Concerns About Housing Near UT

Recently a new amendment has been proposed by the Central Austin Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee to make it difficult for co-operative (co-op) and Greek housings to build in areas close to the University of Texas at Austin. Their main concern was the value of single-family homes value would decrease due to co-ops and Greek housings. The vote on this ordinance will occur August 16, 2012.

I oppose this amendment because a lot of my friends at UT depend on the co-ops and Greek houses to live in. They are close to UT and may be generally cheaper than living on campus. Co-ops can provide a great sense of community to the students attending UT and is very diverse. I live 20 minutes away from Austin but taking the bus would take about an hour to get down to UT, and in the future if I cannot live anywhere close to UT because co-ops are not available then I might as well live at home rather than live in a co-op that is farther away from UT. Co-ops and Greek houses are ideal to live in if they are close to campus, and no one has to worry about making it to class in time if they live 5-10 minutes away by bus.

Though it is understandable that permanent residents living near UT do not want to have to deal with students traipsing over their lawns and having disturbances on a Friday night, I do not see how this is going to stop it from happening. There will still be drunk students somehow finding their way onto their lawn at 2am and making a mess. Though it would probably occur less often, it would still happen.

 Students renting the properties are not invested in the neighborhood and it brings the value of the single family homes down. But wouldn't this affect the housing co-operatives whose members are most likely invested and committed members of the neighborhood? Even though it is the association proposing this amendment, what do non-members of the association invested in homes think of this amendment?

The voting should be delayed because students should have a voice in this matter. The voting is before classes begin and most students will not be back in Austin to voice their opinion. Even though Austin is a home to the invested residents, Austin is also a home away from home for the students attending UT.