A recent letter suggested that the message sent by the Provo City Council is “that students and single persons do not contribute to the vitality of neighborhoods and are instead a menace that must be restricted.”
Actually, it’s just one of the realities of life that most singles – students in particular – and families don’t move in the same circles. Frankly, as a student I had no contact with my “permanent” neighbors, and now, as a family man, I have virtually no contact with my student neighbors. It’s not that either side is bad; they’re just different.
I live in the University Gardens area that was referred to numerous times in the council meeting. I have also been pushing hard to get this zoning change passed. Why? I moved into my neighborhood 17 years ago because it was a strong family area that I felt would be good for my family – and it has been. However, over the past few years a number of the houses in the neighborhood have been sold and converted to singles’ rentals.
For example, the two houses next to me used to be occupied by a widow who was like a second grandmother to my children and by a young family we associated with regularly and for whom my daughters were babysitters. Now both are occupied by single students. Other houses that held children who played with my children are now also occupied by single students. And, no offense intended, but my children are not going to be playing with those students. In fact, if they did, I would be concerned.
As far as the vitality of the neighborhood is concerned, students have a great deal of vitality. Unfortunately, families don’t usually appreciate that kind of vitality: Parties, late-night activities, excessive noise, lots of cars, etc.
I loved being a student and participating in all those activities, but I’m not interested in those things any more. Now I have chosen to live in an area with a different lifestyle and merely wish to preserve that lifestyle.
MARK WERNER
Provo
