Students spread out in Whitewater
Podcast Episode
Kyle Geissler talks with Janesville Gazette reporter Kayla Bunge about the expansion of student housing around UW-Whitewater.
Photo
UW-Whitewater juniors Tayler Wolff, of Waukesha, and Mike Sanders, of Brookfield, move into their rental rooms at 157 N. Prairie with the help of Taylor's dad Mark Wolff. The off campus house is a 10 single room rental.
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UW-Whitewater junior Tayler Wolff and his dad, Mark, from Waukesha, maneuver an easy chair up the staircase at 157 N. Prairie.
WHITEWATER — Roy Nosek was jarred by the "wholesale conversion" of Tratt Street from single-family neighborhood to multi-family residential.
"In a frighteningly short period of time, Tratt Street ... fell to its knees, sacked by the conversion to student rental housing," he wrote in an e-mail to The Janesville Gazette. "Garage doors were walled over ... added cars spilled over onto sidewalks and lawns while garbage cans spilled into poor Tratt Street.
"The neighborhood died overnight, without a fight and forever."
The single-family neighborhoods near the UW-Whitewater campus are changing, and longtime residents are upset that students are spilling out of what traditionally were areas of student housing and into their single-family neighborhoods.
Nosek, a member of the Whitewater City Council, said the problem has in the last few years reached "a new, critical level," and last fall he pushed for the formation of the Whitewater Housing Task Force to address the problem.
He said the loss of single-family homes to multi-family rentals is "the single most important issue" facing the city.
More students
The student population in Whitewater is growing, and the UW-Whitewater campus is changing.
The university provides on-campus housing for about 3,800 students.
"We've always comfortably housed students," said Jeff Janz, interim dean of student life and former director of residence life. "We've never turned anybody away."
But the university recently lost two residence halls to make room for the new College of Business and Economics, eliminating about 400 beds. A new, suite-style residence hall will open for the fall 2010 semester, adding about 450 beds.
"We're overcrowded on campus as we prepare to build the new dorm," Janz said.
Because of the on-campus housing crunch, the university is allowing second-year students to live off campus if they have good grades and good behavior and if they complete an online course about living off campus.
Nosek said such a policy puts added pressure on the single-family neighborhoods near campus.
Older houses
The housing stock near the UW-Whitewater campus is aging, and many off-campus rental properties have fallen into disrepair.
Students are looking for decent places to live.
"If you want a nice place to live for fair rates, it's where you've got to go," said Dane Checolinski, a UW-Whitewater senior and member of the housing task force. "Moving into a single-family home that's well taken care of—those are the homes that I'd personally like to live in."
But it's not landlords that are "converting" single-family homes to multi-family rentals.
"The professional landlords aren't buying the single-family homes that you can just put three people in," said Donna Henry, chairwoman of the Whitewater Rental Association and member of the housing task force. "Economically, it's not feasible with the mortgage, insurance, taxes and upkeep. The people who are buying those are parents. And that has added a new dimension to the whole thing."
Within single-family residential neighborhoods, Whitewater city code prohibits more than three unrelated people to live under one roof. Within multi-family residential neighborhoods, a household is limited to five unrelated people.
Despite the codes, many single-family homes are being rented to more than three students, residents say.
Dying neighborhoods
Residents say the shift from streets full of quiet, single-family homes to streets dotted with loud, student party houses is ruining their neighborhoods.
"It's totally against the law, and it just kind of ruins the whole atmosphere of the single-family home neighborhood," said Jeff Eppers, who lives about a block from the UW-Whitewater campus on Starin Road. "It's an epidemic here right now."
He said his property value went down $21,000 last year because the house next door, bought by parents and rented to their children and other students, hasn't been maintained.
But it's not only the fact that students are moving into the single-family neighborhoods that has residents concerned. They take issue with the fact that some students don't care about where they live.
"If you drive through town, you can notice a college house even if it's not supposed to be," Eppers said.
Henry said residents expect landlords to handle troublesome students, but that's not a landlord's job.
"(Landlords) are responsible for the condition of the property," she said. "We cannot be responsible for the students' behavior."
But Henry understands residents' concerns.
"Some (students) are less considerate than others of the needs and wants of their neighbors," she said. "But the student's lifestyle is not like that of a single family. It's a totally different lifestyle that doesn't always fit in well."
It's possible for students and families to live in harmony, but students often fail to reconcile their way of life with that of their neighbors, Checolinski said.
"If they fail to understand that the person next door has a 3-year-old daughter who's sick and needs to sleep, until they face that menacing neighbor next door, they'll never understand," he said.
Aggressive enforcement
Residents, students and landlords seem to agree that the way to maintain the integrity of the single-family neighborhoods near the UW-Whitewater campus is for the city to enforce its housing ordinances: Occupancy rules must be followed, properties must be well maintained and property owners who violate those ordinances must be held accountable.
"The city is not enforcing its laws," Eppers said. "The city has to step in no matter what the cost to protect the people it made the laws for."
In fact, many students would support further city action to ensure the houses they live in off campus are in good condition, Checolinski said.
"We need to make sure that the homes close to campus are habitable," he said.
But Checolinski said students feel that no matter what happens, some neighbors always will be against them living in their neighborhood.
"These people don't want students living in their neighborhood, but they have no suggestions for where students should live," he said. "They want the university to house every single student."
Aug 28, 2008 at 9:59 a.m.
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This is a college town, what do you expect? Kids are having fun their first week back, meeting new people, meeting up with old friends from last year. Trust me, it will calm down. Homecomeing will be rambunctious as always, but beyond that, it's not always parties in the front yard with couches. Yes, you will hear kids stumbling back from the bars, and there will be domestic disputes. But that's part of living in a college town.
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I understand where everyone's coming from as far as wanting that to be secluded to certain areas of the town, but that's just not possible anymore. Whitewater is growing, the University is growing, and that's something that people are going to have to deal with. There's no easy way around it.
Aug 27, 2008 at 10:41 p.m.
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This is directly from the City of Whitewater ordinance
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B. No person shall place or allow to remain outdoors and exposed to the elements, any chair, sofa, bed, table or other related or similar furniture, which is not designed and intended for outdoor use and which may be susceptible to deterioration or which may provide a harborage for rodents. This section shall not apply to furniture which is unused and placed outside as refuse for collection and disposal, or which is in an enclosed porch.
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The city is very strict on enforcing most (ordinances especially around campus) when staff is available to do so. If your garbage toters are not removed from the curb by late morning the day after trash is picked up you get a $25 fine. If any part of a vehicle (1 tire or all 4) is parked in the yard and not the driveway its a ticket.
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It's not a lack of willingness to enforce that's the issue, it's the lack of manpower to do the enforcement.
Aug 27, 2008 at 9:53 p.m.
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LOL!! Are you serious, crisblue813?! Whitewater has ordinances against watching TV or having upholstered furniture outside? That is too funny! As far as the drinking games, unfortunately, it is the week for that. Hopefully, things will settle down (somewhat) once classes resume after Labor Day.
Aug 27, 2008 at 9:31 p.m.
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to the last comment, (mark707) you dont have to live one or 2 blocks from campus to have a problem!! Live in the town and deal with the property tax drop, and then still pay up the wazoo for taxes! This county in general is very pricey to live in. We're not complaining about all college students, but there are PLENTY that are very dis-respectful - I think it would be easier to live near an airport than it is has been listening to many many domestic disputes, dealing with the trash, and puke on our sidewalks/yards, and listening to the hootin and hollerin! I drove thru town today and already saw 3 houses playing beer pong and there were couches outside.. one even had a tv outside.. last time i knew that wasnt legal in the town of whitewater, they dont allow upholstered furniture to be outside! But do they do anything about it? NOOOO....
Aug 27, 2008 at 5:50 p.m.
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Mr. Eppers and the rest of you complainers:
Gee Wizz!!! The College has been there for about 100 years or so. You decided to live one or two blocks away from campus and can't stand the student's behavior.
Why don't you move out by some busy airport? I heard that there are lots of homes for sale near O'Hare.
Aug 27, 2008 at 2:54 p.m.
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Can't say they can be too surprised. Population of Whitewater is only 12,000 and the University has a total of 10,000 students (yes, I know some commute from other towns). Of course some neighborhoods would be overrun with students.
Aug 27, 2008 at 1:22 p.m.
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Are there any good websites for Students to find housing at Whitewater?
Aug 27, 2008 at 12:35 p.m.
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Unfortunately this is a common "town and gown" issue, no matter where the school is. A campus will almost always be in a section of town with historic residential architecture, which is attractive to families, but also attractive to students for other reasons.
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ktaustin, yes, that's a common rule. Living off campus is attractive to students. Perhaps they're married, even parents, or perhaps they need practice space for music or art, and so forth. Obviously one of the negative reasons would be the lack of supervision that would permit underage drinking.
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The city should enforce its housing ordinances (which sound similar to what Janesville is beginning to implement), but needs to also make some long-term decisions about how to manage this development. Zoning may need to be changed, and other ordinances might target undesirable behavior, while being flexible on the unrelated-persons rule. Ultimately, the city could stop this in its tracks, but lose some of the quality of being a college town in the process.
Aug 27, 2008 at 11:47 a.m.
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This article hit home for me! My husband, 2 daughters and I used to live in a downtown home, it was 3 blocks from all the bars, and completly remodled beautiful home! We started out paying very cheap rates, after living there for 2 years, the rates increased by $250 a month!!! 5 months later they increased by another $50 a month, we soon realized we were being pushed out! Some landlords will not even rent to families! They want college kids that are going to trash the place, therefor they get to keep their security deposits! We finally moved out of that place in May, A new landlord bought the house, and the backyard has now disapeared, all the trees are gone, and the LARGE backyard is now blacktopped and its a parking lot! What a sad situation for a nice home! the new owner charges alot more now than what we paid, which either way was waaaaay too much! We pay the same rates now in our new apt, and we have way more room, yard, basement and garage! Yes the college is totally taking over Whitewater. I never had a problem living with college students unless they were partying outside my daughters window! We did however have 1 student above us once, and she partyed alot, or would just plain leave her music on while she was away. She had the police called on her several dozens of times, and nothing was ever done about her actions, wiht the police dept or the landlord! One particular night she was fighting wiht her boyfriend and it got violent enough that we didnt want our daughters to be hearing that. The police came, and all they did was tell them to keep it down. They knew who called the police on them and came down and started beating on our door and threatening us.. (our youngest was only 2 weeks old) the police finally took the boyfriend that night, but only for one night.. the landlord never did anything!
Law states so many police visits for one location calls for eviction! That never happened!
Great story! Like i said, i have no problem living near college students, some are great, and helpful! Some are just plain nightmares, and yes.. they make the neighborhood look dumpy! Property taxes go down, but yet we still have to pay a fortune for living in this town.. Its an ongoing issue!
Aug 27, 2008 at 11:47 a.m.
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A lot of schools have this kind of housing rule, so I am not surprised. This story and the photographs bring back lots of good memories of my days at UW-Madison. Sounds like Whitewater is now "Mini-Madison"! Enjoy these years, students ... and please be safe.
Aug 27, 2008 at 11:40 a.m.
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"...the university is allowing second-year students to live off campus if they have good grades and good behavior and if they complete an online course about living off campus."
The students need permission to live off campus? Does anybody else think this is absurd? I agree that any VALID complaints neighbors have would be addressed if the existing laws were enforced; after a few rounds of tickets for not mowing, noise violations, etc, the students will get the word out.
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