I apologize for constantly linking Maroon articles but those students at the Maroon have been doing a superb job in areas that I am interested in. I can’t find a better source than them.
Both graduate students and undergrads leaving university dorm system will continue to find less economic choices for housing in HP as university unloads its portfolio of buildings.
When I was at GSB in 1980’s, I rented a decent suite at a graduate student housing hall for less than $300 per month. Now the building has become part of the Mac Properties and I am quite sure rent has skyrocketed. In addition, as the article has reported, students looking for cheaper housing alternatives may be forced to move into the Woodlawn area south of 61st.
Are the grad students actually petitioning for more university housing? And actually, with the expanding footprint of the university into Woodlawn, is moving just south of 61st such a bad idea? We met families who BnB’d in that area and said it was fine. Rents going up in HP is actually a good thing and there is a LOT of vacant land to the south.
Last fall I noticed grad students walking into HP from Kenwood. Perhaps they are rooming at a converted mansion or in the attic or upper floors of a large house. What about opportunities there?
University housing was yucky when I was a grad student - even the apartments were gross. Maybe things have changed and the places being demolished were in better shape, but I sort of doubt it. Grad students now might overwhelmingly be opting for independent apartment housing, which brings us back to Woodlawn as a potential area . . .
Grad students don’t necessarily live within walking distance. My kid lived in the South Loop for a year in a large apartment with four grad students. Then, when he started as a grad student himself, he was living in Wicker Park.