A good idea as the University grows...

Student enrollment at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville is at a record high. It currently stands at more than 23,000 students, which is some 34% higher than it was only eight years ago.


Needless to say, the corresponding need for housing is also at an all-time high. UofA has been building new housing and has plans to build more. But many students wish to live off campus. That’s where the strains begin to show up – more traffic, more complaints from neighborhood residents about students, and complaints from students about landlords.

Fortunately for Fayetteville, the mayor has proposed and UofA’s chancellor has accepted a plan to form a joint committee to address these issues. Committee members would come from the city, the university, and the community.

They will have a lot on their plates as they consider such things as university growth, regulations on the number of students allowed to live together in certain types of housing, and overlay districts governing where and what can be built in the future.

The committee is a sound idea. Everyone wants good neighbors and attractive, quiet, safe neighborhoods. The city and university have worked well together in the past to formulate positive plans. There are good reasons to believe they can do it again.