BU plans new dorms for 1,500 students

[Mike]

BU plans new dorms for 1,500 students
By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Tuesday, July 11, 2006


Boston University is forging ahead with a sweeping expansion of dorm housing that could eventually lead to nearly 90 percent of its students living on campus.

The university has quietly filed plans with City Hall detailing previously announced plans for two new high-rise complexes on Commonwealth Avenue expected to house roughly 1,500 additional students.

BU?s current dorm building plans represent a significant shift in design from its earlier plans.

While the university originally proposed building three dorm towers, it is now looking to build two complexes, but with the same number of beds.

The shift was aimed at countering criticism by some neighborhood residents that the three towers would create a ?wall? along Commonwealth Avenue.

The new dorms are slated for sites around the new Agganis Arena, where an 817 room dorm opened in 2000.

?By shifting undergraduates out of local rental housing and onto the campus, this project will benefit both the university community and the neighborhoods surrounding the university,? BU officials said in a project filing with City Hall?s development arm.

The first complex, slated to open in three years, would combine two towers, at 19 and 26 stories, connected by an elevator shaft and common hallways. The two towers are staged one behind the other in a move to further open up the view from Commonwealth Ave. to interior courtyards.

That?s in contrast to previous plans, which involved two separate towers in the 18-story range, according to a spokeswoman for the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

The $100 million-plus complex would feature apartments with single bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms, as well as suites featuring single and double bedrooms for 960 students.



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[bosdevelopment]

Again I don't understand why they'd go to the trouble of paving over that lot in the back, doing extensive landscaping and lighting if they were just planning to tear it all apart. I'd estimate that they spent over or about a million bucks on that massive lot behind agganis. One thing's for sure in this case though, BU doesn't have any issues with neighbors, views or noise . THey're deep into the campus from comm ave and are bordered by railroad tracks, the pike, the river and more BU. This is one area of Boston where they could build as high as possible and nobody would really complain.

Babcock towers might moan for it's skyline views being blocked, but it's all rentals anyway.

If I were head of business affairs or on the board I'd approach the housing issue much differently though. For one, I wouldn't care to make housing. Let the students live in apartments.

 

[Waldorf]

^ Hasn't the city pressured BU to build more on campus housing and get the students out of Allston? Granted with BU's dorm policies (for guests, visitors, etc) many students will continue to opt to live in apartments. I know I would.

 

[bosdevelopment]

^ Hasn't the city pressured BU to build more on campus housing and get the students out of Allston? Granted with BU's dorm policies (for guests, visitors, etc) many students will continue to opt to live in apartments. I know I would.

I'm sure the city put pressure on all the colleges regarding the housing crunch issue. THe guest policy really infuriates students (i know it did when i went there) that's why I moved into allston my last two years. Allston though, is a complete and utter shithole full of hippie emo scum so it' s a trade off. The whole neighborhood known as the "BU Ghetto" (Gardner, linden, pratt and ashford) is notorious for break ins, fights vandalism and vagrants.

 

[Ron Newman]

what is "emo" ?

 

[Beton Brut]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo_slang

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

what is "emo" ?

Courtesy of urbandictionary.com. I couldn't have said it better:

An entire subculture of people (usually angsty teens) with a fake personality. The concept of Emo is actually a vicious cycle that never ends, to the utter failing of humanity, and it goes something like this:

1. Girls say they like "sensitive guys" (lie)
2. Guy finds out, so he listens to faggy emo music and dresses like a dork so chicks will see that he is sensitive and not afraid to express himself (lie). He dyes his hair black, wraps himself in a stupid looking scarf, develops an eating disorder, and rants about how "nobody understands".
3. Now an emo guy, he meets Emo chick and they start dating, talking about how their well-off suburban lifestyles are terrible and depressing (lie)
4. Emo guy is just too much of a pussy. His penis is too small, he's too depressed to bathe, and has more mood swings than emo chick, and he doesn't even have a menstrual cycle. Emo chick dumps him, saying "It's not you, it's me." (lie) as she drives off with Wayne, the school jock and captain of the football team.
5. Emo guy goes home and cries, proceeds to write a weak song and strum a single string on his acoustic guitar. Another emo chick sees how he is so in touch with his feelings, and the cycle continues.

 

[Waldorf]

So you are using "emo" as an insult? I suppose you can label every type of person on the planet.

 

[PerfectHandle]

If the first step to becoming emo is listening to emo music, how did the first emo person, who then created emo music, come to be?

Also, why would someone listen to "faggy" music in order to impress girls?

 

[jass]

I just hope it has enough elevators. 26 stories + students coming and going at all times = not fun when one of them is broken.

Its not like highrise offices and apartments which have rush hours of people using the elevator.


BU needs to hurry with this. I wonder how many people are being placed in the Hyatt this year. Last year, it was floors 2-6. (and a bit of 7 for Tulane students)

Have they anounced anything for the empty lot on Comm Ave, where the Burger King was and a parking lot now rests?

 

[Ron Newman]

Speaking of empty lots, I wonder why BU still hasn't built anything on their Deerfield Street lot. It has probably been vacant since that part of the Back Bay was filled.

 

[esp9762]

I can't imagine that BU is in a money crunch, with the amount of money they make people to pay to live in some of their dorms. They make you spend a ridiculous amount of money to live in places where nothing works and nothing gets fixed. At least their West Campus is that way. Also, given how they treat their students like 12 year olds at a summer camp, I can't imagine any student wanting to live there for four years. If I were going to go back to school there, I'd probably have moved out after one year.

 

[kz1000ps]

Allston though, is a complete and utter shithole full of hippie emo scum so it' s a trade off.

Haha! While not everyone there is that, it mostly rings true. I know I've got friends on Pratt St..

And to sum it up, emo kids are the '90s grunge-slacker-apathetics just in a different decade and with faux-1980s clothing styles. And best I can describe the creation of emo music, it grew out of the punk and hardcore scene as something more melody-driven (versus screaming/speed/thrashing), which has made it a target of "the industry" to be the new pop sound. It's not faggy per se, but definitely whiny.

 

[bowesst]

Allston though, is a complete and utter shithole full of hippie emo scum so it' s a trade off.

Haha! While not everyone there is that, it mostly rings true. I know I've got friends on Pratt St..

And to sum it up, emo kids are the '90s grunge-slacker-apathetics just in a different decade and with faux-1980s clothing styles. And best I can describe the creation of emo music, it grew out of the punk and hardcore scene as something more melody-driven (versus screaming/speed/thrashing), which has made it a target of "the industry" to be the new pop sound. It's not faggy per se, but definitely whiny.

 

[bosdevelopment]

Allston though, is a complete and utter shithole full of hippie emo scum so it' s a trade off.

Haha! While not everyone there is that, it mostly rings true. I know I've got friends on Pratt St..

And to sum it up, emo kids are the '90s grunge-slacker-apathetics just in a different decade and with faux-1980s clothing styles. And best I can describe the creation of emo music, it grew out of the punk and hardcore scene as something more melody-driven (versus screaming/speed/thrashing), which has made it a target of "the industry" to be the new pop sound. It's not faggy per se, but definitely whiny.

I used to live on rat street myself. Regretted it every day for a year after move in. Probably one of the ugliest neighborhoods in Boston... And that rail yard is right next door.

 

[kz1000ps]

Two of my best friends who live across the hall from me are moving out to Allston come this September, somewhere in the student slums area, and I could've moved out there with them if I wanted to. But I know how all the housing stock is out there - dingy disgusting crap. So that was turn off number one. And turn off number two was the prosaic fact that I live a half a block from school, Berklee, and it's central to just about everything I could possibly need. From Allston it'd be a hellish 20 minute B line ride or a 50 minute walk each way, not to mention that the variety of retail out there is much more limited....nooo thank you. My apartment is clean and has wall-to-wall carpeting that's in great shape, AND I live right next to a liquor store )). I don't think that could be said about a single house in Allston.

 

[Merper]

...

allston is no beacon hill, but i think alot of you are generalizing. I lived there for many years not too long ago. Yes there are plenty of the disgusting places that makes one wonder if they are suitable for human habitation. Yes, its generally overpriced, but I found it awesome. I lived in a disgusting place for a year, moved up to a really nice place (wall to wall carpeting, in good condition, central air!), moved down a notch to another apartment, that looked alot dingier from the outside than it did on the inside, which was very nice and well kept, despite its cheap and antiquated decor. All within the Allston Village area. And I never lived further than 3 blocks from a liquor store.

Obviously the retail there is somewhat centered around the young college types, but even when I was there, plenty of signs were trending towards more young professionals, with renovated homes turned into multiple apartments, etc. Plenty of nightlife, plenty of dining options and just about never a dull moment.

It has its downsides, as mentioned before, and some streets tend to be rowdier, later, than others, but it has its quieter places too. In short, "Its All in Allston" is quite accurate. I loved living there, and although I love living in the South End, I can honesly say that I often miss Allston. In my opinion, its underutilized in terms of density (it too has too many scars of the suburban auto-centric nature), underappreciated for its nightlife (includes live music!), and generally disregarded by the rest of Boston. This must in no small part be due to the fact thats its mostly transient college types that live in the neighborhood, but they are just one of many demographics that live in the area; in fact, by my estimation, its got to be one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city. It can certainly benefit from development, but I'd hate to see Allston turned into another clean scrubbed, homogenous yuppie enclave.

My biggest gripe was public transportation. The B line can be maddengly slow. Too many stops in some points, and it always seems to be stuck behind a red light. Things get better once you discover the many bus routes, but during rush hours, they too get stuck in traffic. I've said it before and I'll say it again, a bus is a poor replacement for trains.

anyways, i suppose thats enough ranting on my part. sorry, but I just had the urge to "Defend Allston".

 

[kz1000ps]

Yes we are generalizing too much. I spent a week (lol) working for MASSPIRG doing the door-to-door schtick (soliciting is not for me..), and we spent about 3 days doing Allston, both sides of the highway. While the Pratt/Ashford/Linden St area is more or less trashed and primarily college students/young professionals, the neighborhood based around Franklin St is quite pleasant, with a wide range of people living there - a few college kids, retirees, lots of families with incomes from the low end to the upper-middle, mostly white, but still a decent mixture, although nothing like how latinos have moved in around Linden and Highgate St. I wouldn't mind living there, assuming there's decent bus service.

Just not Pratt St.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

So colleges are building new dorms to attract new students? Its like building highways to alive traffic. The dorms will fill up and there will still be student ghettos. But I suppose more rich kids are better for the economy than more cars.

 

[jass]

So colleges are building new dorms to attract new students? Its like building highways to alive traffic. The dorms will fill up and there will still be student ghettos. But I suppose more rich kids are better for the economy than more cars.

I dont know about Northeastern, but BU promises housing for 4 years. As they dont have enough beds, they outsource to the Hyatt in Cambridge and the Holiday Inn on the C line