<p>Odds are slim that the cast of "Jersey Shore" will ever enroll at USC. But if they could, TV's legendary sybarites would find that gym-tan-laundry is just the beginning at a new luxury apartment complex near campus.</p>
<p>Nearly every detail at West 27th Place is upmarket, from the fountains, landscaping and custom outdoor light fixtures to the granite countertops and big-screen HD television sets in every unit. There are also televisions in the well-appointed gym, along with a professional-grade Sundazzler — a walk-in tanning booth that resembles a science-fiction movie prop.</p>
<p>Five Guys Burgers and Fries, the East Coast's answer to In-N-Out, is building an outlet on the ground floor. Other restaurants are set to follow.</p>
<p>Making margaritas? The kitchens include ice makers. Revelry can spill over to the billiard room, swimming pool and a hot tub that is supposed to hold five people.</p>
<p>"It's usually either two or 10" in the tub at a time, quipped David Hilliard of Symphony Development, the owner of the complex.</p>
<p>Those who remember college housing as spartan dormitories or crowded cracker-box apartments may be seized with envy — or the urge to give denizens of West 27th Place a sermon on how spoiled they are. Get over it. Students today expect more from their college experience, including all the comforts of Mom and Dad's sumptuous home, according to developers who are rushing to fill the growing demand for deluxe digs.</p>
<p>When we went college shopping for my now Sr daughter, there seemed to be a distinctly inverse correlation between college prestige and how luxurious the dorms were.</p>
<p>My son’s room is in an old dorm with lots of character. 11 ft ceiling and it’s a corner room so has two huge windows. That being said, it has cinder block walls and linoleum floor and no closets (they have wardrobes instead.) Furniture is bleugh. He’s happy as a clam, though. Ther dorm rooms at his school don’t even have cable tv hookups. </p>
<p>When we were choosing a sleep away camp for him we picked the one with the least frills - though it was just as expensive as the camps which were spa like. His camp didn’t even have a pool. Kids are suppose to swim in freezing cold lake water. It builds character. :)</p>
<p>uh, guys. This is a new privately operated apartment complex. USC did NOT build it, they DO NOT own it, nor is it one of the many dorms and much cheaper apts that USC provides for students. I’m sure we can find other ritzy apartment complexes that cater to rich kids near colleges all across the country.</p>
<p>^^ Of course, USC students live in a variety of abodes in a cross section of price ranges and certainly this one complex isn’t typical which is why it stood out enough to write an article on it. And not all USC students come from a background of wealth and USC is a great Uni. Still…</p>
<p>ucsdd-ucla dad et al: Suggest that you read the ENTIRE article and/or invest in glasses. UCLA has similar abodes, as does another UC. This sort of apartment complex seemingly is the wave of the future.</p>
<p>Sorry to be snarky, but I am tired of certain campuses (not just USC btw) bear the brunt of nasty remarks because they have the REPUTATION of having wealthy kids.</p>
<p>^^ exactly… its not a dorm. And yes, there are many luxurious appt complexes where wealthy UCLA students choose to live-
Beverly Hills and Westwood anyone??</p>
<p>What THESE apartments are Apartments built and paid for my real estate developers for college students. Many universities do not guarantee housing (or don’t have housing) past freshman and sophomore years. These apartments fill a niche in that arena. (Please note: In no way do I have a financial or emotional interest in any of these apartments, including housing for my student.) These house students: ergo student housing.</p>
<p>I think these apartments are around most large Universities, although the amenities might be bigger at schools with perceived bigger parent $$. We got multiple mailings and phone calls (largely ignored) from some of these near a University that DS applied to, but did not choose to attend. We continued to get bombarded for months (into August) until they finally understood that DS wasn’t attending that school. It is obviously big business to sell (and by sell I mean convince them to rent) these apartments to students (mind you mine was an incoming freshman!). They sure spend a lot of money on advertising.</p>
I did read the entire article and even had my glasses on at the time. The UCLA campus doesn’t have anything like this to my knowledge. Yes, there are luxury apartments in the general area of UCLA since UCLA happens to be in probably the wealthiest area of the LA area, but those complexes aren’t built for and specifically marketed to the uni students like the one in the article.</p>
<p>For those who didn’t read the entire article (or maybe weren’t wearing their glasses), the following is from the article -
However, if a similar housing option were to be built next to UCLA they might, like USC, have enough students with wealthy parents to be able to populate it so I’m not presenting a UCLA vs USC perspective here.</p>
<p>
Sorry, I almost didn’t post in order to not offend any of the good people associated with USC in some way but the connection of this luxo abode built specifically for the market of the students from USC, along with the deserved or not reputation and acronyms for USC was, I guess, too much of a temptation for me and I think most readers would take it tongue in cheek. Further, I would have posted the same thing if my kid had decided to attend USC and the fact that there’s a market for this luxo abode doesn’t actually take away from the attendees of that fine university.</p>
<p>If 8 students are living in a 4 bedroom and paying $650 a month each (as stated in #3) this is less than what it costs to live in a double in the dorms at USC, and way less than even a tiny triple at UCBerkeley!!</p>
<p>Me too, I’m sorry if I offended anyone. In my (feeble) defense, let me say I’m a Cal grad who went to school at a time of a bitter rivalry between anything NorCal and SoCal. (During UCLA/UCB football games the especially green students would yell “we’re gonna cut off your water!”) So UCLA was #1 in our derision, followed closely by the private (and in those years less selective) USC, when we rooted for UCLA and thought its students ringing car keys during UCLA/USC was downright hilarious. We thought about Stanford only during The Big Game, otherwise it didn’t merit our attention. </p>
<p>Hence my tounge-in-cheek original reference to the University of Dollars and Cents. Emphasis, tounge-in-cheek.</p>
<p>PS The housing I lived in for a while at Cal looked like a slummy tenement dive. And cost plenty.</p>
<p>^^ its not SURROUNDED by a “slum”.
sheesh…some areas east and south of the campus are sketchy [just like the University of Chicago, by the way] , though my son lived east of campus for 3 years with no problems. The area north of the campus is filled with students in living in appt buildings and victorians converted into appts. </p>
<p>And what part of the word “dorm” do you not understand?
The article is about appt buildings, not dorms.
Dorm= rooms, located on a college campus, which are owned and operated by a college for the exclusive use of students.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure I lived on or near 27th back in the day when I went to University of Second Choice*- I guarantee you this is an improvement over much of the off campus housing offered back then. :eek: </p>
<ul>
<li>I am an alum- I get to make fun.</li>
</ul>