<p>RTRMom2, there were other parts of the website (which are no longer there) that provided to the contrary for students in Honors Housing and other living learning communities.</p>
<p>As a parent of a current freshman, I do not know what the process was last year - but we were told by multiple people during our visits that honors housing was considered a living learning community and that as long as my son choose to live in honors housing, he would be eligible to live on campus in honors housing if desired.</p>
<p>do you have that in writing anywhere? it used to be online somewhere, but idk if it is anymore. i thought i might have it in my email somewhere in emails to housing, but i looked yesterday and didn’t find it. however, info from the year my daughter started may not be the same as the info that was posted when your son started.</p>
<p>when it comes down to the point where your son does NOT get to re-contract, then you can take that up with housing and have a leg to stand on, but until then i am not sure that there is anything that you can do.</p>
<p>It pains me greatly to publicly agree with slippy but it really DOES suck when roommates who want to and are thriving in their situation can’t stay together. I think there are some great suggestions on this thread. I hope housing takes note and passes it on.</p>
<p>I’m still going to stand on slippy’s lawn. AND plant a pink flamingo.</p>
<p>My S was fortunate to get housing for next year. For his junior year the thing that worries me is how he will get to and from campus. Now, something to keep in mind- he lives in RCS and doesn’t want to walk to Bryant to a career fair because its too far. He rarely goes to the rec center either. He is in engineering. Any suggestions of off campus housing that wouldn’t be terribly far from the engineering complex? He doesn’t have a car.</p>
<p>Mike, I will see if I can find that wording. I have a feeling, though, that beths mom has it. </p>
<p>NRDMOM, I will make bedazzled UA jersey for Slippy’s flamingo.</p>
<p>^^^There is a new section to the UA Housing website that allows you to set up an account and browse through all the local off-campus student housing. There are photos, prices, maps etc. Make sure to change the filters to view everything. You can then judge for yourself as to where the apartments are located and if that is within reasonable walking/biking distance for your student.</p>
<p>There are also private condos/houses that are available to rent in the local area from their owners. To see these, you probably need to use one of the Tuscaloosa apartment finder websites.</p>
<p>i believe there is a shuttle system that gets students from off campus housing to campus. there are also private shuttles from some of the apartment complexes. </p>
<p>there are also lots of places within walking distance. malanai posted that his son regularly walks from east edge. there are many places within walking distance from the stadium and publix. there are houses that are not too far from campus.</p>
<p>if he lives a little farther than walking distance, he can get a bike and bike to campus.</p>
<p>i lived in an apartment all four years of college. it was NOT within walking distance. most people at that campus live on a school bus route and that is how they get to school. there is NO close-by parking for kids to even have an option to drive to school. they can drive and park in a far-away lot and then ride the shuttle to a destination closer to their intended building. or they can drive and park in a far-away lot and bike to their destination.</p>
<p>i have a question for all of the posters here that have students at UA without cars. does your student just not have a car? did your student have a car in high school and just not bring it? i know it is an extra expense, but most kids i know have cars and took them to school unless it was not allowed (i.e. freshman year for only ONE kid i know). the only kid i know who is at school without a car is a kid who goes to school in san francisco where there is limited (and expensive) parking.</p>
<p>i would guess that most posters here (with the exception of the occasional kid with EFC at or near 0) are probably middle class or better. most of the middle class or better kids i know have cars.</p>
<p>my kid has a car. she might not use it a lot, but she has one. it is there for her convenience. if she needs to go to the store, she can go. if she wants to go to birmingham for fun, she can. i just don’t know why i would send her to school without a car when we can afford it. we even pay EXTRA for reserved parking for her convenience. while that is not something i really like to spend money on, it is well worth it to have her car nearby so she can use it easily whenever she wants and still have a parking spot to come back to when she gets back.</p>
<p>Mine has a car, but we asked that she not bring it the first semester mainly because it’s possible she’d spend more time and money at Target and the mall etc. than necessary and we wanted her to (within reason) stay put on campus. She did have a friend with a car there, though.</p>
<p>She elected not to bring it second semester either, but she does have a Zip Car account for trips to the store etc. She’ll probably bring it next year.</p>
<p>“It pains me greatly to publicly agree with slippy”</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>(I think.)</p>
<p>((After 21 years of marriage, I consider backhanded compliments to be compliments nonetheless.))</p>
<p>We have a third car and that is now being used by my D. It’s not a very reliable car and certainly wouldn’t make a 1200 mile trip unscathed. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with my son driving all the way to school either. Plus, because of academics and sports, he never had a job with which to pay for a car.so, therefore, no car for him. I had thought if he worked and saved he could get one, but the work thing isn’t happening much now either. Just because parents can buy a car doesn’t mean they should buy a car. Our third car is more a convenience for ME, so I don’t have to drive anyone anyplace.</p>
<p>MikeW: There are lots of reasons why students don’t have cars on campus.
Students who live on campus generally don’t have much need for a car especially as a freshman. Mom and Dad may not want “Freshman Sally” out and about giving rides to all her friends. Then of course, there is the cost of the car, insurance, inspection, registration, gas, parking fees and maintenance. Also, if “Sally” had a car at home it might be what we (around here) call a “station car”, that’s a car which is used for local commuting. That car would not be the type of vehicle that could survive a trip of 800- 2,000 miles. Many of our OOS students could make that trek several times over the course of a year. </p>
<p>There are also the students who prefer to be environmentally friendly, those willing to keep a smaller carbon print and do without a car. There are those students who consider walking a good form of transport and exercise or those who are avid bikers. </p>
<p>I am sure that it is true that kids from more suburban or rural areas had the need to drive all the time, but those from urban environments learn to use public transport early and some actually prefer this mode of transport over cars.</p>
<p>I could probably think of more reasons to not have a car on campus but the point is not everyone owned a car before coming to UA, and there are some kids without cars who do just fine.</p>
<p>For me, it made sense for S to have his car. It’s a '99 with about 120K miles on it that we paid < $4000 for when he got his license so I didn’t have to drive him to and from all his extra-curriculars in HS, but it’s now made the trip to campus in August and round-trip for fall break, Thanksgiving, and the winter holidays and he’ll soon be doing the round-trip again for spring break. We’ve definitely got our money’s worth out of it. For us, the gas for the 1000 mile round trip is about $150, which is much cheaper than a plane ticket and S can drive it in just over 7 hours so there isn’t big concern with getting too tired or driving too late. If he had to drive 12+ hours I’m not sure I’d want him to do that.</p>
<p>I understand that some kids (and their parents) are upset that they won’t keep their roommates for all 4 years, but these kids survived leaving their HS BEST friends and they’re A LOT farther away. My son cried the night before he went to Bama because he had to say goodbye to all his HS friends that were going to be 500 miles away. But they’ve managed to keep in touch and see each other during every break and a couple of his friends are even going to make the 500 mile trip to visit him during their upcoming spring break which is different from Bama’s. It might not be ideal, but I think the kids will survive having their best friends a couple miles down the road when they can still meet up for lunches or dinners or to study together or to go to football games or…</p>
<p>"Many of our OOS students could make that trek several times over the course of a year. "</p>
<p>haha - i don’t even know how to quote here!</p>
<p>my kid flies back and forth during the year and only brings her car home for the summer.</p>
<p>of course, i am sure there are valid reasons for not having a car, just as there are for actually HAVING a car.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>^^^ In our case, it is not that our boys won’t ‘survive’ if their friends are a couple of miles away. It’s like telling a happily married couple that they must divorce and move in with another spouse - and even if it’s awful, don’t worry, you can still be friends with your ex.</p>
<p>Maybe I missed an important email or something last year, but what has been the most frustrating to me is the fact that I had no clue that DS, a rising Jr, had pretty much zero chance of recontracting. It is frustrating to now have to scramble to find roommates and a place to live. I would have had this all zipped up last spring had I known.</p>
<p>jrcsmom, I don’t think comparing a high school friendship to a college roommate is equal. Most high school students live with and have a family to support them at home. College roommates are family and their own support system.</p>
<p>We are from CA, way OOS, and my son moved off campus as a sophomore. He currently lives about a 1/2 block behind Burke Dorms. His apt is closer to most classes then he was when he was in the honors housing his freshman year. He has no car and can walk and bike with no problem. His apt is clean and the rent is cheaper then when he was on campus. He can walk to the stadium on game days. It really is nice to be able to leave all of his stuff there in the summer and not have to put it in storage. It is also nice to be able to cook meals and not have to have a meal plan. We did drive out there the first year when he moved in and help him get it set up. Now he has been in a stable place for two years and he will be there again his senior year. It might seem a little stressful right now, but once you get settled in to off-campus housing it is really not that bad. RELAX!! and Roll Tide!</p>
<p>I can see how if you had no knowledge of the housing shortage that you might be surprised, but I think Colleges in general walk a fine line with building to meet demand without having a surplus, it seems UA has been building to attempt to keep the pace. As for transportation concerns many of the student apartments operate a shuttle or are with in walking distance, a car isn’t necessary.
Not having the same roommate maybe disappointing but these are adults and change happens they will adapt. Then again I am a Military spouse and I have moved every three yrs like clock work for the past 18yrs. Yeah I think these adults will be okay a few miles apart and will make new friends in the process.</p>
<p>THIS is why I am frustrated. We made decisions based on information provided by UA. I don’t understand how UA can arbitrarily change the rules and think that’s ok. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>See post #5</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1322917-honors-housing-vs-regular-housing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1322917-honors-housing-vs-regular-housing.html</a></p>