Seasonal sub-communities: The impact of student households on residential communities

Recent literature about university-community relations has concentrated upon universities' roles as regional economic contributors and regenerators. There has, however, been little corresponding investigation into the social impact of universities upon their immediate localities. In recognizing that students form the part of the university with which most people come into contact, this article suggests that failure to attend to the local social impact of students, leaves us in danger of neglecting an important dimension of university-community relations. Physical changes in the living accommodation of conventional incomer students mean that members of this sub-group have gradually become more conspicuous, forming independent households in their sun right, rather than being segregated from, or submerged into, existing households in the community. The article reveals that these student households are perceived, by local residents, to have a number of negative impacts on their social and physical neighbourhoods. At a time when emphasis is being placed upon the regenerative role of the university in the community, it is interesting to reflect upon the fact that for those residents living out their everyday lives amongst students, the university in the community is often seen to be a negative and perhaps even a destructive force.