New complexes not affecting UNH housing

Over the past few years, new off-campus apartments have sprung up throughout Durham. This year alone, there were two off-campus housing facilities opened for UNH students: The Cottages of Durham and the new apartments owned by University Downtown located at 9 Madbury Road.


With all of these off-campus housing opportunities emerging, one may think there is a lack of students who want to live in on-campus housing.


According to officials from the UNH Department of Housing, this is not the case. Kathy Irla-Chesney, the director of housing, and Amy Whitney, the assistant director of housing, said there is still an overwhelming majority of students who live on campus.


Whitney and Irla-Chesney said over 7,000 students live on campus, and there are still many students on a waiting list hoping to move onto campus whenever there is an opening. There are also still students that are in built-up living situations; about 25 percent of freshmen are currently living in a forced triple, which means they are residing in a room designed for fewer than three people.


Despite the number of off-campus living opportunities, there are many reasons why people stay in on-campus housing. The dining halls are close to all the different areas of housing, and the Wildcat Transit bus service runs every 5-10 minutes, making a big school seem smaller and easier to access.


“I would love for students to stay for four or five years because it’s an incredible time and a special and unique experience,” Whitney said.


Many students stay on campus because they are planning on studying abroad. Living on campus is a lot more convenient if a student is planning on going abroad because the student doesn’t have to worry about making his or her roommates pay more for rent or subletting his or her apartment to someone else; it’s taken care of by the Department of Housing.


 “Although we would love to keep them (students) for four years, it’s nice for students to have options,” Irla-Chesney said.


Because of all these options created by off-campus housing complexes, Housing can place fewer students in built-up living situations.


The vast majority of students who move off campus are either juniors or seniors.


When students are looking to move off campus, the Durham Landlord Association is one of the resources available to students. Though they are the most recently built, The Cottages and the Madbury apartments are not the only places students can look for off-campus living. Riversedge apartments, Young Drive houses, the Strafford apartments, Jenkins Court apartments and the Beaver Dam apartments are just a few of the many options for students.


Although these apartment complexes are not on campus, they are no more than two miles from the center of campus, with The Cottages of Durham being the farthest.


Although there are many reasons to stay on campus, there are also just as many to move off campus.


“After 18 years at home, I like being able to live on my own,” Arpita Patel, a UNH student.