Reply to New school at Van Ness bigger than Wilson?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The restrictions on UDC for school related traffic are strict and there was a lot of negotiating just to get Murch to swing in that location for two years, mostly due to traffic (which is why Murch has to bus kids from eight block away). The ANC, etc. look at schools very differently than an office building. It is a different kind, pattern, and volume of traffic.[/quote]

The truth is that everyone wishes that UDC would pack up and move away from the neighborhood.  It's such a downer on commercial activity, etc.  It would be better if UDC relocated to a more central location closer to where more of its students live.  Imagine how the UDC campus could be redeveloped for housing, commercial, a school site, recreation.  I've also wondered why the neighborhood doesn't get the Metro renamed "Forest Hills," which sounds so much more pleasant than "Van Ness-UDC."   The latter is not a neighborhood.[/quote]

People may disagree with this poster's bluntness, but the fact remains that the UDC campus is a brutalist ghost town at pretty much all times (Murch's swing space pretty much quadrupled the foot traffic in the area, but that will be going away after June). The city needs to rethink the space, because it could be used so much more efficiently. UDC's footprint either should be reduced (in no way does it need all of that space) -- so that the campus shares space with commercial and residential development -- or moved altogether to a more central location.

Of course, this will never happen because UDC -- now little more than a glorified community college -- is so politically entrenched.[/quote]

Is it even accredited?  [/quote]

Yes. And actually the campus is pretty cool and they offer a lot to the community. Don't put it down until you've been over there and interacted with the school. They are actually doing some pretty amazing work.

And developer trolls, keep off![/quote]

My interactions are limited to cutting through the campus, including the buildings, to drop off/pick up my kid at Murch. I would do more interacting with UDC students/staff if there were any to be found.

The shiny new student center that cost millions: nearly empty at all times.

Academic buildings: nearly empty at all times.

That big ugly mass of concrete at the center of campus: completely empty at all times.

If it's not the most depressing college campus in America, it has to be right up there.

And ask any Murch parent/staff member about how UDC has gone to great lengths to make this temporary arrangement as uncomfortable as possible. "They offer a lot to the community," my ass.[/quote]

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