Tufts' new Sophia Gordon Hall dormitory was a long time in coming, having weathered a long planning phase and months of stalled talks with Somerville's Historical Preservation Society.
The new dormitory, which will open this fall, makes available 124 additional on-campus beds, intended mainly for students in the roughly 1,200-member Class of 2007.
The dormitory contains only single-occupancy rooms, which are grouped into 24 four-person and four six-person suites.
There is no question that Sophia Gordon's extra rooms have helped to ease the crunch of housing for the 2006-2007 academic year.
"I think everyone who wanted a bed this year got one," Vice President of Operations John Roberto said. "I don't think anyone was forced off-campus, and I don't think anyone will be forced off-campus next year [the 2007-2008 school year]."
While Sophia Gordon was only available this year to rising seniors, it opened up housing for other classes.
"Once the seniors selected Sophia and some of the other apartments - Latin Way and Hillsides in addition to some singles in the other halls - we still had plenty of housing for rising juniors," Director of the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) Yolanda King said in an e-mail to the Daily.
"In fact we were able to house 257 members of the class of 2008," she wrote. "This means we met the housing demand of all seniors who wanted on campus housing in addition to many of the juniors."
This stands in stark contrast to the situation in 2003: The Daily reported on Nov. 11 of that year that ORRL was only able to house 70 of 1,200 juniors.
Originally, Sophia Gordon's rooms were to consist of both singles and doubles, but increasing demand for apartment-style housing shifted the focus of the plans. The change in room type is a major factor in attracting upperclassmen to stay on-campus, Roberto said.
"This style of housing makes the residence hall more flexible," he said.
Junior Rachel Shatten, who will live in Sophia Gordon next year, said its location was one of its attractive features.
"I love the idea of being right in the heart of campus senior year," she said. "Especially after returning from a year abroad, I want to be as much a part of the Tufts community as I can.
Due to the popularity of Sophia Gordon, only the very highest pooled lottery numbers were able to secure suites. Individual rooms, distributed in the housing lottery, were easier to come by.
Junior Allison Preiss, who secured a spot in Sophia Gordon, said that the extra rooms on-campus were incentives to keep living on the Hill.
"Now we have 130 or so more seniors who are able to live in nice on-campus housing and won't have to deal with the problems of living off-campus," she said, adding, "I chose Sophia-Gordon because I didn't want the hassle of dealing with landlords, signing leases and finding subletters for the periods that I would be away."
Junior Allie Bohm, who is on the waitlist for housing, said she wished this year's reform in the housing lottery had come earlier.
"Had they made the system more fair this year, as they plan to in the future, by giving those who have lousy sophomore lotto numbers good senior lotto numbers, I'd be living in Sophia Gordon," she said.
Still, Bohm said trying to get into Sophia Gordon is just another part of the lottery system.
"Really, Sophia Gordon housing drama is no different than any other housing drama," she said.
But will increased housing availability set off a culture change that will bring upperclassmen back to campus, or will some students still prefer the independence that off-campus living offers?
Roberto said that finances, as well as availability, are certainly important factors for students.
"It becomes a financial consideration," he said. "It's very cyclical; you have good years and bad years. It's my understanding this year that more rising seniors opted to live off-campus than in years in the past."
The real estate market often influences students' decisions to live on- or off-campus, according to Roberto.
"It's my understanding that if the real estate market in the adjacent community is soft... then students like [the inexpensive rent prices]," he said. "However, when markets tighten up and landlords start charging exorbitant prices," students aren't interested.
But some students say there are benefits to living off campus.
"Off-campus housing definitely has its perks," Shatten said. "I think there is a lot of appeal for people to live off campus with a bit more independence. Also, if you can find a house with all of your friends, then it's not so bad being far away."
Students question whether even increased on-campus residences will ever take over the off-campus housing culture.
"It's only 130 new spaces," Preiss said. "I don't think its going to dramatically affect housing culture. I know plenty of people who were still really worried about where to live."
Roberto said that there are "no active plans right now for another dorm... but things can change," adding that the next dorm to be built - whenever that will be - will probably be the same size as Sophia Gordon in terms of number of beds.
"Some people ... get to live where they want; some people don't," Bohm said. "It's random. And we all end up living somewhere, and it usually works out in the end."
Kat Schmidt contributed reporting to this article.
