The student commissioner in charge of addressing finance-related
issues plans to launch an online housing index by the end of the
month to help students hunt for apartments.
Andrew LaFlamme, financial supports commissioner for the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, had promised to create
an online index featuring a map and aerial view of apartments in
Westwood in his spring 2002 campaign.
But the projected completion date of mid-winter quarter was
pushed back by some problems, LaFlamme said.
Technical difficulties with Web site planning led to a delay in
signing a contract with a Web designing company, LaFlamme said. He
said he also had some issues contacting apartment owners.
But LaFlamme said the difficulties have been worked out and he
plans to sign the contract next week. The site will be available
for use no later than March 3, he said.
Though the original completion projection of mid-winter quarter
was not met, LaFlamme said it needed to be done by the end of this
month to accommodate apartment-hunting students.
“We need time to advertise it to students so they will be
able to use it over spring break,” he said.
The site will provide a map sectioned off into about 15 blocks.
Students can choose an area and click on each apartment building. A
window will then pop up providing contacts, costs and information
on apartment features ““ including rooms, parking, utilities,
laundry facilities and other amenities.
“This will make comparing apartments easier,”
LaFlamme said. “It might even inspire competition among
landowners.”
LaFlamme said he is also in the process of compiling a list of
apartment owners who would offer a discount to students receiving
financial aid.
“Now the biggest thing is to appeal to landowners,”
he said, adding that he plans to offer them free advertising.
LaFlamme said he developed the site features after meeting with
Shelley Taylor, founder of the North Village Improvement Committee,
an organization concerned, according to its Web site, with the
betterment of the Westwood community.
The committee’s Web site provides some similar services as
the housing index, but Taylor said additional resources are
beneficial to students.
“The more information that gets out there, the
better,” she said.
In addition to a list of apartments in Westwood, the
NVIC’s Web site provides numerous tips to students looking
for housing.
Taylor added that housing Web sites could be useful to others
besides students.
Out-of-state or out-of-country parents could see where their
children were living, she said, adding that the Web sites could be
useful to fire and police departments in times of emergencies.
Some students said they will use the housing index when it
becomes available to them.
Second-year undeclared student Lucia Kwon, who currently resides
on the Hill, said she plans to look for an apartment in the next
few weeks.
“I would use (the index) because I don’t know how to
go about looking for apartments … I don’t have a car, and
it would be a lot easier than driving around,” she said.