DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Apr 19, 2022 19:36:07 GMT -5
I loved my Henle apartment. I did as well (mine that is).
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Post by jhoya23 on Apr 20, 2022 22:24:57 GMT -5
We didn't even notice any of that while we were there in the mid to late 80s. LOL. Had great Vill A apartments junior and senior year. What amazing times. And memories. Agreed, Filo. Village A was popular in the mid80s and remains so, particularly the rooftops, for one of my sons today. Currently live in a Vil A and love it. Honestly I think it is one of the better apartment complexes at Georgetown. Bathrooms are gross and moldy but the living area/kitchen was recently renovated and is nice. Not even comparable to the issues Henle has.
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Post by KenteKrazies on May 3, 2022 16:08:08 GMT -5
anybody have any insight on this? New rear h building between Shaw and ICC.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on May 3, 2022 16:18:27 GMT -5
anybody have any insight on this? New rear h building between Shaw and ICC. You mean Cooper and ICC. That's been in the plans for awhile and is in the Campus Plan. It's been framed as an interdisciplinary academic/research "swing space" that would enable the final move out/replacement of Reiss. I've been wondering when they'd get around to hashing out the details. I guess the answer is now-ish.
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Post by Problem of Dog on May 3, 2022 18:13:07 GMT -5
anybody have any insight on this? New rear h building between Shaw and ICC. You mean Cooper and ICC. That's been in the plans for awhile and is in the Campus Plan. It's been framed as an interdisciplinary academic/research "swing space" that would enable the final move out/replacement of Reiss. I've been wondering when they'd get around to hashing out the details. I guess the answer is now-ish. How does Reiss still exist? Reiss and Henle reminded me (15 years ago) of buildings that would be left in some place abandoned by its residents in the 80s. If you lived in Henle and had classes in Reiss, you might as well have gone to a different school than those who lived in the SW Quad and had classes in the MSB.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on May 8, 2022 10:31:29 GMT -5
You mean Cooper and ICC. That's been in the plans for awhile and is in the Campus Plan. It's been framed as an interdisciplinary academic/research "swing space" that would enable the final move out/replacement of Reiss. I've been wondering when they'd get around to hashing out the details. I guess the answer is now-ish. How does Reiss still exist? Reiss and Henle reminded me (15 years ago) of buildings that would be left in some place abandoned by its residents in the 80s. If you lived in Henle and had classes in Reiss, you might as well have gone to a different school than those who lived in the SW Quad and had classes in the MSB. It's probably a rhetorical question, but... the series answer is "because it continues to meet certain needs, however suboptimally." While Reiss is functionally obsolete from the standpoint of a modern science facility - especially when it comes to research - it still has a lot of science classroom infrastructure in place that is not readily replicated elsewhere. That makes it useful for basic science instruction, while a significant amount of the more advanced Regents spaces are dedicated toward research. Reiss also has a pair of large stadium-seating classrooms, of which there are very few on campus. They remained in high demand for both classes and events before the pandemic and I assume are well on their way back there now. And, of course, there's plenty of other classroom space in the building that is serviceable... and some of it still comes off looking pretty good compared to the tiny, poorly sound-insulated shoeboxes in the bowels of ICC or the vintage 1950s classrooms of Walsh. It's not clear to me how much of the Reiss and ICC renovation work discussed back in 2019 actually took place, but clearly either the teardown or the total internal gutting and rebuilding of Reiss (I saw one plan at some point that included a skybridge to Regents...oooh, fancy!) is not a short or medium term thing.
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Bigs"R"Us
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Post by Bigs"R"Us on May 8, 2022 10:47:50 GMT -5
Reiss felt old and outdated when I took classes there 35 years ago.
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on May 9, 2022 7:07:10 GMT -5
I think most of the Reiss renovations so far have been to get from D+ to B- condition, to allow them to be useable now. Whether Reiss is fully renovated in place or entirely replaced will be the big next question, and it may depend in part on which direction the university decides to go (i.e., how lab-intensive) with the new interdisciplinary research building. But it's probably not a question that there's already an answer to.
On a related note, I'm curious as to how much (if any) space will be freed up by the new hospital pavilion. I know that once the new building opens, it will create a bit of renovation Jenga, as certain departments and spaces will be moved and/or renovated. But I don't know if it will create newly vacant space, and if it does, whether that any of that will convey to the GU Med Center (and research/teaching space) or if it will all stay in the MedStar control. I assume the latter, but one can dream, right?
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 8, 2022 9:06:50 GMT -5
I lived in Henle my senior year 20 years ago (2002-2003), and it wasn't that great even then. But, I think overall the quality of housing has probably gone up (and certainly the eating options have improved substantially in the last 20 years from when I was a student).
Some thoughts on housing:
- When I was a freshman, Village C, New South, and Harbin were the options. Harbin was a dump (to be renovated the follow year, at which point it became nice). New South didn't have any Internet at all for a few months into my freshman year, and was pretty dumpy (to be renovated after I graduated). I chose Village C because I wanted my own bathroom, though I was in the basement on the first floor, and so had no light.
- Sophomore year, people with good lotto picks got apartments. I had an upperclassmen, got a prime lotto slot as a result and lived in Village B/Alumni Square. This was probably the nicest apartment I was in, though "nice" is relative. I had a view of Healy from my bedroom. Again, by modern standards, my sense is that all of these have improved somewhat. Village A was considered highly desirable but sophomores generally couldn't get them since the upperclassman took them. The worst possile landing spot was Darnall, though it did have the cafeteria some prefered (though I never thought it was better). People were really scattered all over though. LXR, etc.
- When I went to Georgetown, you were only guaranteed 3 years on campus, so I lived off campus. Which was fine, but very expensive for the time because I lived about 5 blocks away. This was probably the nicest accomodations I had in the 4 years, a basement apartment.
- My senior year, as noted, as Henle. I was in the front right by Leavey, so not a bad location.
The Southwest Quadrangle didn't open until the year after I left, so never got to experience it, other than being in there during construction once. I also never experienced the "new" (now not so new) dining hall. New South cafeteria was there all 4 years, and talk about a dump. I used to hate going there because you always left smelling like not fresh food.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Jul 12, 2022 16:28:25 GMT -5
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Jul 12, 2022 22:55:49 GMT -5
One piece at a time, the downtown campus is turning into more than just an idea. With the two McCourt buildings added to the law center, the new dorm (plus classroom) building, and the Darth Vader building, with SCS just a couple of blocks away.
I think especially when McCourt starts its undergrad program, along with the CALL program having a dork attached, it will be interesting to see how that shifts the undergrad experience overall. Hopefully it will help Hoyas realize DC is a lot smaller than they (we) have traditionally felt as 19-year olds.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 4, 2022 13:12:28 GMT -5
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Aug 4, 2022 14:09:17 GMT -5
What do you attribute this more aggressive move to develop the downtown campus? For years, no, decades, Georgetown was very tentative about real estate, even downtown.
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C86
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Post by C86 on Aug 4, 2022 14:33:19 GMT -5
My outsider's guess is that the pace of development in the District is quickening. Perhaps the University believes that if it is not proactive now, it will lose expansion opportunities.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 13, 2022 15:50:02 GMT -5
Lol
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Elvado
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Post by Elvado on Aug 13, 2022 16:53:30 GMT -5
Unless they bring back the Pub, why bother?
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Aug 16, 2022 22:38:38 GMT -5
What do you attribute this more aggressive move to develop the downtown campus? For years, no, decades, Georgetown was very tentative about real estate, even downtown. I think it's just the natural progression of longstanding trends in both DC's evolution generally and University strategies specifically. We have to start the story somewhere, so... let's start with the 1950s and 60s, which saw a couple of key triggers: - The University's initial deliberate, significant moves toward being a university of national profile and prominence (this is debatable, but Bunn's ascension as president is often used as the start of the University's 'Elite National University' aspirational era
- The Cold War and the resulting influx of money into the DC area - and into certain parts of the University specifically
- Desegregation and the resulting white flight, culminating with the MLK Assassination and riots that left the city badly scarred both physically and reputationally - something that by no means abated during the 1970s and 80s, defined as they were by high crime and the crack epidemic
Given the above, "urban living" was not seen as a safe or particularly respectable option for most white educated folks, aside from a handful of enclaves like Capitol Hill. The Hilltop's location offered a kind of plausible deniability - close to the levers of power, but at a safe remove from the concrete jungle. Combine this and the general academic propensity toward quasi-monastic Ivory Tower life, and it's easy to see why building up the Main Campus became the main priority for the second half of the 20th century and beyond. Create a residential college experience that could rival the peers, actual and aspirational, while taking advantage of a location within easy commuting distance of many important locations from which adjuncts and grad students could be drawn. That's not to say that there was no investment in downtown presence, of course. McDonough Hall, the cornerstone of GULC, opened in 1971 at a time when there were still plenty of Hill Rat part-timers among the student body. But additions came at a slow pace and in spurts: the Williams Library in 1989, Gewirtz in 1993, the Ginsburg Center and Hotung Building in 2004. There's also plenty of debate over what to use as the starting point of the DC renaissance - and the American urban renaissance more generally. The construction of what is now Capital One Arena in 1996-97 is as good of one as any. It's a tectonic sea change that has taken three decades and counting to play out, as an inner urban core location has transformed from liability to amenity. As far as the University is concerned, the seminal moment here, of course, was the opening of Georgetown Downtown at 650 Massachusetts Avenue NW: What has transpired in the decade since has been the continuation of that same trend, as the (re)development of downtown has progressed and the University has spotted more and more opportunities to build on the SCS and GULC anchors. We've known for awhile that Capitol Crossing - a truly remarkable project - a GULC-adjacent location would be the centerpiece of the next phase, but the other forays are logical enhancements in their own right. EDIT: I mistakenly classified 125 E Street NW, the new McCourt building, as part of Capitol Crossing. It is not, though it is next door to it. 125 E Street NW is, instead, an extenson of the existing 500 First Street NW facility.
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Aug 17, 2022 9:17:36 GMT -5
All good points but I wonder if it comes down to sheer capacity. Had the campus been twice as large, maybe the Law School never goes downtown; conversely, had the hospital been constructed at 10th and E instead of 35th and O, it might be a downtown campus too.
College was not a commodity until the 1970's and schools didn't see the need to compete for students and amenities as they do today. At an undergraduate level, Georgetown was a place for young men, nearly all Catholic, who either lived along the Northeast Corridor, or was recommended by a teacher or a priest to go there. (There's a 1957 admissions application out on eBay that says an applicant must be recommended by their high school principal and advises a letter of recommendation from a pastor.) If Main Campus was the center of academic and spiritual life, building elsewhere would have been counterproductive, anymore if Villanova had built a campus in center city Philadelphia.
Education is certainly changing. The level to which a future college education is seen not as a communal exercise but as an externship of sorts may drive some of the future utility of a downtown campus. But having some land wouldn't hurt either.
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hoyaguy
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Post by hoyaguy on Aug 18, 2022 10:52:24 GMT -5
All good points but I wonder if it comes down to sheer capacity. Had the campus been twice as large, maybe the Law School never goes downtown; conversely, had the hospital been constructed at 10th and E instead of 35th and O, it might be a downtown campus too. College was not a commodity until the 1970's and schools didn't see the need to compete for students and amenities as they do today. At an undergraduate level, Georgetown was a place for young men, nearly all Catholic, who either lived along the Northeast Corridor, or was recommended by a teacher or a priest to go there. (There's a 1957 admissions application out on eBay that says an applicant must be recommended by their high school principal and advises a letter of recommendation from a pastor.) If Main Campus was the center of academic and spiritual life, building elsewhere would have been counterproductive, anymore if Villanova had built a campus in center city Philadelphia. Education is certainly changing. The level to which a future college education is seen not as a communal exercise but as an externship of sorts may drive some of the future utility of a downtown campus. But having some land wouldn't hurt either. In the world of ifs, how (and this is to anyone) might have things changed had we acquired the mount vernon campus before GW did?
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Bigs"R"Us
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Post by Bigs"R"Us on Aug 18, 2022 14:15:26 GMT -5
Bad decisions over time just keep compounding.
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