Housing Guide Articles

Rental realities in today's economy: what to watch out for

By Jennifer Roach / Special Projects Editor
Prospective off-campus students at Boston College are usually quick out of the gate - starting apartment and rental searches the day they set foot on campus sophomore year.

But with the current economic downturn and loan crisis, this year it is likely they won't be alone.

Families, singles, and newlyweds who a few years ago may have been on the hunt for their first home, experts say, are struggling to get loans in today's crunched economy, causing many of them to stick with rental-style living for the time being.

BC cracks down on off-campus partying

By Alex Vontz
Welcome to the wonderful world of off-campus housing. However, as much as it seems a year of off-campus residence would be full of new freedoms and possibilities given the extra distance between you and the ever-present eye of the Boston College Police Department (BCPD), Steve Montgomery, off-campus community liaison, is here to make sure that this new lifestyle is not all fun and games.

Fire raises concern for off-campus safety

By Peter Gallagher
In light of the recent apartment fire on Strathmore Road, several members of the Boston College community have expressed concern over the issue of off-campus safety. Fire department officials in particular stress the need for attentiveness on the part of new residents.

People To Know

By Jennifer Roach / Special Projects Editor
The Off-Campus Council (OCC) Created last year under the auspices of the Office of the Dean for Student Development (ODSD), this new council acts as an advocacy group for students living off campus. Developed as a response to the growing concerns of students living off campus, the OCC's director, John Murtagh, A&S '09, and assistant director, Connor McNellis, A&S '09, hold monthly meetings with off-campus students to better connect the student voice to upper administration.

Know Your Rights

By Jennifer Roach / Special Projects Editor
Students unfortunately are often easy targets for realtors and landlords looking to take advantage of newcomers to the real world. Here are some important rights all tenants are entitled to in the city of Boston that students should be aware of: (1)Foreclosed buildings: In today's shaky economy, tenants can never trust that their landlords won't lose their building in the foreclosure crisis.

Please, won't you be my neighbor?

By Ashley Schneider
One chasm the Boston College community is trying to close is the one between off-campus students and their neighbors. Currently, BC struggles to maintain a peaceful coexistence with the people living around off-campus students.

Living off campus may pose safety risks for students

Risks vary from place to place

By Lisa De Gray / Heights Senior Staff
For the most part, the Boston College campus can be considered a safe environment. Not all students, however, are able to spend the entirety of their years at BC living on campus. Every year, a large portion of BC students move into off-campus apartments, facing concerns about the safety of their new environment.

Revisiting the housing drama

Variety of housing situations force juniors to decide where to live

By Alexi Chi / Editor-In-Chief
This April, thousands of high school seniors will open their Boston College acceptance letters and find out whether they have received three or four years of housing. To those freshmen new to the BC community, this detail is of little importance. As sophomore year approaches, however, it is a fact of which students become acutely aware.

2000 Comm. Ave. no longer 'off campus'provides a unique situation.

By Diana C. Nearhos / Assistant Layout Editor
A year ago, sophomores were just starting to think about looking for housing off campus, if at all. Many turned their eyes to Archstone 2000 Commonwealth Ave., the spacious apartments located only a 10-minute walk from campus. The building is not available to sophomores looking to live off campus next year, though.

How to make your off-campus living a blessing, not a curse

By Tim Mooney / Opinions Editor
And you thought that after freshman year housing drama would be over. As this year's sophomores are finding out, they aren't immune to housing concerns. The specter of living off campus, of finding a place, of signing a lease haunts the 50 percent of sophomores with only three years of housing.

Studying abroad complicates arrangements for off-campus housing

By Pilar Landon / Heights Senior Staff
Deciding to go abroad entails more than just arrangements in a foreign country: It means finding a place to live for that one semester when you are on campus. Living on campus, as you already know, means not having to buy furniture, being closer to class, and having less freedom to do what you please.

A walk around the neighborhood

By Chris Bone
Beacon Street: Catch the C line next to Mary Ann's and you can't help but notice all the brownstones lining Beacon Street. The apartments here and in Cleveland Circle are the closest things you'll find to true, cosmopolitan apartments. Students can live alone or with a few friends among young professionals and local folks in narrow brick and brownstone buildings.