Between a part-time job and being a full-time student, finding a place to live can be a nightmare for City College students.
St. George and Associates have submitted a pre-application to add 1,000 to the complex, including a complete remodeling Beach City and massive expansion of the current property.
The Editorial Board strongly supports the development of student housing, but only if implemented responsibly.
The rehaul of Beach City has been a hot topic and has brought up many concerns, especially from Mesa residents. Oceano and Barranca Streets already have a bad reputation with the locals, who understandably fear seeing another possible 1,000 students moving in across the street.
Partying and noise are some of the biggest concerns for the neighborhood.
Other dorms like Tropicana Gardens have strict noise policies and live-in resident assistants to keep tabs on students. There are study areas and a librarian to help students as well.
But when the noise curfew goes into effect at Tropicana, many leave to roam the streets of Isla Vista.
Beach City has a responsibility to the community. They need to make it clear that they will do whatever possible to ensure we have a safe and effective dormitory, but City College needs to step in and help too.
Inspired by a similar program in San Luis Obispo, members of the Neighborhood Task Force recommend having students patrol and police the surrounding neighborhoods.
City College recently committed $100,000 to the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program, and we feel they need to have it up and running if this expansion gets approved. This could help control some of the curfew overflow, and ease the minds of Mesa residents.
The ever-present parking crisis is also a major concern for the city.
Tropicana and other student dorms charge renters with cars an extra fee to keep down the traffic and congestion. Westmont has rules that ensure first and second year students do not bring cars, which alleviated some of their parking problems.
These are all great ideas that Beach City should draw from, and some of them already have been looked at. Things like Zip Car and bike shares are already included in the pre-application. Study centers and student policing is also planned, the ideas just need to be fleshed out and enforced properly. The new complex can fill a much needed gap in housing, and may even pull some students out of the more residential communities.
By imposing curfews and regulations and encouraging students to leave their cars back home, we believe the new complex can be very beneficial for City College students and their Mesa neighbors.
[editor’s note: an earlier version of this story incorrectly said Tropicana Gardens would be closing its doors to City College students, but Executive Director Dave Wilcox confirmed in an interview Monday they have no plans to evict City College students in the “near future.”]
