 "Photo: Constance Shao | Daily Trojan")
Nearly 140 students came together Tuesday night at the Undergraduate Student Government Town Hall for a presentation and discussion of the university's Master Plan, a conceptual framework that will guide the expansion of USC through the year 2030.
The $3 billion plan outlines future academic and housing-related developments, the realignment and narrowing of streets, the improvement of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, general expansion of the university and an overall new design and feel to the area north of Jefferson Boulevard.
The plan is looking at the development of USC in a more global sense rather than getting specific, Curtis Williams, Vice President of Campus Development and Facilites Mangament Services, said.
"It's less specific than a blue print," Brian League, a member of the USC Master Plan Advisory Committee and program director of Capital Construction Development said.
Williams said the students and community members are urged to share their comments and opinions about the plan.
"We welcome the opportunity to share and get your feedback on what really is a draft Master Plan at this time," Williams said at the beginning of the presentation.
The draft Master Plan has been designed to accommodate the physical growth of the campus, future academic expansion and the growing need for student and faculty housing.
"The university has future needs and if we don't expand, you stagnate," League said.
The plan will guarantee four years of university-sponsored housing for undergraduates and one year for graduate students, approximately 7,600 new beds, more than double what the university currently has.
It includes 1.5 million square feet of academic-related development on the university's core campus, primarily for teaching and research and approximately 200 new beds for undergraduate housing.
The majority of the university's expansion and development would take place outside of the core campus.
In order to meet the growing need for student and faculty housing, the Master Plan includes the redevelopment of the University Village, Century Apartments and Cardinal Gardens.
"The village shopping center is a tired shopping center, it's not very successful," Williams said. "Both Cardinal Gardens and Century need to be replaced."
The proposal would clear everything in the 35-acre area and replace it with 1.5 to 2 million square feet of university-sponsored housing for 5,000 students and 400 households, such as apartments or flats.
The housing developments will most likely be a combination of university owned, university sponsored or private developments, League said.
"The key thing the university wants to make sure is that it has a fair amount of control over the pricing of housing," Williams said.
This redevelopment process will also include 300,000 square feet of buildings for academic uses, such as research and faculty offices, as well as between 100,000 and 200,000 square feet for area-serving retail.
"Certainly there are things that cater more to students and their spending and buying habits than the [surrounding] community," Williams said. "Those may not always be in sync, sometimes they are, but not always."
University Village stores currently serving the surrounding community, such as Superior, would either be replaced or reduced in size. Developers hope to work with the city to enhance Vermont Avenue as a corridor that could serve the surrounding community more appropriately, Williams said.
The redevelopment would also mean the removal of the Los Angeles Fire Department station on Jefferson Boulevard.
"The fire department wants to relocate that fire station because it is not big enough and does not provide the amenities that they need," Williams said.
The Master Plan includes the straightening and realignment of Hoover Street, south of 32nd Street, which would eliminate the often clustered and dangerous intersection at Jefferson.
"We believe that this [Hoover and Jefferson] intersection doesn't work," League said.
In order to create a more pedestrian friendly atmosphere, the Master Plan hopes to narrow Jefferson from four lanes to two lanes between Royal and Orchard streets.
Narrowing Jefferson Boulevard would widen the sidewalk, which would allow development for new retail buildings, such as restaurants, coffee shops and stores, to face on Jefferson rather than have their backs to it, creating a livelier, more student-friendly atmosphere, Williams said.
"Making [Jefferson] the street that goes through our campus rather than the street that bounds our campus I think is very positive," David Sloane, a professor and director of the Program in Urban Planning, said.
Narrowing Jefferson will mean partial redevelopment and the relocation of 32nd Street School closer to Vermont Avenue where Century Apartments is currently located.
32nd Street School will be replaced with an open-space grass commons area with street furniture and will allow for functions similar to those outside of Tommy Trojan, except larger and better, League said.
Two of the greatest concerns echoed among students during the Town Hall was the Master Plan's sustainability and the affordability of the new housing developments.
Eric Zuniga, a senior majoring in chemical engineering, asked how the university will take into account low-income students.
"We realize it's going to be an extreme challenge," Williams said.
Williams said he hopes that by increasing the supply of university-sponsored housing, USC will decrease the amount housing costs within the surrounding neighborhood.
Students also expressed interest in the Master Plan's exploration of energy resources and how the Master Plan will affect the university's already limited green space.
Williams said the Master Plan will focus on incorporating solar energy into the new buildings. The amount of green and open space on and around campus will also be increased.
After adjustments to the plan are made, a final Master Plan will be submitted for approval to senior administrators and the board of trustees.
Once the plan is approved, Williams hopes to be able to submit the final plan to the city by summer 2009.
The city proposal, however, will not give finite details because the university cannot look 20 years into the future and determine it is going to build a certain building for a certain school, Williams said.
League said there has been concern that USC has been developing one project at a time and has not been effective at analyzing the cumulative impact of projects.
"The Master Plan would allow us to prepare an environmental document that would look at the cumulative impact of the university's growth over time," League said.
The plan will go through a two to three year process while an Environmental Impact Report is completed and it gains clearance from the city.
