Off-campus freedom doesn't have to cost your security

Moving off campus can be liberating. You don’t have to worry about GAs knocking on your door during impromptu dance parties or spend an hour signing in your out-of-town friends. But living off campus in West Philadelphia makes many worry about one thing: security.

When I mentioned the idea of moving off campus to my parents, they first lamented the loss of an AlliedBarton security officer at the entrance of a college house and the PennCard swiping system that provides extra protection.

Many off-campus facilities offer a similar — though not identical — security system to Penn’s college houses. Chestnut Hall and the Radian both have security guards at the entrance monitoring who comes and goes. In the Radian, you can’t ride the elevator up to any rooms without having a resident's access key.

To ensure safety in off-campus houses, the best thing anyone can do is simply lock the doors. If you plan on staying in the house for many months, it would be useful to talk to the landlord about installing a home security system for extra protection.

And to those worried parents who equate moving off campus with reckless endangerment: the Division of Public Safety’s patrol zone stretches a half mile on and off campus from 30th Street to 43rd Street and Market Street to Baltimore Avenue, according to Associate Director Jared Hupp. DPS offers the same resources to those living off campus as those living on campus. If you're in need of help, you won’t be at a disadvantage in terms of the security services provided for you.

When explaining your decision to your parents, you can remind them that when we graduate from the Penn bubble, we’ll be living off campus permanently — so it's better to live independently now than to flounder on your own later.

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