You Know Who Else Is Struggling With Seattle Rents? College Students.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON has a bunch of fancy new dorms coming in, but what it needs is more affordable housing for students.
I went to the University of Washington, and as an undergrad, my first off-campus apartment had backed-up plumbing, a washing machine that reeked of mildew, and a backyard with a view of an abandoned house foundation that was part trash dump, part homeless encampment. (Once, it was also the site of an accidental trash fire.) The place wasn’t perfect, and there were six of us sharing it, but it was my home for $445 a month.
After groceries, my minimum-wage paycheck barely covered rent. This wasn’t so long ago, but looking back, it seems that apartment was a steal. Three years later, I’m paying $700 for a place less than a block away.
Those of us in the University District are intimately familiar with the stresses of Seattle’s spiking rents. First, you spend months searching for housing and tearing your hair out when no one calls you back. Once you do find a place, you’re forced to empty your bank account to pay for a pocket-sized apartment in an unkempt building with barely working appliances. For students, the problem is particularly acute.
Rent in the University District increased by 9 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to the Seattle Times, and the “overall average rent” in the neighborhood is now $1,181.
What this means, in practical terms, is that students can no longer work their way through school.
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