<p>The lottery changed last year because the meal plans changed and required unlimited plans for more kids. As WOWM noted, if you aren’t in Chambers or Gale in Phase you need to have an unlimited plan. This drove juniors to Anderson and Wilder because they qualify for lower cost meal plans. On a map, those are the two next to the field and Sage Art Center and where a new building is going up. This changed some of Phase over to sophomores. Great rooms. Suites with a living room that has its own internal door for quiet, a hall closet, even cubbies for storage, more closet space than most apartments in real life. The negative with Phase is that it’s over a footbridge behind SueB, so it’s somewhat of a walk and is exposed to the wind and yuck. My daughter says that on really windy days she has football player friends walk in front of her as a shield. Apart from the lottery, some sororities have their houses in Phase.</p>
<p>College Town is progressing but the planning process is slow - with a lot of neighborhood input - and, given the economy and especially banks not lending much for development, the financing is taking time. The developers working with UR have been negotiating with the city. A package of road improvements has been agreed to - about $3M - and now the mayor is asking for council approval to borrow $20M from HUD on behalf of the developer. That’s normal in these deals; the developers get some private financing and then get the rest through some cobbling together of public and semi-public sources. Takes a while even in the best of times. It is made more difficult by the shift by some local elected officials - not sure how that plays out in Rochester - to insist that private development be all financed by private money. Suicidal, but that’s the way it goes.</p>
<p>I’d add that UR is large enough and Rochester small enough that off campus isn’t a big issue. Kids spend most of their time at school. They get to know kids who live off campus and go there. They take shuttle buses or hitch rides - or use Zip cars - to shop. They take the UR bus to Eastman, etc. The city is very easy to get around.</p>
<p>Lakemom - here is a link to an article that was in today’s Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester’s local newspaper) that I think is the latest on what you were asking about:</p>
<p>Thanks for the info and link about college town. Sounds like it could happen but hard to know when. These types of negotiations always get bogged down.</p>
<p>Lakemom - if an incoming freshman knows who he wants to room with, he can list that on his housing form. Roommates requests are honored as long as the other student requests him back and they list the same housing preferences. If no roommate is requested, roommates are randomly assigned.</p>
<p>Thanks. Do the students fill in some type of form listing qualities of themselves or those of a roommate they do not want to be matched with to help with the random process?</p>
<p>There is a very minimal roommate questionnaire with about 3 or 4 questions, IIRC. The rationale is that national surveys have found that roommate satisfaction among randomly assigned roomies and extensive questionnaire matched roomies is about the same.</p>
<p>Just remind your kiddo not to expect the roomie to his/her BFF; he/she is just someone you share space with. If both parties act with respect and maturity, then things will work out. (Or as I told my kiddos–living with a roommate is one of life’s ‘growth experiences.’ Learn from it.)</p>
<p>BTW, Phase is really nice…4 bedroom suites for 4 students with a shared bathroom and common living space. The top floor suites have lofted bedrooms and huge 15+ ft high windows!</p>
<p>I agree WOW mom, I’ve read posts from students in other forums who felt it was just fine to be matched rather than try and match oneself. I think it would just add to one’s stress if they picked their own and then it turned out they didn’t like each after all.</p>
<p>My thought with the questionnaires is being truthful or if your perception of things is different. For instance, I’d say my son is about a 7 on the cleanliness scale, but that 7 could be someone else’s 4 or 10. </p>
<p>I’d imagine one issue would be some kids stay up til 3am routinely with someone who wants to go to bed at 11. Drinking/drug use would be another biggie, but what kid is going to admit that, and what school would put it on a survey?</p>
<p>We’ve raised a generation of kids who have never had to share a bedroom. For me I grew up in a larger family and had little expectation of privacy, my son has never had to share a space. This will be an interesting experience!</p>
<p>UR believes in random roommates. It works fine unless you’re unlucky. Life tends to be that way.</p>
<p>My daughter lives in Slater in Phase. BTW, the official name of Phase is Hill Court. It’s been called Phase because it once was the next phase of development. The suites there hold 6: 3 regular singles, a large double and a large single. The double is huge. The large single is enormous and would be a double at many schools. The regular singles are fine. The living rooms are large and share a balcony with the suite next door. There are only 2 suites per floor per entryway. The only negative is that the construction is concrete block so it looks institutional. </p>
<p>By the time sophomore housing lottery rolls around, the kids will have figured out what they want to go for.</p>
<p>From what I remember (and remember, it’s not a survey put out by the school), it included questions about tidiness, how late you like to stay up, whether you party, what religion you are and how important that is to you, what your major is, etc. The kids were very candid. My son found a roommate on it, and they are extremely compatible and planning to live together again next year (third year). I think it makes sense to find someone you’re compatible with, although it certainly doesn’t guarantee a close friendship.</p>
<p>A page and a half back, posters were mentioning the “UR College Town” on the corner of Elmwood Ave. and Mt. Hope… Randomly today I came across a youtube video of President Joel Seligman briefly discussing the College Town plans, some of you may find this interesting: [Garden</a> Party 2011 - YouTube](<a href=“Garden Party 2011 - YouTube”>Garden Party 2011 - YouTube)</p>
<p>See 28:45-31:00</p>
<p>…and to bring this back to housing… the new dormitory between the Wilder and Anderson Towers is coming along rather quickly! </p>