CHICAGO | Hyde Park Development

[BruceP]

Originally Posted by gandalf612

Harvard doesn't have a requirement to live on campus, but 95% of students do anyway. It's not uncommon for elite liberal arts universities to require or encourage it. They think living in a "scholarly community" is a key tenet of a liberal arts education

Very true. My U. of Chicago scholarship (back in the Stone Age) included room and board, even though I lived in Chicago with my parents, for that very reason.

[Bonsai Tree]

Originally Posted by gandalf612

Harvard doesn't have a requirement to live on campus, but 95% of students do anyway. It's not uncommon for elite liberal arts universities to require or encourage it. They think living in a "scholarly community" is a key tenet of a liberal arts education

Yeah I've heard this a lot too. But it's clearly just a thinly veneered attempt to scam students of more money.

[WestsideLA]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

Construction under way at Harper Court Phase II. These are from the past week.

Glad to see it's going up finally!!

[WestsideLA]

Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree

Yeah I've heard this a lot too. But it's clearly just a thinly veneered attempt to scam students of more money.

Every one is entitled to their opinion, and I don't object to this as a casual observation. But I think the real motivation is not so much the desire to cash in short term by capturing more housing fees, but instead is really motivated by the belief that if students stay in housing and they build a strong community and have a great time, they will look more fondly on the University over the years and one day make the big pay out that will put a smile on the development office's face.

[gandalf612]

Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree

Yeah I've heard this a lot too. But it's clearly just a thinly veneered attempt to scam students of more money.

Oh absolutely, but it's not the housing itself that gets them money. Providing housing and unlimited dining plans is not a profitable venture especially with how much financial aid they give out. The real money comes from alumni with fond memories of their campus community. I worked in event planning while in college and it was comical how much bigger the budgets for freshmen and senior events were as opposed to sophomore and junior. The reason? Most people only really remember their freshman and senior years so you get a much greater return on your investment focusing on making them fun.

[Rally Monkey]

Originally Posted by WestsideLA

Every one is entitled to their opinion, and I don't object to this as a casual observation. But I think the real motivation is not so much the desire to cash in short term by capturing more housing fees, but instead is really motivated by the belief that if students stay in housing and they build a strong community and have a great time, they will look more fondly on the University over the years and one day make the big pay out that will put a smile on the development office's face.

I agree with this. It might also be a reaction to increasing concerns among current and prospective students (whether fair or not) that Chicago is a less safe place to live. And that rents in Hyde Park and now Woodlawn are becoming more expensive. I bet that the College will market its dorms to upperclassmen as secure and relatively cheap places to live close to campus.

Meanwhile, check this out: The satellite view of the University of Chicago and Hyde Park has just been updated in Google Earth. See here:

https://earth.google.com/web/search/...pAId8GRBhWp0rA

You'll also see at the link that an intrepid pedestrian captured new street level photos of the campus in March for Google Street View. He covered all the quads and offers a first view (for me, at least) of the newly built multiuse facility on Kimbark across the Midway. (I think it looks very good.) Spend some time with it!