“Townhouse deluxe units pictured on Perkins street cost $11,851 a year.” (Courtesy of WordPress)

Brigid Archibald
Connector Contributor

This fall semester there have been a lot of changes implemented regarding campus living. One such change was the opening of a new residential hall, The River Hawk village.

River Hawk Village is a renovated building that overlooks the Merrimack River and is situated next to the Tsongas Center. The building offers four types of apartment-style living including: Traditional, standard, deluxe and townhouse deluxe.

All styles come with a full kitchen, a washer-dryer set, climate control, its own bathroom. Each floor is complete with a lounge and a group study area. The main lobby houses a mailroom and a lounge area with pool and ping-pong tables for recreation.

Additionally, the Hall street parking garage is a quick walk from the building, and this coming spring so will a new dining hall at University Suites. When River Hawk Village was announced last year, the large price tag turned many heads.

The cheapest accommodation is the traditional costing $9,755 a year, which is the same price as a single at Concordia on South Campus, and the townhouse deluxe costs $11,851 a year. At almost $12,000 a year, the townhouses here are the most expensive housing on campus.

After about a month living in the River Hawk Village, some residents seem to think the price is worth it. Students love the building’s design and interior. Sophomore Morgan Irons who lives in a Deluxe suite said that she loved the exposed brick and rustic industrial look.

However, the building is more than just its appealing interior and amazing views. The full kitchens and the spacious living quarters evoke a feeling of independence and adulthood that normal dorms do not.

“It’s freedom,” said Irons. This is a sentiment that many of her neighbors said they agreed with.

“Here it feels like my space and I feel that I can learn how to be successful in the real world, and you can’t really do that in a dorm when you’re literally only responsible for a bed,” said chemical engineering major Jordan D’Abbarrio who lives in one of the townhouses.

D’Abbarrio also said that it is easier to make the apartments your own, and they provide a better way to learn real world skills while living on campus.

Another resident, James Fontaine, a medical lab science junior who dorms in the Standard accommodations, said “the amount of breathing room you have here is much better than a dorm that it makes [the price compared to other dorms] somewhat even.”

A common complaint among residents interviewed was that there are no shuttle stops near the building. Residents say that the hike to North Campus or to Fox Hall is inconvenient, and they fear what winter weather may bring.

“The orange line goes from East to North, but we have to rush to catch it, so I have to leave another 15 minutes early” said Fontaine. D’Abbrarrio said that a walk from the village to north was 25 minutes and she had seen students with crutches struggling to make shuttles.

Residents said they think that a shuttle stop near University Suites or River Hawk Village would make getting around campus exponentially easier.

For those still not sold on the idea of River Hawk Village, D’Abbrarrio said that the building acts as a good trial run for apartment living where students get a chance to learn how to cook and clean their own space without the commitment and cost of having to buy their own furniture.

“It’s a good experience for before you leave college, because it forces you to grow and to learn how to function in the real world,” said D’Abbrarrio.