As students slowly move into neighborhoods once dominated by Charlottesville residents, off-Grounds housing is becoming a concern for City Council members.
In the Newcomb Hall South Meeting Room Friday, the University's Echols Council hosted a panel to discuss these concerns and how housing affects students and community members.
Charlottesville Mayor Virginia Daugherty said City Council sees resolving housing issues as a top priority.
"The city wants to continue the excellent atmosphere that exists around the University," Daugherty said. "Many other universities have ended up with slums surrounding them and we do not want that to happen here."
In addition to housing itself, parking and traffic issues also are a concern, she said.
Despite student protest, Daugherty defended the city's recent decision to create 24-hour permit parking in University Circle.
"In the past, students would park in the [city] residents' parking spaces and would thereby take parking intended for the occupants' visitors. The city decided to put its foot down and protect those living in the complex," she said.
In addition to supporting parking permit laws, she added that the city wants to discuss plans with the University to let students use cars their third year instead of second semester of their first year, as is the current practice.
The panel was followed by a luncheon with Daugherty, where she said the city's Housing Initiative aims to increase family home ownership and thereby increase the size of the middle class in Charlottesville.
Echols Council member Diane Christy, who coordinated the event, invited a variety of students, University faculty and staff and community leaders to participate in the event.
The first of two panels discussed how housing affects the University internally and focused mainly on the "first-year experience" and competition to obtain upperclass housing, either on-Grounds or off-Grounds.
"In the past, many students were used to having shared a room, but now 85 percent of incoming students have never shared a room, [which creates] a higher demand for single rooms," Assistant Director of Housing John Evans said. "New buildings in the future will likely [have] with single rooms and a common suite area."
Evans said the University is planning to create a new language house on the corner of Monroe Drive and Jefferson Park Avenue to accommodate students studying Asian languages.
He said the College also wants to build a residential college on the B-1 parking lot behind Cabell Hall.
Some panel members said the "first-year experience" wherein students are thrust into a new living situation is beneficial. "At no other point will you be put with such a random and diverse group of people and become best friends with them at the end of the year. It is really a special thing," panel member and Honor committee rep. Jim Haley said.
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