OPINION: Downtown pupil residences will not be price the fee | Opinion

If somebody had written this text three years in the past, I’d seemingly have $3,000 extra in my checking account in the present day.

As an alternative, I spent sophomore yr residing within the Parkhaus Residences downtown — paying $645 every month for lease. And that doesn’t embrace the $80 month-to-month parking charge, which I paid as soon as I had a automotive for the spring semester.

However don’t get me improper, my time at Parkhaus was nice.

The situation, close to thirteenth and Q Streets, was excellent for strolling to class and visiting Chipotle and Blaze Pizza. The unit itself was trendy, with recent paint, up-to-date home equipment and sufficient area for a median school pupil. The view from the rooftop patio was about nearly as good because it will get in Nebraska, particularly at sundown.

Better of all, it was cheaper than the traditional-style dorm I lived within the earlier yr.

This shocked me, provided that my Parkhaus four-bedroom residence was listed at 1,118 sq. ft, whereas my dorm in Schramm Corridor – which I shared with one other roommate — was lower than 215 sq. ft.

I had by no means paid month-to-month lease till my sophomore yr of school, so I assumed I used to be getting deal. In comparison with different downtown residences, Parkhaus’ costs have been comparable, and I discovered its location to be extra handy than Latitude or 8N Lofts.

It appeared that my roommates and I had made a logical selection.

I think about a number of thousand College of Nebraska-Lincoln college students about to signal a lease at a downtown pupil residence really feel the identical method proper now. And whereas they’re making a greater monetary choice than returning to a dorm for an additional yr, I consider there are a lot better choices on the market.

If I might provide one piece of recommendation to college students searching for off-campus housing for the primary time, it might be to think about renting homes in neighborhoods close to UNL and saving a number of thousand {dollars} over the course of the lease.

As you could have most likely gathered, I not stay in a downtown pupil residence.

Now, I stay in a home within the North Bottoms neighborhood, paying about half the lease I had at Parkhaus. Even after factoring in the price of utilities, I nonetheless pay a number of hundred {dollars} much less every month.

It could be onerous to persuade some those who my small home within the Bottoms is best than the shiny new residences that make up Lincoln’s skyline, however I don’t need to. I merely need to make the case that the 2 housing choices are at the least equal. The additional cash in your pocket on the finish of every month will make the remainder of the argument.

The worth comparability doesn’t solely apply to Parkhaus and the North Bottoms however to almost each downtown residence and homes in most neighborhoods surrounding downtown.

The most cost effective residence at Latitude is listed at $629, Academy at $655 and LivRed at $685 — and these are every per-bed costs in 4 bed room residences. Most residences go for upwards of $700, and this doesn’t embrace further parking charges in downtown garages.

However, many of the 4 bed room properties for lease close to UNL’s campus go for underneath $2,000. Break up 4 methods, lease is lower than $500 and in lots of circumstances, less expensive than that.

You will need to take a look at utility prices and different charges when evaluating costs, however in practically each comparability I’ve executed, downtown pupil residences find yourself being costlier.

Some should still declare that the placement of downtown residences makes up for the value discrepancy, however as a UNL pupil I don’t consider that residing downtown is absolutely that a lot better.

For instance, residents are instructed to park on the seventh ground of the storage at Parkhaus, which signifies that any time you’re in a rush to get someplace, it’s a must to maneuver by means of seven flooring of the parking storage earlier than you’re out of the constructing.

Even then, it’s essential to navigate a technique streets to get to your vacation spot, which may make a one mile journey for much longer than it appears to be like on a map.

Others could have considerations about residing in a neighborhood just like the North Bottoms due to its popularity of loopy school college students throwing ragers in any respect hours of the night time, however in my expertise, residences are a lot worse relating to noise.

In case your subsequent door neighbor throws a celebration within the Bottoms, there’s greater than a skinny wall between you and them. At Parkhaus, I had to go to sleep to some questionable playlist selections from my neighbors dozens of instances.

Finally, housing selections are a matter of non-public choice, and there’s loads of pupil demand for downtown residences. Almost all the huge names in downtown pupil residing — together with Academy, Parkhaus, Latitude, 8N Lofts and LivRed — have been constructed within the final ten years, and the pattern reveals no indicators of slowing down. A brand new advanced — Ambiance — is at the moment underneath development and is leasing for this fall.

Nevertheless, you might be a lot better off ignoring the residence hype and contemplating off-campus housing in a close-by neighborhood.

And when you do nonetheless find yourself residing downtown, at the least you’ll have the peace of thoughts of realizing you thought of all of the choices.

Brian Seaside is a senior journalism main. Attain him at [email protected].