I googled articles and read them. That’s all.
Being somewhat familiar with that publication (Davis Vanguard), I agree that their articles can be highly sensationalized at times and downright false at others.
Being also somewhat familiar with the housing market in Davis and the greater Sacramento area, there are big price pressures, but prices are far below many/most Bay Area markets. In fact, it’s because of those BA prices that prices in the Sacramento metro area have been skyrocketing–people from the BA have moved to escape astronomical prices there. Flexibility in workplace arrangements and increase in remote working has exacerbated that dynamic (don’t even look at what’s happened to the Tahoe/Truckee area!).
As far as off-campus, housing in Davis is expensive the context of the Central Valley and greater Sacramento area, but it is a relative bargain compared to Bay Area and SoCal markets.
I have heard stories about predatory landlords in the Davis area. For one thing, leases have to be signed/renewed in early spring for the next fall and always run the full year from September to September.
The focus of my discussion has been for on-campus housing. The data shows that UCD has lagged behind other UCs in on-campus housing production to meet enrollment increases.
That’s the key question! People will have varying preferences. OOS families might be shocked at the housing situation for many UCs. Even if they house a similar low percentage of students on-campus, most state universities in other locales don’t have comparable off-campus housing costs.
LACs and many large private universities clearly think that on-campus housing is an advantage and a draw. Most that have large percentage of students living on-campus all 4 years have more independent apartment-style setup for the last year for two.
My kids have never wanted to live on campus more than one year, so this whole conversation is confusing to me. Dorms are expensive and restrictive. In our experience, off campus housing usually is cheaper monthly, but requires a year lease. Dorms at UC Berkeley look to be 15-19k a year with a basic meal plan. That’s more than tuition.
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You have an extremely limited set of anecdotal information that you are putting up against actual data that is directly from the UC system. Before you dashed off a reply, did you notice that the UC data I cited discussed total numbers of beds and that UCSB and UCSC are listed above capacity because they have more beds in some rooms than the rooms were designed for? Rooms designed for 3 beds that contain 3 beds would be inventoried at full capacity. BTW: Sol at West Village is on-campus. Even with that large addition, it barely moved the needle UCD’s on-campus housing rate because of massive enrollment increases (as I mentioned in another post, instructional hiring has also not kept pace with enrollment increases, hence the large class sizes at UCD compared to other top ranked UCs.
I don’t think you are living in the "matrix’, but based on your description of "30-40 mins from Davis " I do think you probably live in an area where the economic realities of high Davis housing costs aren’t going to be an issue for you. For the vast majority of UC students from families with a lower SES, it is a problem. Yes, Santa Cruz housing prices are higher than Davis. No, that doesn’t mean housing in Davis isn’t an issue just because it isn’t an issue for you.
If there was not more demand than supply for housing at the UCs, they would not be trying so hard and spending so much money to build more housing. Regardless of any particularly person’s preference, they are reacting to a market demand that suggests more people do want college housing than can get it. UCLA only guaranteed one year of housing when I was there and people were very unhappy – you had to win a lottery that was like winning the lottery to get it sophomore year. Then they went on a building spree for years. They didn’t do that because people didn’t want it. Almost 90% of students keep Columbia housing all four years. Absolutely nothing is forcing them to beyond market preference.
Green at West Village is the new, large addition. Sol was built in 2011-13 and was acquired by Landmark Properties in 2020.
Please show me where Sol is considered “on campus” housing in any calculation of university owned student housing.
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Housing and dining brings in $$$
You have misunderstood my meaning when I say housing isn’t an issue. I’m not referring to the cost. I’m referring to the availability.
Like I said earlier, Sol is built on UC Davis land, therefore technically on-campus but is independently owned and operated and therefore considered off-campus housing for billing purposes.
Using phrases like ‘extremely limited set of anecdotal information’ is a passive aggressive attempt to try and make my experience look insignificant and like I don’t know how the housing works at Davis. Your incorrect statement about Sol shows me that you don’t have all the information and don’t understand. Please stop trying to teach me about UC Davis. Lol.
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By very definition: it’s UC Davis-owned land. It is operated by a
third party. Please show me where it isn’t considered on-campus in the UC data I cited. UCD has taken so much heat for its lack of housing production, you are seriously suggesting they aren’t counting Sol or other West Village housing operated by third parties on campus land as being “on-campus”?
From the 2018 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP):
Lol, as a UCLA student, I have to set a FEW things straight about this post 
- Food: no lines in the meal halls, which are all you can eat buffets (personal favorites are roasted lamb rack and grilled shrimp); HOWEVER, the food trucks, Panda Express, and the one specialty pizza place all can have up to 20 minute lines each. Specialty pizza place is a full sit-down restaurant (they serve wine to 21+ for some reason), so it’s worth it as a Friday treat.
- Class sizes: I am a first year. My class sizes are 20, 30 and 150. Fortunately (or unfortunately), less than half of them show up every day. Some days (especially in math) I just one-on-one with the prof after class.
- Office hours: basically empty. If students couldn’t be bothered to show up to class, how could they be bothered to show up to OH lol. They usually get very full once a quarter, which is right before finals.
- Faculty advising: every engineering student is required to attend advising with their faculty advisor at least once a year (but you can attend more often). We talk about courses to take, how to get internships/research positions, how to make yourself an attractive applicant for grad schools, etc.
- Research positions: I’ve been lazy about this, but many people I know have research positions. We also have engineering research fairs very often, where professors and grad students come to specifically recruit students into their labs. Resume in hand, tucked collared shirt, and smile on face. NOTE: I’ve heard it’s harder for premeds
- Cost: 20k/year more than my instate, 30k/year cheaper than privates (w/o merit). I did get merit though, which isn’t all that common.
- Quality of life: West LA…
BUT… you’ll run into issues registering to classes if you’re not a constrained major (think everything but engineering and nursing), BIIIIIG school, and an unfortunate amount of “politics” between the state government and university administration
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Does UCD Housing office have anything to do with accepting, processing, or assigning Sol beds? I’m not aware of that being the case.
It’s on-campus. Full stop.
Various West Village properties have different operating arrangements. Sol is operated by a third party. Other properties at WV have cooperative operating agreements with UCD. Other properties on campus not in WV have similar arrangements.
That makes me feel better, but as you said, engineering is engineering. There is no way to even transfer into engineering, is there?
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Now I’m curious. When did this Sol at West Village make the transition from on-campus housing to off-campus housing?
You’re very correct on that. One of my biggest gripes about public schools is the “constrained” major BS…
To transfer into engineering at UCLA, you have a 3.5 quarterly GPA AND take 3 STEM classes per quarter for at least 3 or 4 quarters before transfering into engineering, AND on top of that they only give you one transfer (so if you transfer into engineering, you can’t change engineering majors once you’re in, which the freshman engineering admits can do). I’ve heard that it’s even worse at other publics. It has the potential to create a weird vibe, and makes us engineers seem like we’re in a cult 
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I responded to the comment that some UC professors didn’t teach and only let TA taught the class. So, I clarified that at UCSD the TA led small break-out sessions. The professors do teach.
It didn’t (well, except on this forum in Scratchy’s mind).
UCD has various long-standing arrangements with various non-profit and for-profit entities for operating housing on campus land owned by UCD: in addition to West Village properties like Sol and others, this also includes core campus housing like Russell Park, Colleges at LaRue, Primero Grove, and The Domes and the Tri Co-ops.
Scratchy is apparently claiming—without any evidence whatsoever—that UCD doesn’t inventory this on-campus housing as on-campus, and that therefore official UC-reported stats for on-campus housing are not true.
My son’s girlfriend transferred into MechE at the end of her first year. It’s competitive, but some students do it.
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- In 2019 they were still renting out a few apartments from Landmark properties to make up any shortfall in housing they might have had.
By 2020 that stopped. The Green which is owned and operated by UC Davis is their on campus apartment housing along with a few others.
Sol now lease independently from UC Davis and your financial aid / costs for on-campus does not cover these apartments.
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