Anne Peltier/THE POST Joanne Prisley sits on the porch of the Grosvenor Street home where she has lived for the past 34 years. She said that in the past she has had problems with students living nearby being inconsiderate of other residents.

Editor's Note: This is the third article in a series addressing off-campus housing. This article looks at the history of housing and the city's plans for the future.

When Ohio University was established, students lived in university-provided housing without many options for living off campus.

Today, nearly 70 percent of Ohio University's 19,000 students live in off-campus housing, and student renters have affected many of the off-campus neighborhoods adjacent to campus.

When the university was founded in 1804, the 45 male students lived and attended classes in the only three buildings - Cutler, McGuffey, and Wilson Halls, said Joanne Prisley, director of the Athens County Historical Society. The first female dorm, Ladies Hall, was built in 1893 to house 30 women - 25 years after women started OU. More female dorms were built in the early 20th century, but the first male dorm, Johnson Hall on East Green, was not built until 1953.

Students lived in dorms, boarding houses, or sorority and fraternity houses until the late 1960s. In the late '60s and early '70s, events like the Vietnam War caused many students to question authority. Students wanted more independence and for the first time, began moving off campus to places of their own - with no rules.

The migration of students to off-campus housing into nearby neighborhoods has caused many one-family homes to be converted into student rentals. According to information compiled by Tom Hodson, head of the OU Partnership Task Force, less than 31 percent of Athens property is owner-occupied - compared to 40 percent in 1980. In addition, rental units have increased by 1,523 in the past eight years.

Prisley, who attended OU in the 1950s and has lived on Grosvenor Street for 34 years, said students do not take good care of once-beautiful homes, and entire neighborhoods run the risk of turning into "slums" when they become student-dominated. "Students are not good neighbors," she said.

Realtor Les Cornwell, who rents to about 300 students, said he has seen student off-campus housing improve, rather than deteriorate, since the 1970s. When Cornwell began his business 30 years ago, he said most of the rental property was substandard. Off-campus housing has improved because of the Office of Code Enforcement's efforts since the 1980s and the construction of higher luxury apartments, especially Uptown, he said.

"There is a much wider choice of available apartments than there ever has been," Cornwell said. "Students who rent in the 1990s who can't afford an apartment Uptown that costs $1,200 a quarter can still find a place for as little as $600."

John Kotowski, director of the facilities planning office, said he would like to see student-dominated neighborhoods more integrated with Athens residents and OU faculty. The trend to convert single-family homes into rentals shows there is a need for student off-campus housing, he said. This need could be met by the construction of large apartment complexes that would draw some students away from residential areas, balancing the neighborhoods.

Currently, there are about 5,400 rental units in Athens, compared to only 4,014 in 1992, said Steve Pierson, city code director and inspector. Large apartment complexes, such as University Commons, 15 S. Shafer St., and College Park Condominiums, 247 W. Union St., were built during the early 1990s, causing big jumps in the number of rental units.

There may be two new apartment complexes built by 2001. GMH Development has gained preliminary approval for a 108 bedroom complex behind the OU Inn, 331 Richland Ave., and Ambling Development has applied for a permit to build a complex that would house 600 students, on OU land on Hooper Street, he said.

Apartment complexes house a large number of students in a small area, but Athens will still be congested by their presence, Prisley said. "These students have to walk around, shop in Athens, and drive their cars," she said. "You can't lock the students up in the building and tell them they can't come out for four years."

The OU Partnership Task Force, which was formed last February, is trying to improve off-campus housing in areas adjacent to campus by combining city, university, and student concerns. The task force has established five areas - lighting, safety, improved access, trash collection, and off-campus housing.

OU has agreed to pay for a private planner to work with OU, the city and the task force to revitalize the Mill Street area, which will be a pilot project for the task force. The changes will be implemented eventually in other areas, such as Washington, High and Congress streets, he said.

The task force has received three proposals from planning groups, Woolpert, NBBJ, and Vivian Llambi and Associates, Inc. All three of these companies have had experience in coordinating projects between universities and cities, Hodson said. An interview team will pick a planner by October 1. The professional planner will cost OU between $70,000 and $117,000, and the project should take between four and six months.

"In order to put new housing in you need to have everything coordinated," Hodson said. "This is what a professional planning group can do."