(See bottom of page for correction.)Last year, more than one-third of Penn's undergraduate population lived off campus, and a majority of those students lived in West Philadelphia neighborhoods like Spruce Hill. Such a vast number of temporary renters inevitably has had both social and economic consequences for the neighborhood that houses them.
The last few years have seen a radical reversal of the way that University City is perceived by outsiders -- from a blight-ridden and crime-infested area to a thriving neighborhood that is attractive for both home ownership and apartment rentals.
And with that appeal came a higher demand for housing ownership and a corresponding raise in real estate prices.
"I have seen a lot more undergraduate population returning to Spruce Hill," said Lindsay Johnston, broker and owner of Common Ground Realtors in University City. "In the late '80s and early '90s ... when University City was on a downturn, undergraduates shrunk their willingness to move west of campus."
Now, he said, students are moving as far west as 45th Street and south of Baltimore Avenue without second thoughts.
The rising prices over the last decade have prompted much concern in the community over issues of stability, gentrification and displacement.
"If four undergraduates rent a house that would have been rented by a family, [they] will be able to pay more than a single mother with three kids," said Carol Scheman, Penn's vice president for government, community and public affairs. "Undergraduates make the market more expensive."
Spruce Hill, which spans from 40th to 46th streets, has traditionally low homeowner-occupancy levels. They were as low as 12 percent five years ago but have been steadily increasing since then, peaking at the current rate of 18 percent.
This is still, however, significantly lower than other UC neighborhoods, including Cedar Park, Garden Court and Walnut Hill. In these neighborhoods, often more than half of the housing stock is owned by single families.
Most community residents agree that even with the current increases, such low live-in owner rates pose a problem of stability for the neighborhood.
Students frequently rent apartments in the area for only one or two years.
"Students don't have a vested interest in the community. For them, it's not a home -- it's a house," said Larry Falcon, a local reverend and member of the group Neighbors Against McPenntrification. "You don't really see them joining in community events."
Until recently, the trend has been the conversion of single-family homes into apartment-style housing that would accommodate renters. Such conversions undermined a sense of community and further exacerbated the already acute concerns over displacement. But lately, those trends have been reversing.
"Landlords were perfectly happy making $2,500 a month," Johnston said. "But as real estate prices have gone up, and a house that was worth $125,000 in 1998 has close to tripled in value today, a lot of landlords have sold and taken their profit."
"And that housing stock has been converted to owner occupancy, and the rental market has shrunk."
Johnston said that he sees this trend continuing, primarily due to the incentive of home ownership provided by the new Penn Alexander School on 43rd and Locust streets.
But even with the rising rent prices, Johnston still considers the neighborhood an affordable place to live, with a variety of town house stock available.
"The surrounding community has wanted these residences to be returned to single-family housing, where it will not be driving up the rent and the cost of living as much as it has," said Glenn Bryan, Penn's director of city and communications relations*.
In the upcoming years, to relieve some of the tensions between the community and the school, Penn plans to facilitate discussions between neighbors and students in an attempt to integrate and find a proper place for undergraduates in the community, according to Bryan.
But Penn officials admit that the quandary will not be easily or promptly resolved. The University currently does not have enough housing options to be able to retain each member of the undergraduate student body on campus for four years.Correction*The article states that Glenn Bryan is Penn's director of city and communications relations, in fact he is Penn's director of city and community relations.
