With the City of Charlottesville concentrating on the issue of affordable housing, Mayor Dave Norris has expressed concern that the University has a negative impact on the local housing market, primarily through the high volume of students living in city rental housing. A University official and a University professor, however, said the University’s impact is minimal.
Norris said the University impacts on the housing market mainly because students occupy a significant portion of the private rental market. Norris said he believes this occurs because the University does not provide enough on-Grounds housing for students.
Though some students may not be interested in living on Grounds after their first year, Norris said the University could build housing that does not look like dormitories and instead would “function like apartments.” He also suggested leasing University property to private developers and building more “theme housing” such as language houses and residential colleges.
Vicki Hawes, University manager of off-Grounds housing, said about 65 percent of University undergraduates live off-Grounds, estimating that at least 90 percent of those students live within 1.5 miles of Grounds.
She added that the majority of housing in which students live has been built specifically with University students in mind.
“My impression is that students are not occupying any low-income housing that would otherwise be available to families,” Hawes said. “I see them as living in two entirely different places.”
Hawes noted that numerous high rises such as The Pointe and Jefferson Commons have been built close to Grounds in the past three years, saying this construction has added another 1,000 rooms designed for students to the area.
“That’s a lot of availability to add at once, and it certainly exceeds the number of students that we have added in that period of time,” Hawes said.
University Economics Prof. Ed Olson also expressed the view that the University has an “inconsequential” impact on Charlottesville’s housing market because “students are just like anyone else” and most live in housing near the University.
In fact, Olsen said, any impact the University has is actually positive, because as a research university, it provides good information about housing policy to local politicians and citizens.
“Very few local governments have access to the kind of expertise that U.Va. has,” Olsen said. “The city ought to reach out and take advantage of it.”
Olsen suggested that low-income residents who are having trouble finding housing should turn to government and federal welfare programs.
Olsen also acknowledged that the city has put into place effective measures to combat the issue of affordable housing, namely by rezoning the area around 14th street to allow high-density student housing to be built, such as the recently completed GrandMarc complex.
“It’s a win-win situation,” Norris said about the recent development, “because it has helped relieve pressure on the private rental market and also helped encourage housing that is within walking distance of the campus.”
The city plans to aggressively attack the issue of affordable housing, starting with a sixfold increase in the city’s budget to be allocated toward funding for affordable housing, Norris said.
According to Norris, a person had to make more than $15 per hour working 40 hours a week to afford a basic two-bedroom apartment in Charlottesville.
Olsen said, though, that relative to many areas in the United States, claims that Charlottesville housing is expensive are overblown because the data used in comparisons of median rents or sale prices for housing may have very different standards of quality. He said U.S. Census Bureau data shows equally good housing in Charlottesville is only 7 percent more expensive than the national average, while “housing in San Francisco may be 70 percent more expensive.”
Some of the city’s other plans to develop more affordable housing include providing meaningful incentives for developers to provide affordable housing in new developments, such as streamlining the regulatory review process for new developments if they include a certain percentage of affordable housing units. Norris added that the city is also investigating the option of encouraging homeowners to rent out a basement or attic apartment at a low cost.
“That way, you create a rental unit that is typically very affordable and also gives income to the homeowner,” Norris explained. “It increases the supply without having to build new housing.”
Concerning University students living further from Grounds, Norris said there have been minor complaints from residents about noise, trash and traffic, but noted the University has been responsive and cooperative in attempting to solve any problems.
“The University’s been very helpful in trying to bridge town issues and making sure that neighborhoods have an open line with communication with the University,” he said.
Hawes also added that although the influx of people associated with the University may put a strain on the infrastructure, it also contributes to the economy and services such as faculty and hospital staff.
“It’s a two-sided coin,” she said. “You can’t have it both ways.”
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