In Student Housing, Luxuries Overshadow Studying [View all]

[pstokely]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/us/in-luxury-student-housing-gym-tan-and-study.html

"As private housing developers try harder than ever to outdo the amenities that their competitors offer in college towns, concern is growing about the academic and social consequences of upscale off-campus student housing.

The spas, tanning salons and sprawling pools offered by these complexes, which often require their tenants to be students, are a far cry from the traditional on-campus residence halls that may house classrooms and faculty and host lectures and academic discussions.

“These are sort of more social environments,” said Arthur J. Lidsky, the president of Dober Lidsky Mathey, a campus planning consultancy. “It takes away from sort of a community of learners, and it creates more of a separate living environment that doesn’t support that mission.”

Even through the recession and the housing crisis, student housing development has remained robust, outperforming other sectors in part because the rising college student population increased the demand for accommodations. Construction of student housing, though down from its peak five years ago, continues to boom, and analysts predict growth in the coming years."