Narragansett Ad Hoc Committee discusses URI Rental Problems

[theblueram]

The newly formed Ad Hoc Committe on URI Student Rental Problems met on monday. The article is in today's narragansett times, but I don't have a link. Some excerpts from the report on the meeting:

Committe member Joe Santos proposed that the issuance of a sticker should be a valid reason for a full home inspection by the town. "We need a methodology to drive down the supply of these homes in this town"

Committe member Harry Schofield, "We aren't going to fix the problem with a rifle shot here or there. We need to curb the demand so it becomes less and less opportune to buy these properties for rentals.Who wants to raise young kids in the midst of this nonsense. This is a fight for the life and soul of this town"

Lynn Notorantonio pointed out that due to excessive alchohol related incidents last week, Rhode Island College put a 3 day hold on all sports programs as a consequence. She said "I'm sorry if I'm getting upset about this. But I am sick of it"

Police Chief Hoxsie, "We've kept that presence up. State Police aren't getting DUI's either."


As I mentioned in another thread, there will be new laws, ordinances and policies that are going to be made that will heavily impact the rental market in Narragansett. A full town meeting will be held in November, and a meeting with landlords will also be held prior to that.

[TruePoint]

I think this whole thing is very sad. I am sympathetic to the extent there is actual physical danger to people or property. That obviously shouldn't happen. But on the other hand, I don't see anything in the excerpts that you posted that speaks to what the problem actually is. It starts with the assumption that students need to be eradicated and speaks about them like they are an invasive species. To me, quite honestly, these people sound like horrible human beings. Exactly the kind of gentle snowflake/busybody people I remember from when I lived there - the kind of people who think they deserve to resort to discriminatory housing practices because their neighbors offend their delicate sensibilities.

Just regular, old fashion police work can cut down on violence and vandalism. The rest of it, people should just have to figure out a way to deal with or move to another town. Trying to pass new ordinances specifically designed to harass and intimidate people into moving out of your town is a pretty despicable thing to do.

[RhowdyRam02]

Joe Santos sounds like a real idiot. Instead of serving on this town committee he might want to read the Constitution first, starting with the Bill of Rights.

[Puck Frovidence]

Committe member Harry Schofield, "Who wants to raise young kids in the midst of this nonsense. This is a fight for the life and soul of this town"

Lynn Notorantonio...said "I'm sorry if I'm getting upset about this. But I am sick of it"

The most hilarious (albeit nauseating) thing about the first two comments is that they both accept as truth the idea that the University students are a plague besetting their previously quiet little beach town. Wrong, and wrong. The University existed long before you bought your precious house, and will exist long after your depart it. Not only have the students been a constant, they're part of the economic lifeblood of the community, spending gobs of cash on local businesses and (through the owners of the homes they rent) probably paying double the property taxes that Joe, Harry and Lynn have to pony up.

[RF1]

It sounds as if all these people are only interested in getting these kids out of their town. Does not appear to be much constructive thought into improving the situation. The bigger issue is if they boot them from Narragansett, where do they go? Is this situation just unloaded on another local town? The students have to live somewhere as URI cannot adequately house them. As I have written before, I cannot understand given all these issues along with the revenue stream that dorms usually produce, why URI is not more aggresively looking to add more residential housing on campus. A large public university that is not primarily a commuter school should house much more than 50% of its undergraduate enrollment.

[theblueram]

RF1, I don't think it is just these people on the committee wanting to relocate students. The committee was created as a response to full time residents complaints. I think the thought process to a solution has ended, as multiple year over year collaboration with students, URI and the community have failed to create any change. This same thing happened in Newport years ago. As that city slowly went out of control due to rental nightmares, the city installed ordinances and laws to regain control. I agree the University needs additional on campus residences. This would alleviate the housing needs. Where would the students end up? I would guess South Kingstown.

[adam914]

Can the students and/or rental property owners band together and vote to do whatever it takes to eradicate the town of these people? Seems they have them outnumbered.

[TruePoint]

Can the students and/or rental property owners band together and vote to do whatever it takes to eradicate the town of these people? Seems they have them outnumbered.

I said this in the other thread. Students can 100% register to vote where they live during the school year, and they should unless they are from a swing state and want to be able to vote there in presidential elections.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Just awful.

[rhodylaw]

The issue as I see it was the elimination of partying on campus. Loosen up the on campus that is more controllable and you won't have these issues down the line. Kids will still live down the line for sure but if there were giant frat parties on campus like other colleges maybe you would not see the same issues in the town.

[Running Ram]

this is the most pathetic rerun. Same grumblings as when we lived down the line, let the students and university's money go else where and Narragansett is a ghost town with a major housing crisis! This reminds me of the idiots that move there families downtown Newport then gripe to city counsel that its too loud at 1am.

[RF1]

I think residents have valid concerns. Narragansett IS NOT A COLLEGE TOWN. People moved there to be near the ocean. URI is some 10 miles away.

The problem is that there are far too many students living in the town and some of them do not know how to behave.

Furthermore, the seasonal houses by the beach have not always been rented out to students in the offseason. My family owns a summer home near Scarborough. We have rented it out some years to students in the past. I even lived there post graduation for a year. Our one block long street however had very few off-season student rentals in the past. Some homes however have changed ownership in the last five years and the whole character of the area has changed. My neice now lives in our house and she sometimes can't even get her car into our driveway because visitors to the student rental next door park in front of it blocking access. There are loud parties nearly every weekend. She is by no means old as she is in her late 20's. She however is irritated by it.

These here who think the neighborhoods have always been student ghettos are wrong. Those that think leaving Narragansett will hurt the residents don't get it. The vast majority of residents don't rent their homes and want them to leave.

There needs to be a collective solution so that both sides can coexist. I personally think much of the problems could be significantly reduced just by having less students living down the line. It is their sheer numbers which make things look a lot worse than they are.

Residents of Narragansett should push the state to build more dorms at URI.

[Andrew]

I think this whole thing is very sad. I am sympathetic to the extent there is actual physical danger to people or property. That obviously shouldn't happen. But on the other hand, I don't see anything in the excerpts that you posted that speaks to what the problem actually is. It starts with the assumption that students need to be eradicated and speaks about them like they are an invasive species. To me, quite honestly, these people sound like horrible human beings. Exactly the kind of gentle snowflake/busybody people I remember from when I lived there - the kind of people who think they deserve to resort to discriminatory housing practices because their neighbors offend their delicate sensibilities.

Just regular, old fashion police work can cut down on violence and vandalism. The rest of it, people should just have to figure out a way to deal with or move to another town. Trying to pass new ordinances specifically designed to harass and intimidate people into moving out of your town is a pretty despicable thing to do.

Your quick judgment and exaggeration diminishes your point. Didn't you live around here only briefly? I grew up in Narragansett, and there were always houses with college kids, no matter what neighborhood, in any section of town. Eastward Look is now more or less 100% students, which wasn't always the case. There's always going to be students who are destructive and out of control, and those who are confined within society's rules. When I was a sophomore, we had the cops show up to the door, to a "huge party" of five. They chuckled, and left. It's likely an older neighbor called. So, I understand your point about the crotchety people who are "ball busters".

Your shrugging off as "kids will be kids" really shows a lack of understanding of what the damage is. Plenty of anecdotes of property being destroyed, vandalized, disrespected, and otherwise treated "un-neighborly", if you will. This isn't during a huge block party like was held and in the papers last year, but rather a regular Wednesday night.

Eastward is the biggest problem - it's simply too many college kids living in one area, where they know that they're living in a free-for-all. How to fix it? More dorms for one (I had no idea URI had trouble housing kids), a lower cost of room and board, if possible (it's cheaper to live off campus than on it), and a breaking up of the neighborhoods so one area isn't predominantly students.

[RF1]

URI greatly lags its New England state university peers in providing on campus housing.

Code: Select all

SCHOOL	UNDERGRADS	%ON CAMPUS	APPROX BEDS
URI	12,900	47%	6,000
UNH	11,942	58%	7,100
UMASS	21,373	66%	14,000
UCONN	18,032	73%	13,000

[gorhody89]

Nobody is going to want to live in dorms on a dry campus with no bars around it...that's a fact so building new dorms isn't going to do anything, students in Narragansett arnt going anywhere and they shouldnt...also how is the sticker policy not a due process issue, I thought you were supposed to have the riight to argue your case

[RF1]

Nobody is going to want to live in dorms on a dry campus with no bars around it...that's a fact so building new dorms isn't going to do anything

How do you then explain UConn. Until very recently it had less things near campus than URI (including bars) and still housed over 70% of its students.

[TruePoint]

There are definitely discriminatory housing hurdles the town will have to clear if they want to do anything with their plan, although I'm not clear on whether the Ad Hoc committee mentioned here serves in any official capacity or is just a bunch of angry middle-aged suburban white people doing what they do best. If they are working directly with the town, I'm sure the town solicitor is guiding them on what kinds of methods they can employ. Unfortunately, students aren't a protected class and likely aren't benefited from low-income housing laws since most students pay a pretty decent amount in rent.

While any ordinance imposed by the town that is specifically designed to impact students will eventually have its day in court and will likely be struck down, that is a lengthy process. The most effective way to combat the tyranny of the townspeople here would be to do what Adam suggested and get the students living in town organized enough that they can block these kinds of attacks at the town government level.

[gorhody89]

Nobody is going to want to live in dorms on a dry campus with no bars around it...that's a fact so building new dorms isn't going to do anything

How do you then explain UConn. Until very recently it had less things near campus than URI (including bars) and still housed over 70% of its students.

Ya except URI is a dry campus Uconn is very much not...ever been to spring day at uconn, obviously not or you wouldnt mention them...you can't have over a 6pack at URI if you are 21 and if you get caught 3 times youre expelled....all of this goes back to Robert Carothers

[Puck Frovidence]

I believe there are some new (private) construction projects off of Old North Rd just before Stony Fort. Also, the new student apartment buildings should help. The figure I read before those were built was that URI has capacity for 38% of the student body on campus. I think the three biggest reasons for the off-campus exodus are the dry-campus policies, the cost and the state of most of the housing on campus. Quite simply, no students want to live in overpriced dumps with draconian alcohol policies, even for those who are over 21.

The Graduate apartments are particularly gross, with flooding a concern for some. But even with the nicer, more modern upperclassmen apartments like Wiley and Garrahy, why would any student or parent want to pay the equivalent of $800+ per month to have a narrow concrete bunker for a room in an apartment with 4 other people? If they're going to compete with private housing the value for money has got to be higher. If you had 5 people willing to each pay $800-$900/mo for housing off campus you could live like sultans.

As a bonus, you have the added possibility of an RA knocking on your door and rummaging through your fridge to see if you've exceeded the "12 drinks per apartment" rule for majority age students. Even if you were determined to keep any consumption out of your room, there are no bars/package stores within walking distance from campus, so you'd better have a car (perfect accessory for drinking).

[Running Ram]

RF1, Uconn has two bars a mere 15 feet from campus last time I checked

[RF1]

RF1, Uconn has two bars a mere 15 feet from campus last time I checked

Are they in the new Storrs Center? If so, UConn still housed all those students before that development even had shovels in the ground.

Regardless of when they were built, they must be pretty large and spectacular bars to convince 13,000 students to live nearby on campus.

[rhodylaw]

You can't compare UConn to rhody. There is nowhere anywhere close to the UConn campus that any kid would want to live by. Rhody has seasonal beach houses to rent way better.

Again the issue is there is no place for kids to go and be stupid without fear of prosecution. So you have house parties down the line which become an issue

[theblueram]

So there was a large meeting on campus on Wednesday held by the student senate attended by over 150 students. Narragansett was represented by The Town Manager Pam Nolan and others. In response to a student having issue with the new parking ordinance, Nolan said "These people are deadly serious. They want this to end. These parties are in the whole town. We're looking very seriously at the number of unrelated people allowed to live in each household. It is usually three or four people." , "Other communities throughout the country have adopted this rule and we are seriously considering it."

In response to a student bringing up the economic impact the students have on the town, Dean of Students Gonzales responded "You have choices and you have rights. You can exercise where you're using your economics if a community is not being supportive of you".

A closing comment by Nolan, "Hopefully, we were able to leave the knowledge with students who rent property in Narragansett that we expect them to respect the residential neighborhood they live in".

[RF1]

You can't compare UConn to rhody. There is nowhere anywhere close to the UConn campus that any kid would want to live by. Rhody has seasonal beach houses to rent way better.

Again the issue is there is no place for kids to go and be stupid without fear of prosecution. So you have house parties down the line which become an issue

There was an implication made that students lived on campus at UConn because there were two nearby bars and students didn't want to live at URI because there are no bars right nearby. Your argument that there is not a similar rental market near Storrs as is the case with Kingston has more validity. The fact that CT and MA are bigger states and many of their in state students cannot reasonably commute is another factor why UConn and UMass may have more students living on campus than URI (all of RI is within commuting distance).

UNH may be a better comparison to URI given all circumstances. They are about the same in enrollment and both draw a comparable % of out of state students. Both states have similar population sizes (1m). Most of the population base of NH is in the southern portion within reasonable driving distance of Durham. UNH is close to the coast with rentals at summer homes an option. There are a lot of common denominators. UNH however still houses nearly 10% more than URI.

I still feel URI houses far too few of its students and this contributes to a lot of its problems. We see the issues with so many living off campus in nearby towns. A cohesive campus with the great majority of its students living on campus builds a strong communal bond that remains even after graduation. I would not be surprised if many of the alumni that are less supportive of URI lived off campus during their student days. To them (as it seems with some here), many of their college memories are likley centered on living in vacation homes close to the beach where they hopped from one house party to another. While they were students at URI, much of their living experience had no connection to URI.

To me, part of a great college includes having most of its students living within walking distance. I would think that being able to house near 70% of the undergraduate enrollment is ideal. new dorms and a relaxation of the alcohol policy would help make that happen.

[adam914]

So there was a large meeting on campus on Wednesday held by the student senate attended by over 150 students. Narragansett was represented by The Town Manager Pam Nolan and others. In response to a student having issue with the new parking ordinance, Nolan said "These people are deadly serious. They want this to end. These parties are in the whole town. We're looking very seriously at the number of unrelated people allowed to live in each household. It is usually three or four people." , "Other communities throughout the country have adopted this rule and we are seriously considering it."

In response to a student bringing up the economic impact the students have on the town, Dean of Students Gonzales responded "You have choices and you have rights. You can exercise where you're using your economics if a community is not being supportive of you".

A closing comment by Nolan, "Hopefully, we were able to leave the knowledge with students who rent property in Narragansett that we expect them to respect the residential neighborhood they live in".

So will this "unrelated people in one household" rule apply during the summer to? Or is it ok as long as you're paying $3k a week?

I hope Narragansett residents are ready for their property values to plummet after this rule goes into affect. The market will be saturated with people looking to unload their income properties.

[gorhody89]

You can't compare UConn to rhody. There is nowhere anywhere close to the UConn campus that any kid would want to live by. Rhody has seasonal beach houses to rent way better.

Again the issue is there is no place for kids to go and be stupid without fear of prosecution. So you have house parties down the line which become an issue

There was an implication made that students lived on campus at UConn because there were two nearby bars and students didn't want to live at URI because there are no bars right nearby. Your arguemnt that there is not a similar rental market near Storrs as is the case with Kingston has more validity. The fact that CT and MA are bigger states and many of their in state students cannot reasonably commute is another factor why UConn and UMass may have more students living on cmapus than URI (all if RI is within commuting distance).

UNH may be a better comparison to URI given all circumstances. They are about the same in enrollment and both draw a comparable % of out of state students. Both states have similar population sizes (1m). Most of the population base of NH is in the southern portion within reasonable driving distance of Durham. UNH is close to the coast with rentals at summer homes an option. There are a lot of common denominators. UNH however still houses nearly 10% more than URI.

I still feel URI houses far too few of its students and this contributes to a lot of its problems. We see the issues with so many living off campus in nearby towns. A cohesive campus with the great majority of its students living on campus builds a strong communal bond that remains even after graduation. I would not be surprised if many of the alumni that are less supportive of URI lived off campus during their student days. To them (as it seems with some here), many of their college memories are likley centered on living in vacation homes close to the beach where they hopped from one house party to another. While they were students at URI, much of their living experience had no connection to URI.

To me, part of a great college includes having most of its students living within walking distance. I would think that being able to house near 70% of the undergraduate enrollment is ideal.

Nobody wants to live on a dry campus with strict rules...stop comparing URI to any of these schools

[RF1]

Nobody wants to live on a dry campus with strict rules...stop comparing URI to any of these schools

I will continue to compare URI to its peer New England state flagship universities whether you like it or not. I am however in agreement with you that URI should have a more reasonable policy toward alcohol on campus. Carothers and the party school moniker are long in the past.

[theblueram]

Adam
all ordinances impact all residents. So yes, these would be applied to summer vacationers, full time residents and full time renters. As for market value, I guess it's what a town wants to have as a driving metric for growth. Some leverage investment income, others leverage quality of life, great education systems and a community that knows and supports each other. I'm not against students living in town. I did as a senior and grad student. But it was much different back then.

[adam914]

Adam
all ordinances impact all residents. So yes, these would be applied to summer vacationers, full time residents and full time renters. As for market value, I guess it's what a town wants to have as a driving metric for growth. Some leverage investment income, others leverage quality of life, great education systems and a community that knows and supports each other. I'm not against students living in town. I did as a senior and grad student. But it was much different back then.

Well thats good that it applies to everybody, I just wonder what they think is going to happen if these property owners can no longer rent to people that aren't related. Do they think those people are just going to all move in with their nice little families? I highly doubt it. Much more likely that it no longer makes sense for them to own the property and you start seeing 75% of the houses on the market which would be a nightmare.

[RF1]

Adam
all ordinances impact all residents. So yes, these would be applied to summer vacationers, full time residents and full time renters. As for market value, I guess it's what a town wants to have as a driving metric for growth. Some leverage investment income, others leverage quality of life, great education systems and a community that knows and supports each other. I'm not against students living in town. I did as a senior and grad student. But it was much different back then.

Well thats good that it applies to everybody, I just wonder what they think is going to happen if these property owners can no longer rent to people that aren't related. Do they think those people are just going to all move in with their nice little families? I highly doubt it. Much more likely that it no longer makes sense for them to own the property and you start seeing 75% of the houses on the market which would be a nightmare.

Most of the owners of the rental properties are not resident voters in Narragansett. Much of the rentals are also owned by single entities such as Durkin. The rental prperty owners really have little sway in local politics (as is also the case with students lving in the rentals). If the town passes new ordinances, owner will have to re-evaluate their ownership and potential new owners will have to consider this before making house purchases in the town. A cooler real estate market will then result in lower values which will then impact all owners alike (resident and non-resident).

[gorhody89]

Nobody wants to live on a dry campus with strict rules...stop comparing URI to any of these schools

I will continue to compare URI to its peer New England state flagship universities whether you like it or not. I am however in agreement with you that URI should have a more reasonable policy toward alcohol on campus. Carothers and the party school moniker are long in the past.

My point is you can build all the dorms you want students just won't live in them...even if you make it a wet campus again it won't happen...it's almost half the cost to live off campus in really nice houses, and people having been living down the line for decades it's not going anywhere nor should it...it's part of the URI college experience

[theblueram]

89
I agree. It is a part of URI. It should continue. It is a great extension of the campus. Maybe students are changing. The disrespect shown is appalling. Not by the majority by any means, but enough to have a whole town of 17,000 residents upset enough to basically evict them. The current students will dictate whether the tradition of "Down the line" continues. At this point not sure what can be done that hasn't been tried in the past. I'm sure the town is open to suggestions. The students are respectfull in meetings and discussions, but get a few beers into them and Katie Bar the Door. The ordinances being enancted and being thought of have never been in place before. Think about that. All the years of students being down the line, having parties and being part of the community have never needed drastic measures like these. What changed? The residents......or the students?

[Taylor Swift]

Most of the owners of the rental properties are not resident voters in Narragansett. Much of the rentals are also owned by single entities such as Durkin. The rental prperty owners really have little sway in local politics (as is also the case with students lving in the rentals). If the town passes new ordinances, owner will have to re-evaluate their ownership and potential new owners will have to consider this before making house purchases in the town. A cooler real estate market will then result in lower values which will then impact all owners alike (resident and non-resident).

Some dude from CT or NY who owns a house in Bonnet and visits Narragansett two weekends out of the summer and rents out the rest of the time does NOT care about the town at all. You're completely right. I'm sure there are a few who do....

Eastward Look was a terrific family neighborhood up until about 15 years ago. My grandparents had a house there as well as my aunt and uncle who were all year round residents. The neighborhood is almost 100% rentals now. Not that there is anything wrong with people renting, but the neighborhood itself looks like a complete DUMP now. There are landlords out there who put in $0 to maintaining their properties. I did a recent drive through the neighborhood, and there is garbage strewn all over the place.

The landlord I had when I was in college was a complete d*ck down in Scarborough. I guess he had one year of students who were huge partiers, and he had literally 0 tolerance after that. We never had parties there because of that, and we each had $20 deducted from our security deposit because the microwave wasn't "clean enough" when we moved out. He also deducted $50 each because he had to get a new mail box... I guess it was our fault that a snow plow knocked it over.

As far as the Orange Sticker ordinance, it doesn't pertain just students. Anyone can get one. I saw an apartment house on Kingstown Road that does NOT have students as tenants with one. I did hear last night that the Town did approve adding on an additional officer for "Party Patrol". If you party, just be respectful. No hooting and hollering at 2AM.

[adam914]

I dont disagree with much of what you said, but my point is that essentially outlawing rentals isn't going to change all that. These people that put $0 into maintaining their rentals arent going to all of a sudden care now and make the houses beautiful and move in. So it'll go from being a dump (yours words not mine) with houses full of renters that contribute to the local economy, to a dump with a bunch of empty houses most of which are up for sale at an extremely deflated price with nobody contributing to the local economy.

I honestly believe this could turn into a "careful what you wish for" situation if they run the students out of town.

[Taylor Swift]

There definitely are a lot of dumps. There is no denying that. Not sure what other word to call a house that has shutters hanging off of it, tire tracks in the grass, and weeds growing out of the gutter. Maybe "rustic" would work?

Students being run out of town is never going to happen. URI students have been living in Narragansett since before the 1960s even.

BUT....If I could buy a house in Narragansett at a deflated price, I'd be a very happy camper. Not a realistic situation though.

[theblueram]

I find it interesting that not one current student has weighed in. Tells alot.

[rhodylaw]

So the rental houses that now have 4/5 students aren't going to just rent to 2/3 students? If I own a rental I won't let it sit for the winter. Sure I lose some money and am pissed but I am going to find a way to make some money.

[adam914]

So the rental houses that now have 4/5 students aren't going to just rent to 2/3 students? If I own a rental I won't let it sit for the winter. Sure I lose some money and am pissed but I am going to find a way to make some money.

Well yeah they'd have to cut their rent big time, so they would lose some money as you said. But in this scenario, assuming it applies to summer rentals as well, then 3 couples that wanted to go on vacation and rent a house together could not do it because they aren't all related. The hit in the summer would be the bigger issue I would think.

[Seawrightspostgame]

How restrictive can the town be over other peoples property? In terms of allowing them to rent it?

Especially when there is a clear history of renting houses out for decades? I don't think they can be that restrictive. At least if it makes it to a court.

Sucks these people are trying to make the lives of students difficult when the students are clearly vulnerable.

[RF1]

Sucks these people are trying to make the lives of students difficult when the students are clearly vulnerable.

?????
I don't get your comment. Isn't this all coming to a head because the students have made living in parts of Narragansett difficult for other residents?

[Seawrightspostgame]

I see it from the perspective of the student just renting a place to live to go to school because thats my experience.

My neighbor did weird stuff that I thought was a little too aggressive to us (outside of calling the police).

I just think that there are laws that deal with behavior that is illegal. If it is wrong then they already have a remedy for it, if it isn't illegal then let it be.

Neighbors aren't perfect, look at the guy in Cranston that shot his neighbor in the guy's front yard over a party in the middle of the day? Neighbors have issues with each other everywhere. It isn't unique to Gansett, the kids are just more vulnerable in that they can be identified as a group and targeted.

[TruePoint]

Sucks these people are trying to make the lives of students difficult when the students are clearly vulnerable.

?????
I don't get your comment. Isn't this all coming to a head because the students have made living in parts of Narragansett difficult for other residents?

Wow. No. That is the most one-sided way of looking at this possible.

[RF1]

Sucks these people are trying to make the lives of students difficult when the students are clearly vulnerable.

?????
I don't get your comment. Isn't this all coming to a head because the students have made living in parts of Narragansett difficult for other residents?

Wow. No. That is the most one-sided way of looking at this possible.

No. The one sided perspective is to paint all students as victims without blame.

If some students didn't behave badly, there would be no issue.

[TruePoint]

?????
I don't get your comment. Isn't this all coming to a head because the students have made living in parts of Narragansett difficult for other residents?

Wow. No. That is the most one-sided way of looking at this possible.

No. The one sided perspective is to paint all students as victims without blame.

If some students didn't behave badly, there would be no issue.

You're right. That would be one-sided. But we aren't painting all students as victims without blame. Both SPG and I have each said that law enforcement should be enforcing the laws already in place against violence, vandalism, etc., that the residents are complaining about. But when 99% of the students are just normal kids trying to get an education and the locals are trying to run them out of town, that makes the locals the bad guys. As justified as they may feel, and as supported as they may be at their circle-jerk "committee" meetings, they are 100% in the wrong with respect to trying to chase kids out of the town. The students have every bit as much right as the locals to be there. Respect is a two way street, and I've seen no evidence that the locals deserve much at this point.

[Puck Frovidence]

For all the people drawing comparisons to other schools, probably a good time to remember this situation is in no way unique to URI/Narragansett. Every rural college in every college town faces this problem from residents and neighboring towns. Do a quick Google and you'll see that from Durham to Amherst, from New Haven to Providence you will always find some NIMBY townies looking to bite the hand of the University that feeds them. You will also find a smattering of brain-dead "students", so unaware and self-centered they won't bother to keep their gatherings from wrecking their temporary neighborhoods.

What seems (moderately) unique here is that, as TruePoint has noted, the townies in this case seem convinced that they have (or should have), inherently more rights than the non-resident owners or the students in residence. That because of the actions of a few, the entire legal standing of owners and renters should be reduced in the eyes of the town. Hardly seems in the "cooperative" spirit.

[theblueram]

It's almost like obamacare. Isn't it? Forcing shit onto you that you don't want.

[RF1]

Every rural college in every college town faces this problem from residents and neighboring towns.

Narragansett IS NOT A COLLEGE TOWN. There is no college located in it. URI is in the adjoining town of South Kingstown. Narragansett is first and foremost a BEACH TOWN. It is also where many students from a university in a neighboring town choose to live part of the year while attending college.

I think many here associate Narragansett as being a part of URI. Very few people outside of the URI students who might have lived there view it as such. Any objective observer or full time resident views Narragansett as a beach town. Many summer visitors and outsiders don't even know that large number of students from URI live there for part of the year.

[TruePoint]

Narragansett is de facto part of URI's campus since about a third of its students live there and students make up a sizable portion of the town's population. So you can keep saying it isn't a college town until you are blue in the face, but it's a college town.

[RF1]

Narragansett is de facto part of URI's campus since about a third of its students live there and students make up a sizable portion of the town's population. So you can keep saying it isn't a college town until you are blue in the face, but it's a college town.

I think that is a big part of the problem. Many present and past students that lived there view it as a college town and treat it as such. Make no mistake however, the overwhelming number of residents of the town do not see it that way.

[theblueram]

I find it interesting that people with no vested interest in the town, pay no taxes, do not vote , do not have children in the school system take so much interest into what this town does. Why would you care what a town you don't live in does? Do you take this much interest in Central Falls as well?