EDITORIAL: New housing near Sac State needs to be inclusive for all students
In a time where housing insecurity is commonplace for CSU students, $800 rent prices are not feasible or inclusive
Matthew Dyer - The State Hornet
Mayor Darrel Steinberg, second from right, joins others in ceremonially breaking ground at The Crossings in May 2017. The Crossings are now open, joining other student living communities surrounding campus.
September 19, 2018
Seven new housing projects are set to be built in areas adjacent to Sacramento State’s campus in a time where housing insecurity is commonplace for CSU students. This sounds like good news, but developers need to slash their rent prices for the sake of Sac State students in need.
The city of Sacramento at large is in the midst of a true housing crisis; apartment and house rental prices are rising at high rates due to a multitude of factors including the gentrification of neighborhoods like Oak Park and an exodus from the Bay Area.
Sac State, and more importantly its students, would be better served and more wholly educated if more student living options were present and affordable.
Ideal finance management dictates any one person should spend a third or less of their income on their housing. One-bedroom prices for Sac State dorms, student-living apartment communities and other apartment complexes nearby all do not fit this model.
The latter two often take up half or more of a student’s income, further necessitating student loans or impacting their education as they make up the money with working more hours and spending less hours in class or studying.
Giving students over 750 rooms of various floor plans in the future housing projects is great, but setting the rent in the $800 to $1000 a month range is much too much high for a college student to possibly handle alone.
RELATED: Future housing projects to give Sac State students more options
President Robert Nelsen places a huge emphasis on the concept of finishing a CSU degree in four years. It has long been accepted as the typical time frame, but steadily rising tuition and living costs for students may leave them with a choice: Take on risky loans and focus on school, or work your way through school and finish school in way more than four years.
Increased availability of affordable housing could also be advantageous to Sac State’s goals of transforming the school’s image and reputation as a commuter campus.
Though enrollment is no problem, and is in fact on a constant rise, one of Nelsen’s main focuses has been changing how people view Sac State.
The university, however, has limited local land to work with, and needs to shift at least some focus to advocating for things like rent control and subsidized housing for students.