With 18 residence halls on or near campus, students living at Cal State Long Beach have a variety of options — from the proximity of on-campus dorms to the independent atmosphere of the off-campus Residential Learning College.
“I just wanted the regular dorm experience,” said Elizabeth Chan, freshman and Los Alamitos resident.
Chan said she enjoys the hall’s air conditioning and has her own Wi-Fi router to avoid relying on ethernet. The amenities, however, were not a factor in her decision to request Los Alamitos.
Even though Los Alamitos and Los Cerritos, built in 1958, are CSULB’s oldest residence halls, they are also the only two on campus with air conditioning, according to Carol Roberts-Corb, director of Housing and Residential Life.
Residence Commons, Parkside Commons and International House — built in 1979, 1986 and 1987, respectively — all rely solely on free-flowing air circulation, although students are permitted to bring their own fans.
The RLC, on the other hand, not only has air conditioning, but also offers Wi-Fi, whereas the other residence halls are limited to Ethernet access.
Despite the RLC’s arguably better amenities, senior Bao-Quyen Tran said she has been perfectly happy living in Parkside.
Tran said she didn’t know when she first requested Parkside that it had fewer amenities than the other halls. However, she said she was drawn to the suite-style floor plan and its close-knit community, despite its separation from the rest of campus.
Tran considered moving to the RLC during her junior year, but opted to stay in Parkside.
“A lot of things that Parkside had were more important than what it didn’t have,” she said. “The convenience of not having to take the shuttle was worth more than having Wi-Fi.”
Like Tran, freshman David Hernandez appreciates Parkside’s more secluded feel and is largely unconcerned with the lack of Wi-Fi or air conditioning.
“I knew [Parkside did not offer those amenities] when I requested it, but it didn’t matter to me,” he said. “The weather’s nice here, and I don’t use the Internet that often.”
Amethyst Jefferson-Roberts, a freshman, requested Parkside before she arrived at CSULB, thinking she would prefer to live on-campus. She was placed in the RLC, but she said she is now glad for that and plans to stay in the RLC all four years.
“Bigger rooms, nicer dining halls,” Jefferson-Roberts explained with a laugh.
Even though she has a mile commute to campus, she said she has not felt inconvenienced or like she’s missing out.
“It’s the same experience as living on-campus, you just take the shuttle,” Jefferson-Roberts said.
CSULB’s residence halls house 63 percent of all first-year students and 37 percent of all continuing students, according to Roberts-Corb. All 2,400 of these students pay the same rate, regardless of amenities.
“There are differences in where they’re located on campus, there are differences in the size of the rooms, there’s differences in the furniture,” Jefferson-Roberts said. “It would be really difficult to assess a cost to those differences. In general, there’s a certain standard of housing we maintain, and it’s all one price.”
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