Off-Campus Housing Concerns
Students still living in Santa Clara face certain challenges
As classes begin for students at Santa Clara, many imagined they would be back on campus this week. For students living in off-campus residences, this remains an option, but also a complicated decision. According to Santa Clara County Public Health, coronavirus cases are steadily increasing in the county, and the shelter-in-place order will stay in effect until at least May 3, leaving students with little incentive to return to the area.
Students who live off-campus are faced with the choice to either stay home for the quarter, or return to their off campus residences—where they continue to pay rent.
“Although I do wish I was back at school,” junior Izzy Silber said, “I definitely yearn to be back at school to have those spring quarter experiences that we have had previously, but obviously it’s not like that back at school at all.”
Silber lives with seven other girls, two of which she shares a room with.
“Going and living with other people who just spent time at their own respective home states,” Silber said, “is not really following social distancing guidelines, so for my own safety and for the purpose of not spreading whatever germs I have, I don’t want to be living with a lot of other people.”
She plans to stay at home for now, at least until the shelter-in-place order is lifted.
Residences like the Alviso Properties and Maple Lanes Associates, better known as “Maples,” can house up to eight people, making social distancing measures challenging to enforce. Jason Jones, landlord of the Alviso Properties, recommended ways for students living in these residences to handle this situation, like making a house shopping list and having one person go do the shopping. He also recommended not interacting with anyone who does not live in your house.
“But also,” Jones said, “make the most of being stuck at home with eight people! Enjoy each other's company and be glad you don't live alone, where boredom and loneliness can be much more challenging.”
Jones also decided to make some changes on his properties, including lowering rent for his tenants.
“Some families are financially struggling through this,” Jones said. “Some tenants also rely on their own jobs on and off campus to pay the bills. Most of those student jobs are now gone, and the financial situation in the country is dire.”
He has taken other efforts to maintain the safety of the neighborhood while some tenants are sheltering in place at their parents’ homes. Fewer people on site encourages crime, so he has increased management site visits, making sure porch and yard lighting works, and proactively fixing exterior lights that aren’t working.
On March 16, Santa Clara County ordered residents to shelter in place, meaning they should only leave their houses for essential purposes like grocery shopping, and taking care of the health and safety of themselves and those in their households. Later that day, the university informed residential students that they would close residence halls for spring quarter, with limited exceptions enabling students to stay.
Sophomore Drew Burns, who lives with six other roommates at Santa Clara but is currently home in Arizona, expressed the same safety concerns as Silber.
“Before I return back to school,” Burns said, “I want to make sure that not only the number of cases in the county, is declining, but that it is safer to go to public places like grocery stores than it is here in Phoenix.”
Regardless of where students end up living this quarter, prioritizing their health and safety, as well as the health and safety of those around them, will be integral in mitigating the impact of coronavirus.