Sonora Center

The Sonora Center dorm complex is farther south of the main campus than any other place to live at the Tempe campus. What it lacks in convenience, it makes up for in dorm quality. The Sonora Center is an apartment style wrap around building with five levels. Each level has less rooms the higher up the building goes. Each room is next to one another and opens up to a walkway over looking the central grass area. Like the rooms at Adelphi, when the residents want fresh air, they can simply open the door and walk outside. There are also two windows in the front of the room, and four windows in the back (two per bedroom). While the front widows do not open, all four in the back do. All of these openings provide each room with plenty of natural lighting and fresh air.

The rooms at Sonora Center are larger than the other dorms, while the actual bedrooms may be a little smaller, Sonora is the only dorm that also has a common room that connects the two bedrooms and the bathroom. With the spaciousness of the rooms, there is plenty of places to put a TV, futon, and a Sparklet in the room comfortably. Likewise with the larger rooms, the bathrooms in Sonora are also larger than other dorms. With this larger area in the bathroom, multiple people can use the different facilities at the same time. One downside to the bathroom however, is that unlike the other dorms there is only one sink for all four residents.

Sonora shares the same problem as Adelphi with being far from the main campus, forcing the students to walk five to seven minutes to get to the closest dining hall located at Hassayampa. When the residents are not up for the walk, they can go to the Sonora Market and with M&G dollars pay for meals and snacks.

There are both pros and cons for the design of Sonora. The largest and most obvious pro for Sonora is its very large central grass courtyard. This provides the residents many recreational opportunities. Residents can be seen playing football, Frisbee and many other sports in the grass area. This is not the only place where residents can enjoy the outdoors for there are also tennis courts and a basketball court directly behind Sonora. The downside to Sonora’s wrap around designis that the residents tend to be more isolated from one another, more so than other dorms. Similar to Adelphi, this creates a division of sides, which results in many residents not knowing others on the opposite side of the complex that they are on. 

Adelphi Commons II

Adelphi Commons II is a dorm for WP Carey students south of the main campus, next to Sonora Center and the Vista Del Sol apartments.  Adelphi is sectioned off into what they call clusters. The idea is that each cluster represents a type of neighborhood within the complex. In each cluster there is a lounge with a TV and kitchen for the residents to use. Unlike the Hassayampa or Palo Verde dorms, the space in between each room is outside. Because of this, the residents of Adelphi can easily enjoy the fresh air by simply opening their door. On top of having a door that opens up there are multiple skinny windows and normal windows linking the outside walls. By having a door that opens to the outside and windows scattered about the room, the rooms at Adelphi have good natural lighting.

The rooms within Adelphi are a very manageable size, there is enough room for each roommate to move around as well enough room to comfortably fit a TV and even a futon in the room for extra seating. One down side to the rooms however, is that the beds do not raise up very high which prevents mini fridges and other cabinets to fit underneath them stoping the residents from utilizing all of the space in the room. The layout of the bathrooms in Adelphi are unique in that they have all of the utilities in a separate room, this saves space by not having the sinks in the bedrooms. With this layout, more than one person can fit in the bathroom at the same time.

One of the largest downsides to being in a dorm south of the main campus is that the closest dining hall is a five to seven minute walk away. The closest dining hall is at Hassayampa but if residents of both Sonora and Adelphi do not want to make the walk over, Sonora market is close by. The market is a small grocery store for quick dinners as well as cereal bars and many other types of snacks, all of which can be paid for with M&G dollars.

Because of the outside cluster design of Adelphi, it is slightly harder for students to openly interact with the residents around them. However, because the rooms are still directly next to and across from each other, residents can still easily interact with their direct neighbors. There can also be a gap of communication between the two sides of Adelphi, for they are completely separated by the central area.  This central area is unlike Palo Verde’s and Sonora’s for there is no grass and the whole area laid with stones which limits the recreational activities that residents can use it for.

Hassayampa Academic Village

The Hassayampa Academic Village (HAV) is the largest dorm complex on the ASU campus, consisting of eight different halls. The Dorm holds the most residents with seven floors per building. These dorm buildings are condominium style rooms with out any kind of porch, patio, or deck area. With this, we look at the first evaluative criteria, the residents’ access to fresh air. The residents can control their own thermostat but the only air the get is through the vent. The only way they can get fresh air is by going down the elevator and sitting on one of the benches outside the building.  Each room only has one floor to ceiling window in each room and one lamp, this is the only light that is provided for each room.

            The rooms are average size with two raised twin beds so that the desks fit comfortably underneath them. However, there is no common room so the only place to relax is in your own room which also means that residents must make enough space to fit a TV if they want one. The bathrooms  are Jack and Jill style bathrooms that the four residents share. On each side there is a sink next to the door that leads to the shared toilet and shower.  The bathroom is only large enough for one person and limits the ability for people to use the facilities at the same time.

            One of the most beneficial parts about HAV, is that the Hassayampa dining hall is right down stairs and thirty second walk away, next to the UPS store where students can pick up their mail. The Hassayampa dining hall is the most popular place to eat for the residents of Sonora, Adelphi, and the HAV. This is a great place to have close for it uses meal plans and has an all you can eat buffet style breakfast, lunch and dinner.

            One of the crucial aspects of a dorm is the design of it.  There are both pros and cons to the design of Hassayampa.  A great benefit of living here, is that since it is indoors, many residents can keep their doors open which promotes a friendlier atmosphere. By having a floor where people can be more relaxed it is easier to make friends, which is crucial during freshman year. The downside however, is that the the rooms are separated by a very thin walls, making it tough to have a lot of privacy and a quite work place if your floor or even the floor above you is busy.

Palo Verde Main

             Palo Verde Main is the central dorm building on the north side of campus for first year students. Palo Verde (PV) is mainly the housing for engineering students, since it is right next store to the Fulton School of Engineering at ASU. However, many other students from different majors also live in this hall. PV is currently one of the oldest dorms on the Tempe campus at ASU and is set up as the stereotypical college dorm. There are two floors, both with long dimly lighted hallways with dorm rooms on both sides. One side has windows that look out towards the football stadium while the other side looks out onto the central grass area that the complex surrounds. Getting into the first criteria, PV is a cross between HAV and the other dorms in this review for it has the same indoor hallways from room to room but the residents are more easily able to go outside to get some air and they can open their windows a few inches in order to let fresh air into their room.

            The rooms at PV are a little bit smaller than they are at HAV and tend to feel a little more cramped. Their is not very much lighting and the windows are also smaller which. This tends to make the room seem even smaller than it is. As with the rooms in Hassayampa, it is difficult to incorporate a decent size TV or any other accessories while still having the room be manageable. Another aspect that does not contribute to the size of the room is that the sinks for each side are in the middle of the shared wall. The bathroom, consisting of just the shower and the toilet, is very compact which limits its availability to only one person at a time.

            The overall of design of PV is very practical, it is enclosed which allows for residents to interact easily to make study groups and do homework as well as prepare for tests together. The residents are also able to easily go outside to the open space and do recreational activities with friends to get out of their room and move around. One of the greatest amenities of PV however is that Devils Diner is within the building.

            Devils Diner is a 50’s style diner down the hall for the residents of PV that serves all kinds of food with televisions playing sports and other shows. Not only does PV have what is considered to be the best dining hall next to them, but they also have a small building housing their UPS store as well as a Starbucks with an outdoor seating area.

Introduction

            Once a student has selected a college to attend, their next biggest decision is which dorm to live in their freshman year. After making my choice to attend ASU, my thoughts went to this as well and I began doing research. I tried to look up the pros and cons about each of the dorms just to get a feel for each of them. From my research, I did not find much information besides the approximate sizes of the room and very crud youtube videos that someone took as they went on a tour through the rooms.  

            As a freshman now, and looking back on when I was choosing, I wish I had a more in depth chart that ranked the dorms through the eyes of freshman, and told what they were like to live in. Each dorm can be classified and ranked when held up by certain criteria. Of course some of this material begins with health codes and other such laws laid out by the CDC and other government organizations. Upon research, all of the dorms meet these basic requirements, but it is a matter of how well. For instance, all dorms meet spatial and air freshness standards but rooms in one dorm are farther apart than rooms in another while rooms in one have better access to fresh air than another.

On the ASU Tempe campus, there are four main dorms that freshman stay in: Sonora Center, Adelphi Commons II, Hassayampa, and Palo Verde.To begin with the assessment of the dorms, the first criteria I will be looking at is the availability to fresh air that the residents have.  This is one of the most important criteria there is because accesses to fresh air can greatly affect a student’s mentality. Being cooped up in a room with stale air blowing in can be very draining mentally and creates a poor work environment, especially if sunlight cannot enter the room as well. This piece of criteria will evaluate whether the resident is able to breath fresh air while in their room and if not, are the able to easily go outside. Along with access to outside, I will also be looking at the amount of light that can enter the room through windows and if those windows can open. I think this is a determinate factor to many people when they are looking at where to live which is also why it is the first criteria listed.

Along with natural lighting and fresh air, the actual size and layout of the room is an important aspect on which a student while want to live in that dorm. Not only are the dimensions of each of the bedrooms important but also whether or not there is a common room in the dorm. Having space in ones dorm can be contribute greatly to how well the roommates and suitemates get along as well as how happy they are when they are at their room.

While sizes of the bedrooms are a crucial part of the room, so is the size of the bathrooms. When the bathroom is small, it can get cluttered quickly and become unsanitary.  The set up of the bathroom determines how well it serves its function. Some dorms have separate sinks so that only two people share a sink while the four share a toilet and a shower. Others have one shared room with the two sinks next to each other with the shower and toilet behind them.

Moving away from the room specifically, location of the dorm complex in respect to a dining hall is also important. Two of the dorms being examined have their own dining hall while the other two are a bit of a walk away.

Looking at the design of the dorm complex, certain designs are better for encouraging interactions between residents which helps freshmen to make friends. A dorm that has a hallway set up allows the residents to have their doors open and to interact as they walk by while dorms with an apartment set up tend to keep to themselves. The design of the complex can also provide a central area for recreational activities for the residents. 

• Access to fresh air
• How many windows are in the room
• How much light can get into the room
• Is there easy access to outside

• Space to move around in the room
• Is there a common room
• How big are the bedrooms
• Is there enough room for accessories (TV, futon, sparklet, etc)

• Closest place to eat
• Where is the nearest dining hall
• What is the quality of the closest dining hall
• Are there other eating places closer than the dining hall

• Bathroom style
• How many people share the bathroom
• How many sinks per person are there
• How large is the bathroom

• Design of the dorm complex
• Is it open for the residents to interact with one another 
• Is there a central area for the residents to do activities
• Are there recreational facilities close by

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