housing supplement

An

ICSpecial Section

From the recession’s effect on apartments to

where artists live.

Independent CollegianTheThursday, February 17, 20112

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Table of ContentsApartments and the recession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Buying property for student housing . . . . . . . . . . 4

Developing artists call Toledo home . . . . . . . . . . 5

Living on campus vs. off campus . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Campus Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2BK Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3University Circle Apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4King’s Cove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Campus View Apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Park Lane Luxury Apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Oak Hill Apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Oakwood Villas & Townhomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Forest Creek Town Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6University Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Wood Ridge Apartments & Townhomes . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Cover art illustration by Joseph Herr / IC

Nick Kneer / IC

Sunet over Ottawa WestOttawa West (above) and Ottawa East combine to make Ottawa House, one of nine resi-dential halls on campus at the University of Toledo.

Independent CollegianTheThursday, February 17, 2011 3Cover story

Apartments and the recessionBy Vincent D. ScebbiFeatures Editor

With the economy slowly be-ginning to turn around, some experts believe an increase in the renting market for 2011 is a likelihood.

One contribution to the pro-jected increase in renting is the unclear outcome of single-family homes in the market. Data from the National Real Estate Inves-tor website indicates the number of homeowners declined 2.1 per-cent between 2006 and 2010, ul-timately increasing the number of those looking to lease.

The Great Recession, which caused new heights of unem-ployment rates for those under 35 years-old since the 1930s, forced many to move in with roommates. Also, U.S. Census data said two million people be-

tween 20 and 35 moved in with roommates or family in the past five years.

David Lynn, head of invest-ment strategy for ING Clarion Partners in New York, said the rental demand has strong rela-tions to job growth, which is projected to increase.

According to an article from the National Real Estate In-vestor, an approximate 874,000 jobs were added since December 2009 and the labor market is projected to recover by 2014 according to Moody’s Economy.com.

With the number of tenants in-creasing and more jobs, the rates of rent are expected to increase.

“We expect the national aver-age vacancy rate to decline through at least 2013 as demand substantially outpaces supply,” Lynn said. “After falling by 2.9

percent in 2009, we believe that effective rents will increase from 2011-2014.”

Victor Calanog, head of re-search and economics for the research firm Reis, said in a re-cent post with NREI the eco-nomic growth will lead to job creation for younger age demo-graphics who are typical rent-ers. This, combined with fewer apartments, will lead to an in-crease in rent.

The expectations for a good year for apartments can be felt by Phil Dew, owner of the Park Lane Luxury Apartments locat-ed on Collingwood Boulevard in the Old West End. Dew re-ported his complex has seen a spike in the number of tenants since the summer.

Although he cannot explain what specifically is causing the increase in his tenants, he said

he has noticed more renters from the suburbs looking in the downtown area.

“I’ve had people the last cou-ple of weeks coming from the Perrysburg area and wanting to try the downtown area, and a lot of people from the suburbs are coming this way,” Dew said. “The economy is doing me good. I’ve been able to pay off some of the debt.”

Dew said with the increase in income, he was able to make improvements on the almost 90-year-old establishment such as improved heating and cool-ing systems.

“I live here, plus I care. It’s my home too,” he said.

The Great Recession may show signs of turning around, but Dew said he has noticed some of his tenants struggling to make their rent payments.

“I’ve got a couple people who have gotten behind,” Dew said. “He lost one of his jobs and he is struggling in part be-cause of the economy. Another guy had his hours cut so he quit. I would say I probably have a few other people strug-gling with affording rent.”

Since the summer, Dew has had more young professionals moving into Park Lane. The downside is that younger demo-graphics tend to reside for one to two years, compared to older tenants who usually stay longer.

Dew noticed a few of his younger tenants have been mov-ing on “to better opportunities.”

“One was a guy that got a job and moved to Columbus and another guy had a year’s lease and halfway through and he found a better teaching job in Indiana,” he said.


Buying property for student housing

File photo by Joe Griffith / IC

While some homes in the Bancroft Hills neighborhood east of the University of Toledo Main Campus have drastically fallen in prices from $80,000-90,000 to $17,000-25,000, most parents are looking elsewhere when purchasing student housing for their children.

By Sura KhuderIC Staff Writer

With a down economy and the price of homes declining, more parents across the country are opting to purchase real estate for their children when they go away for college.

Danberry Realtors agent Tony Bassett said parents chose to pur-chase homes for their children instead of paying for dormitories and apartments because of the investment it offers to them.

“With the purchase rates hous-es being down, even for a second house parents can get a great deal for their children,” Bassett said. “It’s a better investment for them instead of throwing it away at dorms or throwing it at campus housing.”

According to a recent survey

by The College Board, the aver-age cost of room and board at a university is $8,535, a 4.6 percent increase from last year. The coun-try, on the other hand, has seen a 4.1% decrease in the price of homes according to a recent Clear Capitol report. Some cities in Ohio, most notably Dayton, have seen double digit drops in home values.

After four to five years, parents that purchased homes for their students expect to see the value of the home appreciate. More-over, houses near college cam-puses are always in demand, ex-plained Bassett.

Housing around campus, in particular the area around the Bancroft Hills neighborhood, east of the University of Toledo

— Buying, Page 8

Independent CollegianTheThursday, February 17, 2011 5

Developing artists call Toledo home

Kevin Sohnly / IC

The Collingwood Arts Center houses artists of all kinds from painters to poets.

By David HarrisIC Staff Writer

For many artists, the

big market cities and re-gions, such as N e w York City, Miami and Los Angeles, are too expen-sive to reside in. As a result, many of these artists pick inexpensive regions to live in and choose to develop their artistic careers from there. Even some major artists have decided to leave the big city lights to transform and revital-ize a smaller market. Al-though the closest major art city is Nashville, Tenn. (which according to Google Maps is 408 miles and nearly an eight hour drive away), Tole-

do is slowly becoming a major breeding and proving ground for as-piring artists in a variety of fields.

Painting with a purpose

For Jamal Armstrong, the road to artistry start-ed with a dream deeply rooted within his Chris-tian faith. “My dream, as a Christian first and foremost, was to paint for the kingdom of God,” said Armstrong, a Tole-do native who resides in the Midtown section of the city, a middle-class area close to the univer-sity.

Armstrong, who con-

sidered himself both an employee at his job and an artist, says that he supports himself off both careers. As an art-ist, Armstrong not only receives payments for gigs, but he also paints and sells customized art-work as well.

“Fortunately for me, my artwork supports it-self and most of the time produces extra money for me,” Armstrong said. “My day job supports me as an individual.”

Armstrong believes that wherever an artist chooses to live, the most important factor is that the housing has to be cost-effective for the in-

— Artists, Page 7


Living on campus vs. off campusWhen I was asked to do a

piece comparing on-campus liv-ing to off-campus living, my first thought was, “Boy, a lot has happened since I last lived on campus. How am I going to write about this?” But then I started thinking back about dorm life and figured I could probably give some good in-sight after all. But first, let me tell you a bit about my previous living situations here at UT so you can see where I’m coming from.

My first year at UT I lived in Academic House and spent my first two weeks in a lounge be-cause I had applied for housing so late. My sophomore year I spent in Ottawa East on campus before moving into a house about a mile north of campus the following year. In my final year, I am currently living in University Hills.

Now let’s talk about the pros and cons of each living situa-tion. Everyone is different, so it doesn’t help you at all if I just tell you what situation I pre-ferred most. Instead, I’ll try and give some in-sight into each living ar-rangement since I’ve lived in a traditional dorm, suite, house, and now apartment.

On-CampusOn-campus living of-

fers many advantages, especially with the new suite-style dorms that are popping up every-where on college cam-puses. UT offers suite-style dorms in Ottawa East, Ottawa West, The Crossings, and Inter-national House. In this arrange-ment, students don’t have to sacrifice the convenience of liv-

ing on campus for the ability to have an apartment feel com-plete with separate bedrooms, a non-communal bathroom, and even a “common area.”

As I mentioned, one of the reasons students prefer to live on campus (besides being mandat-ed to in their first year) is that everything is close by. Classes, the rec center, the Union and dining halls are no more than a short walk away. And in case you can’t muster up the energy to walk a quarter of a mile, you can take a bus!

Students who live on campus don’t have to deal with commut-ing to campus, eliminating the frustration of sitting in traffic and hunting for parking spots. In addition, there is the feeling of being on a college campus,

especially one as nicely land-scaped as UT. You can walk past other students –even if they just stare at the ground or text away- and enjoy the atmosphere 24/7. This is especially pleasant when the weather is nice, during Homecoming Week, or any oth-er time campus is bustling.

Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks to living on campus. One is the constant supervision by Residence Life that can be annoying at times but complete-ly necessary. When you agree to live on campus, you give up cer-tain liberties and agree to play by their rules.

In addition, the confusingly-priced meal plans are not ex-actly the best deal in the world, and I feel that many students don’t use up their meal swipes because they seek other dining options not covered by the plan. This is incredibly inefficient –

You have to love how Dining Dollars force you to spend your money on campus- though I must say I didn’t mind the din-ing hall food. However, I must divulge that I have been from AVI to Aramark and haven’t eat-en in a dining hall regularly in almost two years.

Off-CampusSome students can’t wait for

the day that they are able to move off campus. Others prefer to stick to their comfort zone on campus, or perhaps have real-ized that living off-campus isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

For some students like me, the financial aid received is con-tingent upon whether you live on campus or off campus. Off-campus students receive sub-

Anthony Russo

— Living, Page 8

Independent CollegianTheThursday, February 17, 2011 7

dividual. Other factors for choosing a small market to live in, including location, neighborhood, and type of housing are ultimately up to the indi-vidual’s personal style and prefer-ence, according to Armstrong. When asked about the atmosphere in Tole-do and whether it was conducive to an artist, he had a mixed answer. Af-ter initially answering no, then changing his answer to a yes, he ulti-mately decided on no.

“My reason is that Toledo is not big enough for all aspects of art to flour-ish or develop,” Armstrong said. He did give a second answer to the ques-tion, saying “with technology being at an all-time high, people have un-limited resources to share their art-work through.”

ArtistsFrom Page 5

Ultimately, Armstrong believed that the environment does not make the artist, but that the artist makes the environment.

When asked if he would change any-thing about his artistic endeavors if he could, he said, “No, I can honestly say that my dream has not changed. I be-lieve that every gift we are given is for the kingdom and not ourselves or the world. That is my dream for and pur-pose of my work.”

Punk poetryMichael Grover, a resident poet and

writer at the Collingwood Arts Center, has been around the country, taking his writing even to Hollywood.

“I have lived all over the country,” said Grover, a south Florida native who also runs Covert Press, a DIY ef-fort that combines the ethics of punk and poetry. “I have moved all over the place, from Philadelphia to Los Ange-les, to even Connecticut. None of those places have been more open to me as a writer than Toledo. I regretted leaving LA, but I believe everything has a reason, including me being here in Toledo. I have to find out why I’m here.”

Grover came to Toledo after hearing about the Collingwood Arts Center while in Connecticut. “When I first came to Toledo, I felt the vibe from the CAC.”

When asked if any of the other neigh-borhoods gave him the same vibe, Gro-ver noted that being around UT gave him a negative one.

“When I was near UT, I never got the vibe,” Grover said. “The professors there were too affected by the aca-demia to allow their writing to be free.”

Grover believes that a free writer is ultimately a better writer and that To-ledo is a great city for aspiring artists to live.

“It’s a city on the edge,” Grover said. “I believe that a city like this is a place where you can build from the ground up. The energy here in Toledo is every-where.”

Grover also said Toledo was the best place he had seen for an aspiring artist to reside.

“Affordability is the main factor, but also comfort and being in a space where you can create,” he said. “If you’re not comfortable where you are, then it’s harder to create your art and the art is affected. The area determines your writing.”

Grover grew up as a punk kid in Florida. Punk has always been a part of his life, and he says that it will continue to be.

“When I was growing up, I just want-ed to be who I was, and that was a punk kid,” Grover said. “I will always be that punk kid, going to punk shows, and my writing will reflect that. Writing is my life and my work. I have to write. The world doesn’t feel right if I don’t.”

Pictured are two of Jamal Armstrong’s paintings. Above is Armstrong’s first painting, entitled “For the Love of Money.” Below is Armstrong’s first sketch that led him to painting, entitled “The Cursed Ground.” Armstrong believes that his paintings allow him to express his Christian beliefs to those who view his artwork.

Kevin Sohnly / IC

Writer and poet Michael Grover and painter Jamal Armstrong are developing their respective crafts while residing in the Collingwood Arts Center.

Photos courtesy of Jamal Armstrong


Main Campus, have drastically fallen in prices. Some of these homes have dropped from $80,000-90,000 to $17,000-25,000, but although these homes now render the cost of a new car, these are not the homes parents are purchasing for their children.

“A lot of these parents are saying they are actually looking at options away from Bancroft [Street] away, looking at Douglas [Road], Kenwood [Boulevard], going even farther north,” said Bassett.

Parents are looking in getting their kids into much more established neighbor-hoods, where they can still get a good buy but at the same time they are buying a house that doesn’t need the work,” he said. “They want a house that in four years they can sell and not lose money.

After their children move out, parents either sell or remain landlords of the prop-erty. In some areas in the country, it be-comes the parent’s retirement home.

According to real estate agents, the resi-dential hall system in colleges is set up so students are encouraged to live off campus.

Fewer freshmen are living on campus this year compared to last, and many rooms in residential halls have gone empty. This is largely due to higher ad-missions standards in several colleges. Director of Residential Life Jo Camp-bell expects rooms to be overbooked next year.

“We’re not going to say you have to ap-ply for housing when we know we don’t have a bed to put you in,” Campbell said.

With the price of houses dropping so much, students that had once rented are now considering purchasing these homes for investment purposes.

Other students disagree, such as Chi-nonso Agubosim, a junior majoring in chemical engineering, who said he would never consider purchasing a home he once rented for investment.

“I think when you’re a college student you have enough trouble with your own studies that managing a home to rent out to friends and other people is too stress-ful,” Agubosim said. “You don’t want to be tied down to something like a house you’re renting out when you may still be looking for a job.”

BuyingFrom Page 4

stantially less financial aid, which is something very important to consider when planning the move off campus. Depending on where you live, the cost of living off campus could be much lower to slightly higher.

A variety of factors come into play here. Unlike living on campus, where each room has its own rate per student, the monthly payment of apartments and houses can be divided among a number of students. In addition, each landlord will have his or her own policies as to which utilities are included.

Even if the price ends up being lower, students should consider the hidden costs of living off campus, like having to fight for a parking spot and dealing with heavy traffic around class times. How-ever, certain options can alleviate these concerns. My department is located in University Hall, which is closer to Uni-versity Hills than any dorm, just like Olde Towne Apartments is closer to the Engi-neering buildings.

In addition to all of these consider-ations, living in a house off campus al-so carries more maintenance than a dorm or an apartment, but it probably offers the most bang for the buck if you

can find a place in a safe neighbor-hood. I lived on Maxwell Street north of Monroe Street my junior year. It was a nice, quiet, safe street and we may have been the only college students on the whole block. You couldn’t pay me to live “behind engineering.”

ConclusionWhere you live is obviously going to

depend on what you value. If you enjoy the sense of community and comforts of living on campus, and don’t mind spend-ing the extra money, then there may be no reason to move off. However, I do recommend spending at least one year off campus just to take the training wheels off and see what it would be like.

Living off campus obviously offers a lot more freedom, but also a lot more costs that students may not consider. Safety concerns and the extra stress of finding roommates to commit are two more things to think about. Sure you can find good deals off campus, but with lower rent may come more safety concerns. Also, dealing with landlords may be just as frustrating as dealing with Residence Life. Generally, I am pleased with my de-cision to spend two years on campus and two years off, though I do still enjoy the occasional walk around campus to make me feel like I’m still in college!

LivingFrom Page 6

Nick Kneer / IC

The Crossings is one of nine residential halls on campus at the University of Toledo.

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