The Crimson White: Rumor Edition, November 2021

RUMOR
November 18, 2021
Is off-campus student housing too much trouble?
3B
ANNABELLE BLOMELEY, JEFFREY KELLY & MADDY REDA
THE CULTURE DESK
With 167 student apartments listed
on the UA off-campus housing resources
page, there are bound to be some
problems. From water leaks and poor
management to break-ins and infestations,
choosing a place to live after dorming can
be a daunting task.
While many off-campus apartments
have good reviews, some haven’t fared so
well, facing complaints such as broken
appliances, poor management, mold,
flooding and security concerns.
Recently, several complexes have
been the target of break-ins and
attempted robberies.
Stephanie Taylor, a spokesperson
for the Tuscaloosa Police Department,
said that most vehicle break-ins, thefts
and burglaries happen at off-campus
apartment complexes and off-campus
houses because there are more potential
victims available in a shorter amount of
time and there tends to be less security.
According to the Tuscaloosa Police
Department, all vehicles and every
apartment but one that have been broken
into within the past three months at Vie at
University Downs were unlocked and had
no signs of forced entry.
In the Alabama Student Ticket
Exchange Facebook group alone, dozens
of posts have been made about cars being
broken into or stolen at supposedly gated
apartment complexes.
“When choosing a place to live, pay
attention to whether the complex has
working security cameras,” Taylor said.
“We sometimes get crimes reported at a
residential or
business that
has cameras,
but not functional ones. Check with the
apartment management on occasion and
ask if the cameras work. If they advertise
on-site security personnel, hold them to
that. If the complex is gated, but the gate is
always left up — say something.”
Along with security issues, many
complexes have been berated online for
the lack of cleanliness in the apartments.
One apartment complex, The Lofts at
City Center, claims on its website to offer
“luxurious apartments” and “the best
student apartments in Tuscaloosa near
The University of Alabama.”
With rates as low as $394 per month,
The Lofts is one of the cheaper housing
options for students. However, many
residents have used the ticket exchange
Facebook group, online review websites
and other platforms to advise against
living at The Lofts.
One Yelp user claimed his apartment
flooded several times at The Lofts, that
there was a cockroach problem, and that
“trash piles up in the halls, dog poop stays
in stairwells or hallways for months.”
Cardinal Group Management, which
owns The Lofts and several other studentstyle
living apartments across the country,
said it is working to fix the problems.
“We are aware of issues concerning
trash and mold in The Lofts at City Center
over the last few weeks. We have promptly
and actively worked to resolve every
issue that has come to our attention.” the
Cardinal Group said in a statement to the
Crimson White in October.
While some may think the cheaper
price equates to worse conditions, some
off-campus apartments have proven this
isn’t the case.
In August 2018, many were
excited to be the first residents of
Hub Tuscaloosa, which flaunted
luxury apartments, pool parties and a
location near Bryant-Denny Stadium.
However, after being open for only a week,
Hub was already experiencing problems,
much to the dismay of the students paying
upwards of $1,200 a month in rent for
one apartment.
According to Andrew Cartwright, a
student who shared his experience with
the Crimson White in October, they were
met with dirty surfaces and sinks full of
water with no working garbage disposal.
Over the next few months, residents
also experienced flooding and mold in
the walls.
Lily Mai, the director of communications
for Hub, responded to the issues in an
October article of the Crimson White.
“The heavy rainfall we had in September
impacted some residents and displaced
others,” Mai said. “We worked closely with
anyone experiencing issues, and there are
no residents in [un]inhabitable situations.”
Although most students who complain
about their apartments are simply out
of luck, more than 100 residents of Hub
Tuscaloosa filed a class action lawsuit
against the company in 2018 for violating
the Alabama Landlord and Tenant Act.
City Attorney Scott Holmes said all
lawsuits related to Hub were dismissed
with prejudice in February 2020.
Some off-campus apartment complexes
have changed their names throughout the
years due to changes in ownership, losing
the bad reviews associated with their name
in the process. Redpoint was originally
called The Woodlands of Tuscaloosa
but changed its name in 2019. Campus
Evolution was renamed The Path. Evolve
used to be known as Harbor on Sixth.
Michael Cartee, a real estate developer
from Chicago and a Tuscaloosa lawyer
who represented Core Spaces, said that
the exception for plexes is “fundamentally
unfair”
CW / Anna Butts
and that plexes cause horizontal sprawl
and blight.
Tuscaloosa attorney Bryan Winter,
who also represented Core Spaces, said
the city currently incentivizes four and
five bedrooms for plexes in the way that
it handles service fees. Land development
projects pay those fees to the city to
cover the impact that they have on
city infrastructure.
Service fees are charged to housing
developments by the number of units,
rather than by the number of bedrooms
and bathrooms.
Winter said the moratorium on multifamily
and student mega complexes
is “pushing back on outside economic
investment and job creation.”
Robert McLeod, a professor of
finance at The University of Alabama’s
Culverhouse College of Business, said
the economic impact of large-scale land
development projects like student mega
complexes “make a very large contribution
to both city and school taxes.”
“If we unduly restrict these kinds
of developments, it’s going to hurt
Tuscaloosa’s economy,” McLeod said.
After studying 2019 economic data with
Samuel Addy, head of the Culverhouse
Center for Business and Economic
Research, McLeod said they found that
for every dollar in construction spending,
there is a positive economic impact of
$2.40, and that large housing development
projects had an impact of more than $500
million on Tuscaloosa’s economy that year.
McLeod also said large-scale
developments like mega complexes have
a positive economic impact by paying
hundreds of thousands of dollars in
service fees, building permits and business
licenses to the city.
Despite the benefits of these complexes,
this August, the Tuscaloosa City Council
extended the moratorium on accepting
building and land development permits
for student megaplexes.
The vote was 7-0, and the moratorium
will continue until May 1, 2022.
In an interview with Tuscaloosa News,
Maddox said more time was needed to
solidify building rules and regulations
in order to avoid future overtaxing of
Tuscaloosa city infrastructure.
“We’re also exploring some ideas
on how do you fairly assess what these
developments are costing in terms of city
expenses,” Maddox said. “But we would
appreciate a little bit more time to work
through this.”
For UA student Caroline Horn,
warnings about the crosswalks started
during an early move-in camp for
new students.
“The only thing I remember from
Camp 1831 was our team leader telling us
the crosswalks get slippery when it rains,”
UA student Caroline Horn said.
With the painted lines of a crosswalk
appearing to be a potent slipping hazard,
some might wonder if there is something
wrong with the paint.
“More than once I have been crossing
and slipped,” engineering major Logan
Burke said. “It happened so often that I
bought new shoes thinking maybe mine
just didn’t have enough tread, but it didn’t
help. So now I walk beside the crosswalk
instead of in it.”
The federal government regulates what
materials can be used when marking
a crosswalk. These guidelines are laid
out in the Manual on Uniform Traffic
Control Devices.
“Interestingly, only some portions of
this 862-page manual are required. There
are numerous optional statements and
guidance,” said Armen Amirkhanian, a
professor of engineering and an expert in
cementitious materials.
The manual rarely mentions
slipperiness. It only makes one statement
about crosswalk material slipperiness
for pedestrians: “Consideration should
be given to selecting pavement marking
materials that will minimize tripping or
loss of traction for road users, including
pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.”
“Since this is a legal document,
the word ‘should’ is really important,”
Amirkhanian said. “As an engineer, I am
not required to select a marking that will
minimize tripping or loss of traction. I am
recommended to do so.”
There is only one other mention of road
marker slipperiness in the manual, which
says “consideration should be given to
Are campus crosswalks safe?
GINGER MORROW & JENNIFER BAGGETT
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
selecting pavement marking materials that
will minimize loss of traction for bicycles
under wet conditions.”
“I’ve seen multiple bikers and
skateboarders fall due to the rain
on sidewalks,” freshman aerospace
engineering major Sydney Moskalick said.
“I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, but I only
see it when it rains.”
Freshman criminal justice major
Madison Towner would suggest it’s not
a coincidence.
“I refuse to walk directly on the
crosswalk when it rains because I have
[fallen and almost fallen] too many times,”
Towner said.
Part of why slipperiness is not more of a
priority when choosing crosswalk marking
materials is that there is no national
standard for measuring it and therefore no
way to regulate it.
Researchers like Somayeh Nassiri at
Washington State University are using
the British Pendulum Number scale for
slipperiness evaluation in studies on
pavement. A project report authored by
Nassiri looked into evaluating the safety
of pavement marking for bicyclists. The
report tested three different pavement
marking material types evaluated in dry,
wet and icy conditions.
Based on the findings from the analysis,
centerline striping may be a beneficial
technique to prevent bicycles from
slipping. Other countries have their own
units of measuring slippage on walking
surfaces and the impact related to road
markers. Those units are helping American
researchers create safer road conditions
and could be utilized as part of a future
federal road marking material regulation.
Every state’s department of
transportation approves certain materials
for marking pavement, but not every project
is subject to these rules. Amirkhanian said
that because contractors are generally
familiar with the rules, though, the rules
are often followed even where they do
not apply.
UA Director of Transportation Services
Chris D’Esposito said the approximately
500 crosswalks on campus are repainted
every summer and worn ones are
subject to a midyear refresher coat.
He said many factors contribute to the
crosswalks’ slipperiness.
“The inclement weather element, a
lot of rain, condensation, wintery mix of
snow and ice. Then, what is the shoe style?
A smooth-sole shoe or something with
more traction?”
D’Esposito said his department uses
Hotline Fast Dry Latex Waterborne
Traffic Marking Paint to mark crosswalks
on campus.
“We take anything to do with safety
very seriously,” he said. “We use the best
recommended products.”
D’Esposito said Hotline Fast Dry
Latex paint contains reflective glass beads
for safe driving at night and sand to
retain coarseness.
“The primary objective for any
pavement marking is to indicate hazards
and deviations from expected flow to the
traveling public,” Amirkhanian said. “That
is, we are first concerned with drivers.
Pedestrians are expected to be observant of
their surroundings and yield to dangerous
situations, like vehicles traveling on
the road. Because of this focus, there is
not a significant concern of the friction
performance of pavement markings,
as they would minimally impact the
traveling public.”
Amirkhanian said that some materials
exist that can be added to paint to increase
friction but that those additives can create
much more danger.
“The main issue with these types of
materials is durability,” he said. “Any
material with high friction would wear
down much quicker, especially in a
crosswalk application. A crosswalk
boundary that is worn and poorly visible
is much more dangerous for the driver and
pedestrian than a slippery but highly visible
and well-defined crosswalk boundary.”
On Tuscaloosa’s rainy days, some
UA students might continue slipping
and sliding their way to class. Students
on campus on one of those rainy days
shouldn’t let the slick crosswalks slip
their mind.
Students cross University Boulevard on November 10, 2021. CW / Lexi Hall