Students interested in finding an off-campus apartment were in luck Tuesday when they received the opportunity to view information from several area apartment complexes at one time.
The Off-Campus Housing Fair sponsored by the Department of Residence Life was Tuesday, March 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Saint Louis Room of the Busch Memorial Center.
“The Department of Housing and Residence Life is making the effort to expand the fair to make it a one-stop shop for students to discover the realities of living off-campus,” stated a press release about the event.
Approximately 150 to 200 Saint Louis University students attended the fair, which represented 47 different apartment complexes in the area, according to Jennifer Edwards, program coordinator for the Department of Housing and Residence Life.
“It was a success from both our perspective and from the companies represented, as well as from the student end,” Edwards said.
Emily Pearse, junior, heard about the fair from the Campus Activity mailer. “I went to check out what is available off campus,” she said. “I’m not planning on living off campus next year, but I just wanted to see what was out there.”
Pearse, who lives in the Village Apartments, is looking to the future. “The fair gave me a good idea of what was out there, which is important because I will know where to start when I begin to look for housing after graduation,” she said.
“I thought the fair was beneficial,” Pearse continued. “I really appreciate Res Life taking the time to bring all of this information to campus. It was nice to take half an hour and look at 15 places, rather than take three days to gather the same material on my own.”
The fair, in its third year, represented more than just apartment complexes this year. Bi-State (Metropolitan Transportation Agency) and utility companies provided information. In addition, the SLU Department of Public Safety had a booth distributing information about being safe off-campus, and the city of St. Louis provided information about getting crime statistics for specific areas of St. Louis.
Pearse was impressed with what the fair had to offer. “The only thing that I think could improve the fair would be to have some more information on apartments available in the South City area,” she said.
