We are glad you are here. But please remember: This is our home, too.

Last year, an elderly woman who has lived in this neighborhood for 45 years was enjoying her garden when a BC student told her, “If you don’t like living in this neighborhood, then you should move.”

That statement was deeply hurtful, and it gets to the heart of the problem.

Forty-five years in the same neighborhood means 45 years of memories, friendships, raising a family, paying taxes, caring for a home, and being part of a community. Then someone who has just arrived tells her to leave.

That is not what being a good neighbor looks like. And it certainly does not reflect BC’s proud tradition of developing “men and women for others.”

Being a person for others begins with something very basic: recognizing that other people matter.

So, as a new academic year begins, we want to welcome BC students to our neighborhood. We hope you have a wonderful college experience. We are not asking you to stop having fun or enjoying your college years.

We are asking for something much simpler: respect and consideration.

On weekend nights, residents have encountered groups of students walking through our streets late at night, sometimes visibly intoxicated. We have witnessed underage drinking, shouting, excessive noise, loud music, public urination, littering, and other disruptive behavior. Residents have documented some of this behavior with photographs.

For people who have to work the next morning, these disturbances can mean sleepless nights. For families with children, they can impact education. For elderly neighbors, they can create a feeling that their streets are no longer peaceful or secure.

Before saying, “It’s no big deal,” imagine that it is happening outside your home.

Imagine trying to sleep while intoxicated strangers are shouting outside your bedroom window at 1 a.m. Imagine finding beer cans and cups on your property the next morning. Imagine being told that if you don’t like it, “you should move.”

There is another issue that deserves serious attention from BC and the City of Boston: student housing and the safety of students living off campus.

Our neighborhood association has easily identified properties in city records where the number of undergraduate students living in a house appears significantly higher than the number of bedrooms allowed. We have found examples of five-bedroom homes reportedly housing 12 and even 14 undergraduate students, as well as an eight-bedroom duplex reportedly housing 17 students.

These situations raise serious questions about overcrowding, safety, building conditions, and whether students are being housed appropriately.

BC knows how many students it admits. It also knows not all students are provided with four years of on-campus housing. Students should not be left having to find overcrowded housing because adequate on-campus housing is unavailable.

Let’s all work together to find safe, legal housing for students.

Student safety cannot be left entirely to students themselves. BC has a responsibility to provide adequate housing for the students it admits and to educate students about their responsibilities when they live in residential neighborhoods. BC should insist that students live only in housing that is properly registered and inspected, and students should not knowingly enter into potentially unsafe living arrangements.

The City of Boston also has a responsibility to enforce its housing, zoning, building, and safety regulations. Regulations mean little if they are not consistently enforced.

We should also remember the tragic death of Boston University student Binland Lee in a 2013 house fire. More than a decade later, we should continue asking whether enough has been done to ensure that students living off-campus are safe.

Most BC students are good people. Many are respectful, responsible, and considerate neighbors. We know that the actions of a relatively small number of students can unfairly affect the reputation of thousands.

Our goal is simple: a neighborhood where students can live safely and legally, and where longtime residents can enjoy the peace and security of their homes.

Everyone has a role to play. Students are at risk when others ignore the danger and shift responsibility elsewhere.

BC should provide adequate on-campus housing, guide students in locating legal and safe off-campus housing, educate students about living in residential neighborhoods, and hold students accountable when their conduct harms others.

Landlords must provide safe and legal housing and should not profit from overcrowding.

The City of Boston must enforce its laws consistently and protect the safety of everyone who lives in Boston. A lack of enforcement places students at risk.

These entities are doing students a disservice by ignoring the dangers of overcrowded, unsafe housing.

Students have a responsibility, too.

When you move off campus, you become part of a neighborhood. That neighborhood includes us.

Enjoy your friends. Enjoy your college years. Enjoy Brighton.

But when you walk home at 1 a.m., remember the family sleeping behind the door you pass.

Remember the child who has school in the morning.

Remember the elderly neighbor who has lived here for 45 years.

Remember the family that simply wants to live in peace.

And remember the words BC asks its students to live by: “men and women for others.”

There may be no better place to practice that ideal than right here in our neighborhood.

We welcome you. We want you to be safe. We want you to succeed.

This is your home while you are here. But it is our home, too.

Tim Burke

Lane Park Neighborhood Association

Brighton

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