Are Higher Rents Driving Students out of the Fenway?

Many residents of the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood point the finger at students for some of the neighborhood's problems. Loud parties, trash, Green Line traffic, and higher rents in the area are all seen as issues caused by the 9,000 or so students that call the Fenway area home.

But a new report published by Northeastern indicates those students are now being priced out of the neighborhood, and starting to move to the Mission Hill neighborhood en masse. 

According to the Boston Business Journal, rent prices increased by 12 percent from 2011 to 2012, with the average rent for a 3-bedroom now around $3,438. 

At the same time, the undergraduate student population from Northeastern exploded on Mission Hill, rising by 16 percent, according to the Boston Business Journal, in contrast to a 13 percent rise in the Fenway neighborhood. 

A several months long study by the Fenway CDC earlier this year noted that Fenway residents want to see more, not less, affordable housing in the neighborhood, and worry about local businesses being pushed out due to higher rents. 

Do you see less students in the neighborhood as a good thing? Are you nervous about what increased development and increased rent will do to the character of the Fenway neighborhood? Tell us in the comments.