Urban Alliance

Student living at Baylor is moving down—as in downtown. Heritage Quarters, downtown’s newest residential addition, is located on Washington Avenue across from the Waco Convention Center and brings a different kind of student housing to Waco. HQ (as it is advertised) opened in August and is nearly at 75 percent capacity, according to Chris McGowan, Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce urban development director. “I think it will be full by next year,” McGowan said.

Heritage Quarters is not alone in its quest to provide students with an urban living environment. Austin Avenue Flats, which borders Heritage Square at Fourth Street, and Behrens Lofts, historic downtown apartments located on the corner of Fourth Street and Franklin Avenue, are two other downtown residential options for Baylor students.

Urban living in Waco is not limited to Baylor students, however. Heritage Quarters is looking to attract students from McLennan Community College (MCC) and Texas State Technical College (TSTC), and Austin Avenue Flats is home to both students and Waco citizens. “I have already met people from both MCC and TSTC on my hall,” said Cameron Byrd, a sophomore University Scholars major, after a few weeks of school. A Waco native, Byrd is excited to be a part of downtown’s renovation project. “Downtown is growing,” said Byrd. “It is definitely better than it was five years ago.”

McGowan also said he believes Heritage Quarters will help foster Waco’s downtown growth. “It will also certainly support new businesses,” McGowan said. Austin Avenue Flats has added two restaurants to its complex, and the Ole Czech Bakery is moving in on Franklin Avenue.

Waco’s downtown also has some established restaurants that attract Baylor students. Jenny Diamond, a speech communications senior from Houston, said she regularly visits several downtown restaurants. “Schmaltz’s Sandwich Shop is probably the place that I eat at the most often downtown,” Diamond said. “If I ever go out for breakfast, then Cafe Cappuccino is my number-one choice.”

In addition to the new restaurants, McGowan also expects construction of more residence facilities. This year, Waco is adding five hundred to one thousand people in residential living downtown, he explained. “There will be lots of urban living options for students and professionals alike,” McGowan said.

Heritage Quarters caters to students, with perks both in the individual units and also for the whole residential community. Community amenities include study rooms, pool and spa, Internet lounge, fitness center, and even a relaxation garden and residence club containing pool tables and a Wii gaming system. Each unit is furnished and comes with Internet and cable, a flat screen television, and a washer and dryer. HQ offers one-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments, with the least expensive starting at $450 per person. Rent, water, and cable are included in the price, as well as $100 of paid electricity a month.

“It is extremely inexpensive for the package you get,” said Michael Barry (pictured at HQ), a Heritage Quarters tenant and Baylor senior speech communications major from Storrs, Connecticut. “I have never lived in an apartment that has everything included.”

Barry said HQ is helping make Waco a more student-accessible city. “It is close to a lot of restaurants and shopping, and it is the most modern apartment complex I have ever lived in,” he said.

One way HQ is making the city of Waco more accessible to Baylor students is The Dash, Waco’s new Downtown Area Shuttle. Supported by Baylor, Heritage Quarters, the City of Waco Improvement District, and local property owners, The Dash made its first run on August 24, transporting passengers for free from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each weekday that Baylor classes are in session. Beginning its fifteen-minute route at Baylor’s Penland Hall, Waco’s new transit service loops around Robinson Tower, River Square Center, the Waco Convention Center and Heritage Square, Behrens Lofts, and Heritage Quarters, letting passengers stop off wherever they choose.

The shuttle serves the dual purpose of bringing students living downtown to Baylor campus and letting students from campus explore downtown, explained McGowan of the Waco Chamber. “Now students and staff won’t have to give up a parking spot to eat lunch off campus,” he said. Diamond was enthusiastic about The Dash. “I love public transportation, and you don’t have to worry about parking,” she said.

The Dash is just one more link in the chain connecting Baylor with urban students living across I-35. Barry said he thinks college students will always be searching for new and different living options—ones near restaurants, boutiques, and cafes—so downtown will continue to attract current and future students. “I picked Heritage Quarters because it was separated from other typical Baylor apartments,” he explained.

Yet Byrd said that the most important aspect of downtown student living is a revival of civic life. “Low-income neighborhoods surround downtown, so it will be interesting to see how new growth will impact Waco residents and civic activities,” he said. “Will it help connect stratified social groups or widen gaps?”