Nascent Boston real estate blog Boston-Real-Estate-Watch reports:

The Boston Foundation website www.tbf.org reported on how the college community is confronting the vexing problem of student housing. It’s findings show from 1990 - 2002 Boston colleges and universities added 16,324 new student beds, the equivalent of 2,600 apartments in the Boston area. As of 2004 there were 32,528 dormitory beds in Boston, an increase of 2% over 2002 and a 92% increase over 1990.

Not everyone is happy with this development.

Homeowners in the college neighborhoods complain because students are rowdy, up all night, and bad tenants.  In other words, they act like college students.  City residents complain because the colleges are buying up real estate, thereby taking the properties off the city’s tax rolls (colleges are exempt from property taxes), adversely affecting the city’s budget.

During the 1980’s and 1990’s, city residents demanded that area colleges do something about all the students living in area housing.  The colleges responded by increasing the number of dormitory rooms.  Residents got what they asked for.