As college enrollment grows, developer brings housing plan
November 19, 2011 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
Even as Duluth college students and residents are telling the city they want more student housing and retail closer to campus, an established developer of student housing complexes is working to create just that.
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What do UMD and Duluth Public Schools have in common? Both have chosen to grow without really considering the impact on existing neighborhoods. Look at the Eastern High School? Plunked down in the middle of a neighborhood that now has a tremendous parking issue and lots of students wandering around with no place to go. Look at UMD – grows from 7,000 to 12,000 students without adding any on campus housing.
What do both have in common? Irresponsible leadership that talks a good game about being a good neighbor, but when it comes time to actually be a good neighbor they shrug their shoulders and walk away.
UMD should be building housing ON CAMPUS. Instead they are offloading student housing to the surrounding areas, which just aren’t able to handle it. They collect all the extra tuition dollars that 5,000 extra students generate, and then don’t think about adding anything on campus to accommodate those students.
UMD should have planned for this growth by adding housing and on campus entertainment options as it grew. They didn’t do this.
And they wonder why half of their students never graduate? Could it be that students who go to college want to have an actual life ON CAMPUS (and not just their classes?)
Bad planning UMD. Bad neighbor.
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Just as with the duluth school board, this ‘over-planning’ for the ‘future needs’ isn’t supported by the ‘hard numbers’. In a few years after the enrollment drops we will be saddled with this ‘scortched earth’ upheavel in the UMD/St. Scholastic area. Those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it.
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I think so too abomination. Higher education is a classic government subsidized bubble and it is poised to pop.
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Unsure of the properties that Lambert has spoken with. I live a block away and have heard nothing from him or his company.
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Duluthian, you have no idea.. you must have missed the construction of the new dorm near Lake Superior Hall over the summer.
As a UMD graduate, many students would prefer to move off campus. It isn’t as simple as the college not providing enough housing, it is a choice for those of us wanting more space.
Woodland Middle school is an obvious choice for a mixed use area. Please explain to the rest of us how a dated middle school would serve a better purpose?
Mt Royal is a great example how a mix of businesses coexist. Both students and seniors reaps the benefits of both choice and location. I cannot see how replicating this model at the Woodland site would be any different.
As anyone who has lived in or visited urban areas, it is great to have local shops mixed with residential areas.
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The new residence hall holds about 200 students. That’s not *quite* enough. UMD still does not have enough housing for all of its first year students, to say nothing of all the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th year students. Should all students live on campus? No. But should students have the option to live on campus if they like? Absolutely. UMD does not provide that. You did not have a choice about living on campus – you had to move off.
Woodland Middle School is a much smaller site than Mt. Royal, and it is surrounded by residential housing. Not a particularly good comparison.
Mixed use is a kind of code here for student housing and student oriented businesses. Thtat’s not an appealing mix for folks that aren’t students.
A better use for the Woodland site? How about a charter school for K-8? That sounds like a winner for the community, and might actually help bring some families back into that area.
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The new residence hall (Ianni) houses 280 students (not a mere 200 as I mentioned above)
http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/homepage/11/ianni.html
UMD can house about 2000 students on campus. That isn’t all that different a number than 10 years ago when there were 7000 students in total. Now there are 12000 students. So, we’ve gone from 5000 to 10000 students who need housing in about a decade. That’s what I mean by irresponsible leadership at UMD.
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first off, a new k-8 school is a mute point. It has been decided so I don’t see the benefit of further discussion on the facilities plan.
Just because UMD enrollment has increased, does not mean all those students are incoming freshman must live on campus. There are students who commute, some are non=traditional student, online learning choices. You cannot simply state there are 5000 more students which require 5000 more beds at UMD. I suggest heading over to Darland and inquire as to exactly how many freshman and sophomores actually could not get into student housing. I suspect that actual number is rather small, it certainly isn’t justification for building several new dorms on the UMD campus. There are other options.
The Woodland property has already been sold, there is no point on what the alternative purposes should have been. Developers have a plan (not collegiate or government involvement) and obviously saw opportunity for use of the properly.
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I think you mean “moot” point.
In any case, *you* asked the question about alternative uses of Woodland, and then when I give you one you say “oh well that’s moot, never mind”. So why did you ask?
All UMD students know that after freshman year they must move off-campus, so what’s the point of asking Darland how many decided to request housing (when they knew they wouldn’t get it)? That also seems moot. The fact is UMD on campus housing has not kept pace with the growth of the UMD student body, and that has hurt the surrounding neighborhood, and has also hurt UMD.
So yes, through their inaction UMD has caused another nail to be driven into the coffin holding the idea that the neighborhood around UMD might be family friendly. It’s not, and it’s becoming less so.
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Duluthian: You call yourself that but as a Duluthian you don’t seem to know much about UMD or what’s going on in the “U” district. As a UMD alumnus who lived both on and off campus in university housing in both cases, you are factually wrong that all UMD students know they must move off campus after freshman year. UMD offers dormitory and apartment accommodation to students. Many incoming freshman choose dormitories and university catering. Most outgrow the dorms and the residence hall dining center by their second year and opt to move off campus or into an on-campus apartment and take responsibility for their own meals.
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I respect that Ms Axdahl and other neighbors are concerned about the impact on their properties but why is there a knee-jerk assumption that Lambert’s development will depreciate their property values? Why have you ruled out that it may in fact, add to the value of your property?
JKT: I think it ought to be planning law that you and all neighbors should have been notified – officially!
Abomination, David Anderson: you need to get out more! Your views are frightfully out of touch and frankly irresponsible.
I am not impressed by the building standards of Lambert’s properties and have vocalised this many, many times before. But, his are no worse than most of the cardboard and plastic crap that’s going up all over America these days. In fact, I lived in a flimsy new apartment complex (Oakland Apts) on the UMD campus in 82 – built like a shoebox!
Having said that about Lambert, he’s the only developer who’s stepped up to the plate to do anything and he deserves cooperation because he’s trying to work with the NIMBYs and the college and university.
Until the City imposes more stringent design and construction standards on multi-dwellings, we’ll continue to get flimsy timber frame, vinyl clad, wafer board fire traps.
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