Why is housing so expensive?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>This is not a necessarily Chicago specific question, but I am choosing to ask it here because UChicago is a school with which I have some experience, and because this subforum probably has the greatest chance of getting intelligent responses.
Why are dorm rooms so expensive? </p>

<p>At UChicago the rates are as follows:</p>

<p>Freshman Any Room- $6,273
Upperclass Single- $7,032
Upperclass Double- $5,712
Upperclass Apt.- $7,617</p>

<p>Lets say you are on campus 9 months of the year. Monthly, these rooms cost:</p>

<p>Freshman Any Room- $697
Upperclass Single- $781
Upperclass Double- $635
Upperclass Apt.- $847!</p>

<p>I was just assigned an economics project to "plan my life" as a dropout earning min. wage and as a college grad with a career. One task was to find an apartment. In an effort to learn more about Chicago, I set this "imaginary life" in Chicago.</p>

<p>Here are some apartment listings I found in Hyde Park on Craigslist:</p>

<p>NO</a> DEPOSIT! 1 Month Free Rent - Lg. Studio incl. Heat and Water
NO</a> DEPOSIT! Remodeled Studio Apt Inl. Heat/Water
Hyde</a> Park remodeled 2 bedroom</p>

<p>All of these are less that 10 blocks from the campus and all are north of the Midway Plaisance. [edit: the 2 bedroom is south of the midway, knew it was too good to be true]</p>

<p>Granted by leaving University housing you lose the "dorm experience" but this thread is not devoted to the merits of the house/dorm system it is about cost.</p>

<hr>

<p>When a furnished studio, with utilities, and its own kitchen and bathroom in Hyde Park goes for about ~$650-680 where does the University get off charging about the same rate for sharing one room with another person, having no kitchen, and a communal bathroom? I can't believe anyone would pay for an upperclass apartment when they can get the same thing for ~$200 cheaper/ month. Hell, for close to $850 a month, you could get a studio downtown! If you get a 2 bedroom apt. in Hyde Park with a friend, you end up paying $3,300 a year for housing. Thats far cheaper than the double dorm room (again with no kitchen or bathroom) costs ($5,712). </p>

<p>I realize that this it is a similar situation in almost all Urban universities, but fail to understand why. How can colleges charge so much more, for a lesser quality room? They must be making insane-o profits! What is the upkeep of a dorm like Max P? I really feel that schools should provide housing to students as a service and not as a way to make scads of cash. That and I am gonna have to take out mega loans to go to Chicago.</p>

<p>**Note- I am a fan of the house system and drool over Snell-Hitchcock. I just don't understand how the University with the best economics program in the world can get away with charging so far above equilibrium price!</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>It pretty much is the equilibrium price, apparently. In case you haven't noticed, the dorms are full, but there isn't any kind of clamor from people who wanted to get into dorms but couldn't.</p></li>
<li><p>There are a lot of services associated with the dorms that off-campus apartments don't have, or that kids living off-campus have to pay for. There are not a lot of "doorman" buildings in Hyde Park that rent apartments for less than the dorms. Ethernet connections are nice, too. And the university generally is much more responsive on maintenance and common-area cleaning than local landlords. Plus, there are RAs and RHs and whatever they call the resident faculty.</p></li>
<li><p>Off-campus apartments generally require a year's lease. While people can often sublet during the summer, they can rarely sublet at their full cost, and finding subletters can be difficult. So the appropriate comparison is 11-12 months off-campus vs. 9 months in the dorms. Also, don't underestimate the value of being able to drop your "lease" if you take a quarter abroad, or of not being on the hook to your landlord for double rent if your roommate drops out and stops paying. And the convenience of not having to look for an apartment.</p></li>
<li><p>The dorms are often more attractive locations for Chicago students than cheaper apartments.</p></li>
<li><p>Not all apartments are as cheap as the ones you found on Craigslist. (None of them is south of the Midway, where rents would not be that high. Two are much farther north of campus than most undergraduates like to live, especially as far west as the 2-b.r. is.)</p></li>
<li><p>All that said, there's little question that off-campus apartments are cheaper, especially when you take square footage into account. That's why a large majority of students permitted to live off campus do. But the realistic all-in cost difference is probably in the range of 10-15%. Not ginormous.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>I didn't think of the 12 mo. lease factor, or having the option of leaving for a quarter abroad.</p>

<p>Thanks for bringing that up.</p>

4

<p>By the way, your figures are slightly off. You actually hold the dorms for about 7 1/2 months a year. They don't let people use dorms during breaks (which is pretty silly IMHO). Although JHS's points are valid, room and board for the University of Chicago are considerably higher than rival universities.</p>

5

<p>Housing is expensive, but I think it's easy to see your money at work. No other college that I know of has quite the same system with the Resident Heads, and these RHs get a significant stipend (my RH's probably spend 20-30 hrs/week on house-related items... if you divided their stipend by the hours/week, now that's a pathetic figure). RAs live in housing free of charge (again, not so much of a discount, once how much work they put in is considered).</p>

<p>Plus, there's lots of house funding for study breaks, study breaks, TVs, toaster ovens, study breaks, and oh, did I mention study breaks? 24-hour security? Dorm maintenance crews (my experiences with them are nothing but positive). As much as I love eating fresh-baked cornbread and apple pie with my housies, as much as I love clean bathrooms, clean hallways, doorknobs that work, and buildings that are fire-proof, as much as I love chatting with my RA as she puts up a pot of coffee, I'm aware that I'm paying for these luxuries penny by penny.</p>

<p>I guess my argument is weakened because I don't know the exact breakdown of where our money goes in relation to where other schools' money goes, but I can virtually promise you that any time you spend in housing will be worth the money. (Especially if you're in Snitchcock). I have lots of friends at lots of schools, even ones with the residential college system in place, and nobody-- nobody-- thinks as highly of their university's housing system as I think of Chicago's.</p>

6

<p>JHS</p>

<p>"1. It pretty much is the equilibrium price, apparently. In case you haven't noticed, the dorms are full, but there isn't any kind of clamor from people who wanted to get into dorms but couldn't."</p>

<p>They stretched the equilibrium this year because they overenrolled. The last rooms were assigned just before class started.</p>

7

<p>Besides the term of lease issue which is huge in determining the price, you have to bear in mind that the off campus housing that is really popular with students is not random units in Hyde Park but the high rises, many of which charge more than the on campus rate. Meanwhille, anything under $600 or so tends to get pretty sketchy by the average student's standard.</p>

8

<p>unalove,</p>

<p>My son spent his first two years at Snell-Hitchcock. As a parent, it was wonderful knowing that he was such a supportive system. This year, he is an RA in another dorm. The free dorm and board eliminates his need to borrow - so he will graduate with a very light debt burden.</p>

9

<p>Uchicagoalum, I don't know what year you graduated or whether you just had a skewed perception for some reason, but comparatively few students live in those expensive high rises such as Regents. The vast majority of students who move off campus live in those "sketchy" apartment units around Hyde Park.</p>

10

<p>Just out of curiosity, how does the RA program work. Is all of your room and board taken care of, or just your room? Are you given a stipend as well? Do you get to live in any dorm? Can you apply to be an RA after Jr. year? I'm trying to think of ways to swing UChicago and not taking an extra $12,000-15,000 would be a significant factor.</p>

11

<p>To qualify "popular," which I meant in the "I wish I could live there sense," few people move out of housing expecting better or comprable apartment conditions unless they go to the high rises, which usually cost more. And while the majority of students do take random apartments in light of cost, places like Regents are also packed with UChicago affiliates and on occasion have waitlists to boot. In this context, I don't think the on campus housing is really overpriced by any means (save for the Shoreland), but rather is a middle ground in the "you get what you pay for" hierarchy.</p>

12

<p>OK, I understand. Thanks for the clarification. </p>

<p>I'm not an RA, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think RAs get their room (which is always a single? or just in dorms that offer singles?) and a freshman sized meal plan for free. I don't think they get an additional stipend. Becoming an RA is a competitive process, so it's by no means guaranteed, though I think good candidates usually get placed. Being an RA is a lot of work, and if you don't like it you'll probably be absolutely miserable, so don't base your decision to apply just on cost. Students can apply to be an RA after their second year, so all RAs are current third or fourth year students. The application/interview process is sort of confusing (at least I get confused whenever my friend, who's applying this year, tries to explain it to me), but in the end if you're chosen you are assigned a house to be the RA for. You can accept the position in that house or turn the position down. You can't be an RA for any house you've lived in or even for parts of the building(s) you've lived in. I think they make an effort to match RAs with houses so that the personalities match, but it doesn't always work out that way.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
few people move out of housing expecting better or comprable apartment conditions unless they go to the high rises

[/quote]

This is dead wrong in my (parental) experience. Last year, my child had un-beautiful housing, but still reasonably comparable to the dorms (or at least to some of them) for significant savings. This year, she has a palatial pre-war two-bedroom for only a little savings. All in the Hyde Park student ghetto, reasonable walking distance. She wouldn't even think about the high-rises, which she regards as un-fun, inconvenient rich-econ-major ghettos.</p>

<p>Hyde Park actually has lovely student housing. It's a plus for the university.</p>

14

<p>corranged,
you're right, the RA process is complicated. If your friend makes the first cut, he will interview with the Resident staff of houses that are interested in him. Then, something even more complicated happens with housing looking at the results, and hopefully he will get an offer. RA's come for training a few weeks before school starts in the fall, and are there for O-week.</p>

15

<p>“This is dead wrong in my (parental) experience. Last year, my child had un-beautiful housing, but still reasonably comparable to the dorms (or at least to some of them) for significant savings. This year, she has a palatial pre-war two-bedroom for only a little savings. All in the Hyde Park student ghetto, reasonable walking distance.”</p>

<p>You daughter seems have made well informed and frugal decisions, but most students don’t have the same degree of success when they seek independent housing for deep savings. There are reasons why articles like this show up every couple of months in the maroon (not the management change, but the apartment stories): </p>

<p>Chicago</a> Maroon » MAC emerges as top realtor with K&G deal</p>

<p>“Hyde Park actually has lovely student housing. It's a plus for the university.”</p>

<p>I would have to disagree strongly –or a least say this is not a sentiment you hear a lot amongst students. The reason the school has gone big on its new dorms (Max Pavelsky and the south-of-the-Midway project) in addition to renovating International House is because poor housing options were factoring into some students decisions to attend, and certainly impacting the quality of life perceptions of a significant portion of the student body. For instance, the idea was floated of letting the Shoreland close down and then ending the guarantee of housing for four full years – effectively forcing students into the community. However, this did not go over well when they bubbled it at the community planning meetings, and UChicago now intends to keep building new student housing as far as fiscally possible. It likewise has encouraged developments like Hyde Park Towers (which is not by any means objectively high end in quality or price as it is often labeled). It is true that students are not fighting hand over fist to get into Pierce, but they are not loving MAC either. Ultimately, it really is a financial decision to live in such apartment units, or an outcome of not doing well in the end of year, on campus lottery for a configuration you want. </p>

<p>“She wouldn't even think about the high-rises, which she regards as un-fun, inconvenient rich-econ-major ghettos.”</p>

<p>The hyperbole aside, “un-fun” only insofar as there are reasonable noise restrictions. True, you cannot invite 30 of you closest friends over past midnight and keep your non-university neighbors happy. And why I am not at all implicating your D in such behavior, they tend to be <em>very</em> stringent on any grass like smells coming from our door. They are “inconvenient” to campus given you will end up taking a bus most of the time, but you can easily make up the loss quite easily in the saved walking distance to the COOP, Walgreens, and to the main eatery thoroughfares north of campus. As far as pricing goes, places like the ever popular Windermere have two bedrooms for $1500, which when split with a roommate is a steal. Further, the idea that somehow these are the exclusive domain of some pre-banking or GSB / Law / Medicine cabal is certainly not true. If you want to be a high roller, you get a car and go downtown or to the North side.</p>

16

<p>The whole dorms-vs.-off campus issue is delicate and important for the University. I'm sure it's true that having more, prettier dorms is an element of the university's marketing to prospective students. And I couldn't blame a kid for deciding that he liked Harvard's or Princeton's housing options (with almost all students living on-campus in university housing) better than Chicago's. On the other hand, in lots of places universities are trying to get OUT of the business of developing and managing residential real estate, something frankly other institutions tend to do a little more competently, and for which private-sector financing is (was?) readily available. And it wasn't so long ago that the University was DESPERATE to get developers to invest in Hyde Park. Competing with the people you want to invest usually isn't the greatest strategy.</p>

<p>In the long run, the University has a huge stake in having the portions of Hyde Park it doesn't own be clean, prosperous, and student-friendly. Maybe at this point that will happen anyway, even if the University pulls all of its students out of the community and back into dorms (something it's not even close to, yet). But Hyde Park would be awful today if the University had done that 20 years ago.</p>

17

<p>Wait a second. So UChicago encourages students to consider moving into Hyde Park vs the dorms? I wouldn't even consider UChicago if I didn't love the unversity itself so much. Hyde Park is ewr.</p>

18

<p>Kind of. During the 1980’s Hyde Park was hit hard by the crack epidemic. The neighborhoods south of the University had some of the highest unemployment / crime rates in the nation, which generated real problems for University safety. As a result, the school felt one way to combat the decline of Hyde Park proper was not to have everyone move into dorms very close to campus, but rather to maintain a good neighbor policy of distributing them to apartments with managerial links to the school. This no doubt did a great deal to reduce petty theft, vandalism, drug dealing and so on as students reported such activities aggressively, and simultaneously pumped a good deal of money into the small, proprietor type establishments that dominate Hyde Park commercially. Today the community is doing much better (the crack epidemic waned), but there still is a big concern that if the on campus dorms grow too quickly, some streets farther from campus like 53rd will fall off a cliff in terms of prosperity and safety. The hope is that as the community grows economically the school will be able to pull back slowly towards a more unified campus, feeing up space for Hyde Park residents looking for affordable housing options (and creating a lot of good will in the process). At JHS noted, it is a very delicate issue for the school, as relations with non-University affiliates are often quite sour.</p>

19

<p>Ms, S., </p>

<p>The vast majority of students choose to move off campus as upperclassmen. The exceptions are usually students who become RAs and students who are almost fully supported by financial aid. I believe Snell-Hitchcock tends to have lots of students stay all four years in housing, too. </p>

<p>Unless you choose to live in a fancy high rise or something, living off campus can be significantly cheaper than living in housing. This is especially true given that housing requires meal plans--and sometimes pretty large meal plans--for on campus students, while students who live off campus can buy food and cook for themselves. </p>

<p>If you really don't like Hyde Park, you should re-consider the U of C. The U of C is not separated from Hyde Park at all; the two are very connected. Many students live in dorms far from the main campus that are in the heart of Hyde Park. Basically all students make trips regularly into Hyde Park to go to CVS, Walgreens, the grocery store, Kimbark, or to go out to dinner (which is basically required since the dining halls close on Saturday nights). You'll be walking around Hyde Park all the time. Few people love it, but I don't know anyone who hates it. It's just, you know, where we live. You get used to it.</p>

<p>x-posted with uchicagoalum. He touched on some good points about the Hyde Park - U of C set-up and relationship.</p>

20

<p>This is very true. You cannot stay huddled on the quads. Even if you spend all four years in an on campus dorm like Burton Judson, you still will find the need to wander North inevitably, if only to buy basic life necessities. Moreover, you will miss out on a lot of social activities if you can never bring yourself to go out to one of the cheap ethnic restaurants in a group or walk to a friend’s apartment instead of taking a bus. While you should get used to the environment (most grow more favorable over time as they learn the terrain), if the place viscerally turns you off to the point it could engender a transfer down the line then do reconsider. One girl in my dorm during my first year transferred because of Hyde Park (not the housing, but according to her the panhandlers, general griminess, retail offerings, etcetera) which I thought was particularly odd given she was from Chicago and hence had more than enough opportunity to see what she was getting herself into. </p>

<p>As with all things UChicago, look before you leap.</p>