The perils of living on your own are all too well-known by students. High rent, cramped apartments, rodents, deplorable conditions, and under-invested landlords are the reality for some who rent in the city. Some might just be an understatement.
Students have been taken advantage of by landlords who know some of us will pay any price to live in apartments through college. The Boston Globe published a three-part Spotlight Team series earlier this year on the struggles students face throughout Boston as they try to find a suitable apartment.
Thomas Farragher, now a Globe columnist, wrote a piece for Saturday’s paper remarking on the discoveries of the series. Saturday was the deadline for colleges and universities across the Hub to submit where their off-campus students live to the Boston city clerk, according to Farragher’s column.
Farragher, the former Spotlight Team leader, wrote that the new city inspector has not hired any new inspectors to investigate the off-campus apartments that house students. The city inspector told Farragher the inspections were not a priority.
As a student, this is infuriating. Many who go to college in Boston, especially at Suffolk, come to the city romanced by the chance to live on their own. But, with a selection of apartments that don’t offer safe conditions, what is a student to do? Live at home? Pay the fee for dorms?
Living in an unkempt apartment might seem like less of a loss than giving up independence and the college experience of living on your own. But that is not fair.
The city should do more to protect its students. Boston is known as a college town, and city inspectors should work to make sure the students who inhabit The Bean are safe.
It’s not okay for student housing to be pushed aside. This should be a priority. We live in the city and we deserve the best inspectional services.
If Boston wants to keep it’s college students healthy, happy, and in the city post-graduation, inspectors need to ensure that apartments from Allston to Brighton to Fenway to East Boston are in top shape.
