BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Burlington is usually rated among the nation’s most livable cities, but some residents near the University of Vermont and Champlain College say rowdy students are making it less so.
“We’re being deluged with students,” South Union Street resident Ed Bemis told the City Council during a recent meeting. His street’s houses have sprouted multiple mailboxes and out-of-state cars in the driveways. “Gradually they took over everything,” Bemis said of the students moving into his neighborhood.
College officials and city police say the problem of rowdy behavior persists, but doesn’t appear to be getting worse.
Some say the problem is worse because there are more students. UVM enrolled 9,060 this fall, an all-time high, of whom nearly half live off-campus. About 1,000 of Champlain’s 1,900 students live off-campus.
Bach Nguyen, a data analyst at UVM, bought what he called his “dream house” on South Union five years ago, but said he has been “chased out” to quieter environs in South Burlington.
“I used to hope things would improve,” he said. “Looking back now, I don’t see how the situation could change. It’s hard to imagine that normal families will move into that area now, since it’s predominantly students.”
Residents say loud, drunken students parade through the neighborhood in the middle of the night, especially on weekends.
City and campus police say they’re trying to respond.
Assistant Burlington Police Chief Walter Decker said officers have resumed patrols in the student district between 10 p.m. and the wee hours. He said the department has made the quality-of-life patrols a priority and has pulled in detectives and officers from recruitment and training to help out.
UVM Police Chief Gary Margolis said officers find they’ve just quieted one rowdy group of students down when another will appear, as loud as the last. He said the effort is like “educating a parade.” He said the goal is to “change the culture of the parade, but that takes time.”
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