USC: the University of Steady Construction

Apr 21

By Lauren Brose ‘15

Unsurprisingly, USC has been making a few minute modifications on and off campus. If you haven’t noticed already, the only Wendy’s for miles has been torn down alongside a movie theatre that nobody ever frequented, the highly controversial Superior Supermarket, and Health Hut— a sandwich and fruit smoothie bar that I honestly have nothing negative to say about because the workers were as sweet as the fresh smoothies that’d quench my thirst every Wednesday after French. It’s save to assume I wasn’t the biggest fan of the gaping hole of dusty revulsion that is better known as “University Village.”

Set to replace University Village shopping center is a 5-acre, $650 million development that is scheduled for completion in 2017. Considered one of the most expensive South Los Angeles projects to date, students are to expect tree-lined entrances to an illustrious central plaza that is surrounded by 5-story residential halls, a fitness center, a Trojan Town USC store, a drugstore, a new movie theatre, a Trader Joe’s grocery store, restaurants and outdoor dining, and, of course, the much anticipated parking lots we’ve been missing so dearly this year. There’s even a hotel. This new USC Village will no longer be the shopping mall across the street from campus. Instead, both properties are going to converge into one campus.

The new USC housing is prepared to be inhabited by 2,700 students, increasing USC-owned housing by 40%. This is a massive improvement with improving the residential experience that all college students are entitled to have. The quality and availability of USC housing has been notoriously poor in the previous years— when I had come to USC and knew only a handful of students, the only advice I received was “don’t do USC housing it’s not the best… consider off campus options instead.” I currently live a 13 minute walk from campus— not the worst set up but ideally I would have loved my morning commute to campus being under 10 minutes.

These new Residential Colleges are more than a roof overhead. In fact, USC administration has designed these colleges to be tailored specifically for incoming freshman. Provided with an all inclusive community that samples all spectrums of USC college life, all students will gain the unique opportunity to meet others from varying backgrounds, interests and academic concentrations. Additionally, some of USC’s more respected faculty members and their families are invited to live in these same Residential Colleges in the hopes that USC can facilitate that same learning environment in the classroom outside in a more personal landscape.

So far, the only newly confirmed tenant for USC Village is Trader Joe’s which will serve as the primary supermarket of the plaza. Among returning businesses, Bank of America and Starbucks Coffee will be amongst the handful of returning tenants. As for the retailers selected to open their doors Fall 2017 when the Village is open for use, confirmations have not been made, but the university is making efforts to create a community that will holistically provide students with the essential necessities during the 9 month academic year.

But it gets even cooler: USC Village plaza will feature a counterpoint to Tommy Trojan— a female empowerment symbol in fact. Hecuba, an ancient Greek mythology queen and wife of King Priam of Troy, had prominence in Homer’s Iliad often interacting with Hector and giving him advice. She also appeared in several other storiesm including the Odyssey, in which she was submitted to slavery and then escaped after the Gods turned her into a dog. Hecuba is undeniably a certified demigoddess–– naturally, USC has made a new home for her at USC Village.