When people ask me where I live, I tell them the University View. A common response to this is, “Oh, really, that must be great. I hear it’s really nice.” It is true that if you were to stroll through either of the View’s two lobbies you might initially be impressed by its suave interiors. By entering either Building 1 or Building 2’s front doors, you will find a lobby punctuated by shiny wood floors, airy space and a marvelous likeness to a five-star hotel. Ah, but how quickly you are deceived! For I too was once a victim of this trickery. Having lived to tell the tale, I would like to expose to you the reality of “luxurious” student living.
The View does a fine job of boasting about the amenities it offers. However, be mindful of its inflated words. Take one look at the View’s website, and you will find that there is a “pool,” “24-hour community patrol” and even “bicycle storage.” What it fails to make clear is the hole in the ground called a “pool” is more akin to a wading pool you might find in a senior citizens’ home — it is just three feet deep. The “24-hour community patrol” operates under a haphazard protocol; sometimes the guards sign people in, other times it seems as though a bomb-wielding terrorist could stroll right past them. Then, there is that wonderful “bicycle storage” it advertises — it’s just a bike rack outside.
For a place that prides itself as a “premier student housing destination,” the View fails to deliver when it comes to quality of life. The walls are paper-thin. I know this because I could recite to you my neighbors’ conversations. The pipes that carry water to each bathroom set off a terribly disturbing rumbling of the walls. Each time you or your neighbor or even someone two floors above you decides to take a rinse, it sounds like we are the ones being bombed by North Korea.
The other day, the View’s website underwent a redesign. By chance, I happened upon the site only to notice that it listed itself as the “premier student hosing destination.” This, I thought to myself, was much more fitting.
These complaints would likely be bearable if they were the only negatives. However, there is a whole laundry list of issues just like these. Yet by far the most disconcerting aspect of living in the View is the paltry return on your dollar. This housing is by no means inexpensive. I am ashamed to say my own rent exceeds four digits and that in my time here, I have seen little, if anything, that justifies its payment. The management exhibits a general indifference while proceeding to waste your rent. For one, the View’s latest feature amenity is free tanning beds. Who in his or her right mind still uses those cancer-ovens? To add insult to injury, residents are expected to pay a utility surcharge for the beds. And I must say, it gives me great pleasure to know I am paying for people to look like John Boehner.
Steven Spinello is a junior economics major. He can be reached at spinello at umdbk dot com.
