Rumors have been circulating the Binghamton University campus that off-campus housing is in danger. To extinguish the myths and ease students’ minds, Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan spoke at a forum on campus yesterday.
Lecture Hall 2 was packed with students, landlords and city residents all awaiting what Ryan had to say.
“We are not trying to move students out of the city,” Ryan said.
According to the mayor, the relationship between students and the city has gotten much better over the past 50 years. He also said students are an asset to the city’s economy.
The city’s Commission on Housing and Home Ownership works on a complaint basis, and Binghamton residents are not pleased with many of the students’ behaviors.
“Students must respect the city, and the city must respect the students,” Ryan said.
The catalyst for this discussion was an incident last year when students living in a house on Lincoln Avenue on Binghamton’s West Side were evicted. The BU students were evicted after complaints were filed by neighbors.
“We want and are willing to come to a solution,” said senior Rebecca Getzke. She encouraged the city government to communicate with the students to resolve the problems.
According to the mayor, most people have been getting the wrong impression.
“There is no bill, no plan, no one edict that is going to pass,” Ryan said. Currently ideas are being thrown around about how to approach the problem, he added.
After a concrete, but balanced idea is in place, a town meeting will be held and then the city council will vote on a decision.
Ryan said a proposal probably won’t come out for at least another month, so students living in off-campus housing do not have anything to worry about this semester.
Much of the controversy at the forum focused around the Newman Development Group, which owns and built University Plaza. They have plans to build another student housing development much like UP in the Downtown area, and a member of the housing commission is affiliated with the group. Some students complained of a conflict of interest.
Students also worried that any changes to West Side zoning could force them to live in expensive apartments if they want to live off campus.
R-1 ordinances stipulate that only people who are considered to be a “factual and functional” family may live in certain areas of the West Side.