After a freshman year spent in dorms, many students are eager to get out on their own. We feel more adult and are ready to take flight in the competing housing market, but how are we supposed to do that when Iowa State is leasing apartment buildings left and right?

The number of freshman increases every year and all of these students need buildings to live in, but is Iowa State making the right decision of leasing Campustown and other Ames area apartments and forcing upperclassmen to either sign with the university or move out? Is there a solution where all students will be happy?

Iowa State is already leasing Legacy and Maricopa apartment buildings from Campustown this year, and they are now also considering leasing Cyclone apartments as well. This news is upsetting to students who are interested in leasing these Campustown residencies because now they will come furnished with student housing type of furniture and they are paid for via the U-bill which can defeat the purpose of living on your own. The student housing also comes fully equipped with a resident assistant on every floor. If that doesn’t make you feel like you are back in freshman year again living in the dorms, I don’t know what would.

Will this change the structure of Campustown? Campustown is known for being the area in which many upperclassmen live. It is where we live, work and play. If more underage students are living in Campustown, it could be possible for the type of “scene” to change. Campustown might start more around Welch Avenue rather than on Stanton Avenue. The hangout in the living areas will be a younger group and could have younger based activities, similar to Maple-Willow-Larch. This could possibly do two things: One, it could eliminate the party scene for the residences of Cyclone and Legacy and, two, encourage those underage living in the area to be more consumed by said party scene.

What other options does the university have? Yes, they could build new apartments, and they could be planning to do so, but that could take a long time to get into motion.

Since there are already students living in the dens of the residence halls and in various nonuniversity apartments, the university is in an urgent need to start housing these students and in order to do that they need space, and Campustown in the closest place. Are there other options available? Should more students start moving into housing that is considered upperclassmen housing, such as Frederiksen Court and University Village? These areas have just as many rooms available as the spaces in Campustown. This suggestion could also put upperclassmen students in a bind who enjoy living on campus, or who want to pay for their housing via the U-bill.

As students, all we have to do is sit back and wait. We won’t know what Iowa State will decide to do until nearly the spring semester, so if you plan on living in Legacy or Maricopa or Cyclone, don’t forget to sign a housing contract with the university before it’s too late. If you are interested in looking at apartments consider looking at different buildings in Campustown or consider speeding up your decision for whether or not you plan to live on campus. In order to live anywhere near campus, acting fast would be the best choice. In the past year, students have been offered money to move out of the dorms by the university and find a new place to live. It is questionable whether Iowa State will be offering the same offer to students this year who have already renewed their lease.

Housing close to campus isn’t the only option that is left available to students, there are still places available outside of Campustown, and although that might not seem ideal because of the distance away from campus, in return the rent is usually cheaper. Finding a place to live is easier the sooner you act.

Iowa State offers many different options for places to live but is starting to eliminate places near the university that are not considered dorms. In order to find somewhere to live that is considered “off campus,” students must start to make decisions quickly and decide where we want to live before we get left behind.