students also now live in Oakland, including students from Duquesne and Point Park, and that contributes to the overcrowding. There are a couple of private student apartment projects moving forward in Oakland. But housing issues in Oakland certainly aren't new, nor is it as bad as it was 20 years ago.
It is definitely not a dorm issue, although they could probably use another dorm. They've built something like six dorms in the last 15 years. Their 3 year housing guarantee and % of students in on campus housing is one of the biggest of any major university, particularly an urban one. For example, it is more than some nearby rural land grant scools. It really is sort of rare for a major school to have the numbers Pitt does in that regard....and that is good for Oakland and it is what the community implored them to do. Pitt, in the recent past, has also split the cost of a dedicated housing inspector for Oakland with the city and provided grants for community building and housing improvements.
One thing Pitt won't be doing is buying up large tracks of South Oakland. If these places were for sale, they'd own them already. They're cash cows for their owners and they have no incentive to sell at any reasonable market rate.. But the city also doesn't want Pitt to do that, and Oakland residents are vehemently against it. Even Bouquet Gardens, which sat as an empty lot for years because of community resistance to university encroachment (even while they were hypocritically begging Pitt to build more dorms), was controversial. Taking over more of South Oakland is a PR quagmire.
Keep in mind that a lot of non-Pitt students also now live in Oakland, including students from Duquesne and Point Park, and that contributes to the overcrowding. There are a couple of private student apartment projects moving forward in Oakland. But housing issues in Oakland certainly aren't new, nor is it as bad as it was 20 years ago.
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