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“Company town”? Who wants Davis to be known as a “Company town”? Not me!!

Recently I heard someone describe Davis in print as a "company town".  This was in the context of the housing needs of local residents and/or students.  This writer also made some cheap shot about "Without UCD, we'd be Dixon or Vacaville" and I am sure the good people who live in those towns did not appreciate that slap, just like some voters in the 2016 did not like being called "deplorables".  C'mon have some manners!

But that is not my main point here.  The main point is:  Who wants to be a company town anyway? Historically company towns were situations where a large employer manipulated the employees of the company and residents of the nearby town for their own economic benefit…. essentially making the residents indentured servants.  Is that the kind of relationship we want between UCD and the town?  I think not.

We need vastly different relations between UC Davis and the City of Davis.  Different as in "better".  Better as in "more respectful, more thoughtful, more collaborative, more mutually beneficial".  Seems that the local branch of "The Great University" (from which I have two degrees by the way) has let its almighty autonomy go to its head and decide that it can be a bad neighbor "doing its own thing" instead of a good partner regarding the housing issue… which we share.

We share the problem, why not share the solution?  And I mean really share the solution in important ways, not just in a token fashion.

Step up, UCD and work with us to write a Long Range Plan that works for everybody!

PS Want read more about company towns?  Here's a link to the "source of all knowledge" aka wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_town

 

 

 

Posted by

John Troidl

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Comments

2 responses to ““Company town”? Who wants Davis to be known as a “Company town”? Not me!!”

  1. Eileen Samitz

    This is a great article and I completely agree.
    UCD’s inadequate LRDP brought up in this article is a good example of how UCD has not done it’s part to be a good neighbor. So far UCD has been all talk and not action on being a good neighbor. For instance the new Chancellor has been here a year now and has declined all invitations by the City Council and the City Staff to discuss the important issue of the need for more on-campus student housing
    UCD has not been stepping-up as it can and needs to with its LRDP and provide far more on-campus housing than they have proposed. If not, our City Council needs to step up like Santa Cruz’ City Council and take action to do what is in the best interests of our community on whatever legal remedy is necessary to deal with UCD like the City Santa Cruz has successfully done.

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  2. sarah tetcher

    A large enterprise (or university that has decided it is better run as a business) acting as a landlord and the provider of all goods and services for a large portion of the population is what makes a company town. By demanding that the university house its students and (presumably) its faculty and staff, that is forcing people into one. As someone who is paid as an adjunct and should therefore have the interests of its students in mind, it’s interesting that you continue to demand that the university act as a location for everything students need, especially when it consistently exhibits behaviors that make it a textbook company town in and of itself.
    Staff who can’t afford to live in Davis must pay exorbitantly high parking rates, since the regional public transit which is already sparse sometimes runs hours off schedule. Student and staff housing are wildly unaffordable to most students and employees ($2000 for a one bedroom apartment? Please.) While Davis as a city has massive faults, the “company town” aspect lies purely within the boundaries of the university.

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