New Neighborhoods and the Current Housing Situation

UC San Diego’s new Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood (home to Eighth College) was expected to have enough beds for 2,000 students for Fall Quarter 2023; however, only about 343 students moved in due to delayed construction, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

George Lo, the Associated Students (AS) President for the 2023-24 academic school year, said that the construction delays for Eighth College occurred because of, “a delay in receiving prefabricated construction materials, but also supply chain issues and the large amount of rain.”

Lo mentioned that UCSD currently ranks third in the nation for student housing inventory and currently provides housing to 39% undergraduate students and 49% graduate students.

“The campus will add 5,700 new undergraduate beds to campus by 2025,” Lo added, before going more into detail about what the plans are.

“Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood will provide housing to 2,000 undergraduate students. Pepper Canyon West Living and Learning Neighborhood will provide 1,300 single-occupancy rooms to transfer and upper-division undergraduate students. Ridge Walk North Living and Learning Neighborhood will provide housing to 2,400 undergraduate students,” he said.

Pepper Canyon West Living and Learning Neighborhood will be next to the UC San Diego Blue Line trolley’s Central Campus station. It is expected to open in Fall 2024.

Ridge Walk North Living and Learning Neighborhood will be west of Geisel Library and will replace Marshall College Lower Apartments. It will include 19 classrooms, a 150-seat lecture hall, and a glass blowing craft studio. It is expected to open in phases beginning in Fall 2025 and ending in Winter 2026.

Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood will be near the La Jolla Playhouse at a “bluff-top intersection” and will be a “major public gateway” to the campus, according to Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney (EYRC) Architects.

Students who applied to the waitlist to live on campus in Fall 2023 received an email on May 5 saying that the plan was for Building 5 of Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood, which includes housing, to be ready in September. The rest of the beds are planned to open in phases beginning in early 2024. The email also explained that, “All beds in Building 5 will be allocated to incoming Eighth College students. For this reason, students currently on the Fall Quarter 2023 waitlist may need to consider off-campus housing options.” According to Lo, starting the week of May 22, Housing Dining Hospitality (HDH) offered students Winter and Spring 2024 housing contracts. Building 5, now called Podemos, opened on time. Additional students are living in North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood at Sixth College.

“As President-Elect, I am committed to addressing the housing issue by collaborating with current AS President Sky Yang and utilizing the resources available through AS, such as the Food and Housing resources office. I plan to organize workshops for students to explore housing options and work with local organizations to create more affordable housing options,” Lo said.

Lo will also maintain open communication with HDH to keep students informed about housing updates and developments. His main goal is “to ensure that all students have access to safe and affordable housing options during their time at our university.”

UCSD students expressed concerns on UCSD’s subreddit, with many saying that they were worried about not getting housing due to their place on the waitlist.

First year Neurobiology major, Dheeksha Bhima Reddy, expressed her concerns with housing.

“I am rather frustrated with this delay because I am worried this could mean that I might be living in a disruptive environment with the construction noise for quite some time or have to move in the middle of the year.” 

She added, “I feel pretty secure right now as I have a two year housing guarantee. But, I am unsure where the housing will be, which makes me anxious.”

Alorah Atondo is the Lead Copy Editor for The Triton.