Responsible Tenancy

College is a great time in a person’s life. You stay up late, party hard, meet new people and try new things. Hopefully, somewhere in that mix, you get your work done. All of this newfound freedom and independence is great, but your fun shouldn’t impede on someone else’s life.

Permanent residents of Yorktown, a family oriented neighborhood bordering Temple, are fighting back against students who they say are disrupting the neighborhood’s way of life. The Temple News reports that homeowners in the area are afraid that the transient students will wreck the character and charm of the community [“Temple tenants violate ordinance,” Brittany Diggs, Sept. 16, 2008].

Investors are turning single family homes into multi-unit dwellings for students who might not even realize that they are moving into a neighborhood that has some hostility toward them.

Students need to be proactive about improving community relations and getting to know their neighbors. Your neighbors can watch out for you and make your off-campus living experience better.
Yes, you can party, but please keep it down – there are people trying to sleep. Clean up after yourself when the party is over, because garbage flooding the street doesn’t make anyone’s life better.

Philadelphia is becoming a giant no-parking zone, which upsets many, but that doesn’t make it OK to resident-only parking. Students in Yorktown aren’t residents. They are more like seasonal guests who float in and out every year.

Because of a recent city ordinance, most students are living in Yorktown illegally, whether they know it or not, so it might help to have a local on your side. If the residents are more comfortable with Temple students coming into the neighborhood, there may be fewer cries for eviction.

Temple isn’t touching this problem with a 10-foot pole until the city gives more direction on how to handle this. It is up to you to get your living situation under control and learn how to be a good neighbor.

Students who live in Yorktown are temporary occupants. They might spend nine or 10 months out of a year for three years living in the neighborhood, but the real residents of Yorktown spend their entire lives in the area.

Don’t mess up the life they’ve worked hard for just because these are your crazy partying years.