University District, Kingston

A Well Maintained Ghetto House

The Kingston Student Ghetto is a studentified residential area surrounding Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada that is inhabited mostly by students of the University. The ghetto’s borders are not clearly defined, but the core of the area is between Union Street in the south, Princess Street in the north, Barrie Street in the east, and Albert Street in the west . As a result of new buildings and ongoing construction, specifically the Queen's Centre, the footprint is expanding to include homes within a ten minute walk of campus towards the east and west of the Main Campus.

Social Events

Due to the large student population, the area is well known for being loud and active, especially on weekend nights and during the annual Homecoming celebrations. The opposite is true over holidays as most students leave the area which creates a huge demand for police patrols to discourage break and enteres. During the summer months the ghetto has a cottage feel to it as most students are gone, but the ones that remain enjoy front-porch BBQ's, games of four-square (on the famous four-square courts on William and Earl Streets) and a relaxed atmosphere.

The student ghetto has received national media attention for its street parties over the decades. Recently, the annual Aberdeen Street Homecoming Party has attracted attention due to the actions of some poorly behaved visitors during the festivities. Recent campaigns by local citizens, City Council and the University have helped to create a more relaxed atmosphere although these efforts are sometimes at odds with the local police who in the past have used the event as a launch pad for bigger budgets and tougher enforcement of archaic liquor laws.

As a result of the transient nature of the student population representation at City Council is usually poor, resulting in the concerns of 'permanent' residents are considered more important than those of students. Unfortunately poor reporting by local media and the related 'hype' has resulted in a poor opinion of the area by permanent residents and members of the University administration.

Housing

The area is not truly a ghetto but is so called because of the generally older houses in it and because the properties are kept in a "ghetto like" state which most of the other homes and communities in Kingston are not. The majority of the houses are World War II era construction. Generally houses are owned by private individuals and are rented to groups of four to twelve students on yearly leases. Other houses are owned by co-op's, parents or the University itself.

Unfortunately some of the landlords, sometimes referred to as 'slumlords', fail to maintain even basic property standards but due to geographic location the houses are still rarely vacant, allowing some of the properties to become progressively worse. After years of complaints from students and permanent residents the City continues to fail to enforce property standards. A few years ago the Municipal Affairs Commission of the AMS started awarding Golden Cockroach awards to bring the situation to the forefront.

The student housing area in Kingston is quite large relative to those in comparable university towns; a majority of undergraduate students live either in the ghetto itself or on its outskirts. There are numerous reasons for this:

• Queen’s University only has enough undergraduate residences for a small number of students after first year. This may change in upcoming years, as extra spaces were created to accommodate the one-time surge in enrollment due to Ontario’s double cohort year.
• The level of local transit infrastructure, including roads, public transit system, and on-campus parking make it impractical for thousands of students to commute every day.
• The city of Kingston limits developers’ ability to build large apartment buildings near the city’s core; there is currently only one building that noticeably stands above the city’s skyline, which was constructed before the bylaw took effect.
• The University Code of Conduct does not allow Queen's students to be members of a fraternity or sorority, so the lodging commonly provided by such houses in the United States is non-existent within Kingston's core.

In the fall of 2006 demolition began on the "Clergy Block" of the Ghetto to make way for the building of the new Queen's Centre; a modern student life and athletics facility which will compliment the existing facilities located in the John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC), the Physical Education Centre (PEC) and Jock Harty Arena. The block is bordered by Division Street to the east, Clergy Street to the south, University Avenue to the west, and Earl Street to the north. The block was home to some infamous Ghetto houses, notably the Barber Shop (a cinder block monstrosity with porch pillars painted blue, white and red). The block also contained the historic Kingston Curling Club which has since relocated to a brand new facility in the west end of Kingston.

External links

• AMS Municipal Affairs Commission
• Queen's University
• City of Kingston
• Kingston Transit