By Roman Contreras
Staff Writer
For the students of San Jose State, housing is a large issue dealt with yearly. Students, like myself, are constantly on the hunt for reasonably priced housing in a safe setting.
We want to stay out late with our friends and enjoy our youth, but we are constantly watching our backs while walking down the street in fear of someone attacking us.
In light of the recent homicide that occurred just one block away from campus – on the corner of 10th and William St in downtown San Jose – I’ve begun to seriously question the safety of my neighborhood and those surrounding the university.
Too often I walk down the street and am approached by a random stranger offering me drugs or asking for money.
My female friends expressed their constant fear of random men asking for their phone numbers or cat calling them as they are simply trying to make their way to and from campus.
“Living in downtown with not only students and other residents, but homeless people and people in halfway houses, makes walking home from classes when it gets dark, scary,” said public health junior Karina Quezada.
I have found this to be the case with many other students as well. As a community, we have decided that willful ignorance of our surroundings is bliss.
According to urban statistics site AreaVibes, the area surrounding SJSU has a livability index of 55 out of 100.
A livability index refers to how “livable” an area is, factors like noise, crime, schools, etc. are all taken into account when calculating this number.
This is considerably lower when compared to cities just a few minutes away.
Factors like crime and the cost of living received an “F” in their grading scale when rating downtown San Jose, as compared to a “C-” when rating crime in San Jose as a whole. This only feeds further into the negative image many SJSU students have already developed about the area.
According to the 2018 SJSU Annual Security Report, the two most common crimes off campus include assault and burglary.
With over 6,000 crime reports per 100,000 people in the area, according to Areavibes, those around me and I are finding it difficult to lead a normal “college” life.
Late nights spent studying at the library turn into brisk jogs to get home as quickly as possible, to avoid prolonged time outside.
Although the university offers shuttle services to the surrounding areas, they shut down operation at 1 a.m., essentially leaving us to fend for ourselves.
A large student population in the downtown area should urge the city to make safety a bigger priority, but such downtown safety seems to be taking a back seat.
We see new road and housing developments, but no real effort to ensure that the residents and us students, feel safe and secure while trying to navigate our way through the city.
