Andrew LaFlamme, the Financial Supports commissioner for the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, should be commended for
his excellent work in compiling an apartment index that will help
students more easily search for off-campus housing in Westwood.
The housing index will compare apartment prices in the Westwood
area to which Gayley Ave., Veteran Ave. and Weyburn Ave. serve as
parameters. Since the section is directly adjacent to the northern
part of campus, and because it lies in an already high-priced
residential neighborhood, rent for even small, old apartments can
be exorbitantly expensive.
Landowners can, and do continuously raise rent prices because
they know the apartments will be in demand by new students every
academic year, regardless of how much they charge. Unless students
have their own transportation and can afford expensive parking fees
““ or do not mind using slow public transportation ““
they need to live relatively close to campus.
No one can really solve these problems, but LaFlamme’s
index gives students a small advantage which, if built upon, may
eventually work in in their favor.
The advantage lies in informing students where the cheaply
priced apartments are located, so they can try and secure a living
space there first. Given the extraordinary demand for housing, many
students currently secure the first apartment they can find, rather
than “bargain shopping.” The fear that more desperate
students will snatch up apartments at any price if a student waits
in order to attempt to find a cheaper place is the fuel behind the
spring take-what-you-can-get apartment hunt frenzy. With the
LaFlamme index, expensive housing will no doubt still be rented out
to students, but hopefully it will be the last to be leased.
Sheer convenience is an issue too; students often have to go
around knocking on residents doors to try to find landlord contact
information. Apartment hunting can often take days of walking all
over town. LaFlamme’s index has the potential to help
students circumvent these issues.
LaFlamme has taken the first step toward breaking down the wall
between students and landowners. But more can still be done.
It’s up to LaFlamme to make sure his successors continue
developing upon his office’s work this year.
The most common method of sparing oneself from the Westwood
housing headache, for example, is by avoiding the area altogether.
Going to Palms or other surrounding neighborhoods where rent costs
hundreds of dollars less than in Westwood is worth the annoyance of
having to take public transportation to school every day. The
financial supports office should continue expanding its index to
include apartments in these areas because placing these
alternatives in the public’s knowledge will create even
greater competition for Westwood apartment owners.
Financial supports should also consider establishing a separate
landlord/apartment complex review system online akin to
uclaprofessors.com. This would allow students to give their peers
an assessment of their quality of life and the quality of service
they received ““ it will help residents hold their landlords
and landowners accountable for their high rent costs.