Our House

By Teri Bachman

Click on the photos for larger versions and a closer look at student living. (Photos by Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis)

Senior Kalen Gallagher, this past year’s ASUCD president, lives with his three roommates in a two-story home on one of the newer streets in Davis. The house, like its neighbors, has a modern earth-toned stucco-and-stone façade and an immaculate front yard maintained by a landscaping service. Inside it has high ceilings and a large ceramic-tiled kitchen. But in this house, unlike its neighbors in which, by and large, live families with children, the stove is seldom used, the backyard is nothing more than gravel with chest-high weeds and the tub in the spacious master bath is being used as a laundry hamper.

The home is one of the few student residences in this quiet single-family neighborhood, and the relationship with the neighbors hasn’t always been cordial.

“We’ve tried to be good neighbors,” said roommate Bezhad Farahbakhsh, explaining that they keep their music turned down, never throw large parties and drive slowly down their narrow street. “But they do not want us here. I accept that.”

The four roommates “inherited” the house when one of Gallagher’s predecessors, 2002–03 ASUCD president Chia-Saun Lai ’04, moved out. Lai’s parents had purchased the house when he enrolled, and he’d lived there his entire five years in Davis.

This housing situation, in its many particulars, is a good example of what student living’s like today. There’s a lot that hasn’t changed over the past decade or two—students living in family neighborhoods isn’t new—but much is different, both in degree and kind.

So what’s new? On campus and off, today’s housing is characterized by new amenities and style—and a new emphasis on privacy, for those who can afford it. Location has changed, too: You’ll now find that more students are remaining in on-campus housing beyond freshman year, while others are migrating to single-family homes—bypassing the usual apartment step—right out of the dorms. Students are increasingly living in all areas of Davis, even the most exclusive single-family enclaves. On the other end of the income spectrum, those with modest means can find a bed in a home whose garage and sometimes living room and family room, too, have been converted to dorm rooms. Or they can simply join the increasing number of students who have decided to live out of town where rents are cheaper.

These changes have brought new challenges: As students have increasingly migrated into family neighborhoods, conflicts over noise, property upkeep, parking and parties have grown, and neighborhood associations have organized in response. Some students who don’t want to pay for on-campus parking are driving to Davis, parking in residential areas, and biking or riding the bus to campus. To help solve the problems, the city, campus and students themselves have stepped up efforts to encourage good neighbors.

In April the city council passed a moratorium on building permits for home additions and interior modifications that would add bedrooms. It’s an interim measure while the city explores possible zoning ordinance amendments to prevent home-to-dormitory conversions.

ASUCD’s annual Housing Day Expo emphasized information this year, including sessions on how to be a good renter, how to choose roommates, how to resolve conflicts, how to sublease an apartment. The campus is disseminating information to students about safe celebrating: how to help ensure that a party doesn’t get out of hand. And the California Apartment Association is pursuing an outreach program to high schools and universities to teach students about tenant rights and responsibilities, to name a few efforts.

Construction of additional student housing—easing the demand for rental conversions in established neighborhoods—will also reduce neighborhood tensions. The campus’s West Village, a 224-acre community planned for the west side of Highway 113, will provide housing for about 1,200 students. The city also plans to approve additional housing stock—up to 1 percent per year, or some 250–275 units, both rental housing and for-sale homes.

And ultimately, common courtesy can go a long way toward building better relations in the community.

“All the stakeholders have legitimate points of view,” says Davis City Councilmember Don Saylor. “Students need a place to live, property owners have a legitimate interest in maximizing the value of their property and neighbors have a legitimate stake in preserving the quality of their neighborhoods.

“What I’d like to see is for more people to have block parties and invite the student residents. When they move in, do what you would do with anybody: Take a pitcher of lemonade or apple pie. Find out their names and phone numbers and offer to help. Just be neighbors. Remember we are all in this together.”