By Hunter Overby
Editor’s note: After this opinion piece was submitted more housing was made available and according to the school all those on the waiting list have been accommodated. However, judging from comments from students there are still some hard feelings about how the process was conducted.
Due to the current on-campus housing crisis that has overtaken CSUMB, many students are left scrambling to find a place to stay. The housing disaster which resulted in a waitlist of over 300 students has caused feelings of betrayal and animosity toward the CSUMB housing department as students feel that the campus has turned its back on them. Most students chose to live on campus because of its convenience, but more importantly its affordability. With many left without a place to stay it raises the question of where they will live now.
It is no secret that California has some of the highest rent prices in the country. Most one bedroom apartments in the Monterey Bay area cost more than $2,000 a month to rent which can hardly be considered affordable. With the Monterey Peninsula starting to transform into a place where young people and students want and need to live, the rent prices of the area must begin to reflect that. There have been recent housing developments but they cater to the wrong audiences. Most students have certainly noticed “The Dunes,” a brand new neighborhood being built right across the street from the CSUMB campus. The cost of many of these homes begins around $1 million to buy with no apparent opportunities to rent them These homes are beyond the means of any students and many families to purchase or live in. (source, The Dunes website, Shea Homes).
These new homes seem to be aimed at Bay Area retirees and white collar employees who work remotely and are seeking to live near the water. These people are not respective of many of the young people living in the Monterey area and not at all respective of the students who are now out of a place to stay. These new housing developments show that the area around campus is not restricted by space but rather a lack of profitable clientele. Many students realize that CSUMB should be capable of constructing more student housing and contracting housing development firms to help build it, especially since the land owned by campus extends into the Fort Ord area far beyond the bounds of Main Campus. It should be the responsibility of CSUMB to work with these organizations and companies in order to provide housing for its loyal student population. It is also the duty of us as young individuals entering the workforce to vote and fight for policies that help make it easier for people earning low- to mid-level incomes to find a place to stay in our state. No one should be left without a place to lay their head at night, and the recent debacle with the CSUMB housing department has shown the student body that it is all too easy to lose your chances at a home.
Dunes Sources: https://www.sheahomes.com/new-homes/california/bay-area/marina/the-dunes