Student-focused housing in the Langara area falls behind other institutions

By TUAN TRAN

A rezoning proposal for the Langara Family YMCA highlights the Langara area’s lack of affordable student housing when compared to other Metro Vancouver institutions.

The development proposal for the YMCA recently changed to include three mixed-use developments at heights of eight, 33 and 37 storeys. It contains no specific proposals for student-focused housing.

According to Langara’s 2023 transportation survey, only 41 per cent of Langara students live in Vancouver while the remaining 59 per cent commute from less expensive areas outside the city. Langara students say that affordable local housing would be a boon for their academic experience.

“You’re spending three hours every single day to get to school,” said Anderson Tseng, a second-year computer science student. “Imagine the amount of time you would have if you could live on campus, or live nearer to campus.”

Housing should focus on students’ needs

“I would say it’s a good idea to have housing near the college,” said Udaypartap Singh, an international student at Langara. 

“​​But I still have a doubt about the rent,” Singh said, referencing housing in the Marine Drive area. “That is also for students… you must have seen, they charge like $2,500 for like, one or two bedrooms.”

Student housing in the Langara area falls behind the on-campus housing provided by other institutions in Vancouver such as Simon Fraser University, which houses 2,360 students on campus with roughly 950 more on the waitlist.

According to Jeff Hodson, a Communications Analyst at SFU, they offer different housing options for undergraduates, graduates and families.

“For students living on campus, commuting is a short, 5-to-10-minute walk to classrooms and lecture halls, gym, library, restaurants and food options,” said Hodson in an email statement. 

A prime opportunity for developers

Jas Nguyen, a real estate agent in Vancouver, said in 7 years of working in real estate, he’s seen few mentions of student housing in the South Vancouver area even though “it’s a very good market right now, especially when the government is accepting immigrants.”

As Nguyen explained, one reason could be that the cost of living in Vancouver deters students from renting nearby. 

“When people come here, it’s not easy,” said Nguyen. “Some people, students and workers, struggle to live because everything is expensive.”

A chance for an improvement of the student experience

Khushi Salwan, a second-year international student at Langara, said even though it is difficult for her to study at home because there are roommates causing noise, studying in the library is not viable.

“If I want to like… come to the library to just study for a day, I would have to take a transit. That’s like 45, 50 minutes,” she said.

Thomas Davidoff, an associate professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, said on-campus student housing is a good idea as long as students are willing to cram into small spaces.

“There will be plenty of demand, so [it] should pay for itself,” said Davidoff. “This should improve the undergrad experience and reduce driving.”