The University Neighborhood Preservation Association will discuss the need to improve relations between homeowners and renters, who are mostly students, and beautify the East neighborhood during its annual meeting Thursday.

‘Our goal is making the neighborhood a better place for everyone,’ said Joanne Stewart, the executive director of UNPA. ‘There are some behavior issues, but we really try and focus on marketing the neighborhood and creating these programs to assist homebuyers and renters.’

The meeting will announce plans for a housing study meant to identify the biggest changes that need to be made to improve the relationship between permanent residents and students in the East neighborhood, Stewart said. She said students should come to the meeting, as both student renters and homeowners are affected by the housing plan.

UNPA’s housing plan works in tandem with the Homebuyers Assistance Program, the Home Improvement Loan Program and the Rescue a Rental Program and is designed to help residents of the neighborhood, Stewart said. 

Students occupy 80 percent of the East neighborhood, which translates to more than 7,700 Syracuse University students, said Darya Rotblat, the director of the Office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services.

Rotblat said she thinks the biggest issue that needs to be addressed is the idea that the East neighborhood is a community.

‘I feel that there needs to be a better understanding between students and permanent residents,’ Rotblat said. ‘Not to create a perfect neighborhood or anything but to make sure people are being able to live together respectfully.’

Some of the properties in the East neighborhood need to be examined to be better taken care of, Rotblat said. She said she hopes this study reaches a wide range of landlords to figure out ways to work with students and permanent residents to beautify the neighborhood.

The top three quality of life issues in the East neighborhood are noise and partying, trash and parking, Rotblat said. One example of addressing these issues could be implementing wheeled trash bins rather than residents leaving trash bags on the street, she said. 

‘It is a college community, but there needs to be a partnership between students, landlords, the university and permanent residents to create this understanding,’ Rotblat said. ‘And it can’t just be one person. It needs to be a true partnership to make change.’

The lack of student involvement in the off-campus community has also been an ongoing problem, Rotblat said.

Brian Zimmerman, a senior international relations and social work major, has lived on Euclid Avenue for the past two years. So far this year, Zimmerman said he has not seen much conflict with SU students and community members but that it usually picks up in the spring.

‘Last year as it got warmer, there was trash everywhere,’ Zimmerman said. ‘We kept our house pretty nice, but other people’s yards were pretty unkempt, and you could definitely see that the community members were upset.’

Zimmerman said he thinks the reason for the lack of student involvement is because students feel they do not actually have much power in any changes made, and a lot of times their opinions get pushed below those of the permanent residents.

Said Zimmerman: ‘Last year a lot of community members were saying that they lived there first.’

hawentz@syr.edu

Published on November 17, 2010 at 12:00 pm