Tamiami Hall fools students into thinking it’s the best housing on campus

Tamiami Hall building entrance. Jacqueline Flores / PantherNOW

Jacqueline Flores | Staff Writer

Tamiami Hall towers with sleek new windows and gorgeous views, but the high price for the same amenities and limited parking makes living there anything but luxurious. 

Several students choose to live on campus for better campus engagement or studying and Tamiami Hall may seem like the perfect first choice as a brand-new dorm. However, this dorm is not worth the price for young college students. 

For a large dorm building with rooms at $4,600 a semester, there would be expectations of bigger rooms or game room amenities. At most, a student living here gets a small room and barely any parking with that price. 

If you expect to live in the fancy new hall with elegant rooms, then Tamiami Hall will disappoint you. 

Tamiami Hall was built as a response to help the demand for student housing. In the ambition to house as many students as possible, space is sacrificed. 

In the building, they offer private rooms in a shared living space but every other dormitory building offers the same for $1,000-$2,000 less per school year.

The dimensions of the private rooms are smaller than the ones at University Towers— which is about $600 cheaper per semester and saves you $1,200 in the academic year. At Parkview Hall, the dimensions are identical at a lower cost as well. It feels no different from the other dorms.

Telemundo interviewed students on move-in day discussing limited housing options, off and on campus, and how Tamiami Hall had a long waiting list for those who need housing. It’s a band-aid solution to the long-term problem, but at no real benefit for students choosing to live here. 

Abduson Orasmy is a biomedical engineering junior and housing student who’s lived at University Apartments for the past year and at University Towers the previous year. 

Living on campus has been crucial to his studies and allows him to still enjoy campus activities with friends. However, Orasmy had some concerning thoughts about Tamiami Hall. 

“It is not worth the cost versus what you’re actually getting,” Orasmy said. “It’s double the cost of what I already have at UA.” 

Parking is also a nightmare at the Hall. With nearly 700 new students in housing, there should’ve been better planning in parking space. 

There are only about 10 parking spots on each side of the building. If you’re lucky enough to find a golden parking spot here, often you’d have to move your car for football games and loud tailgating. 

The majority of students must park in Lot 5 or Blue Garage, a 15-minute walk from the dormitory. 

I have an additional 15 minutes to my work commute when I would rather get 15 extra minutes of sleep. 

Other students don’t want to make the long trip either. FIU Housing had to send several emails about students parking illegally. 

The first email from earlier in the semester urged students to stop parking in Tamiami Park as the “FIU community is not allowed to park in these restricted areas. This lot does not belong to FIU or risk being towed,” Within the week, the field of vehicles became a field of uninhabited grass. 

However, people still parked in other restricted areas. A second email had to be sent out during midterms asking students, again, to stop parking in fire lanes and on the side of the road.  But students continue to park there as the trip to Blue Garage and Lot 5 is long. 

The only value of the dorm is the magnificent view. 

With a gorgeous view of the Miami skyline and FIU Football stadium, it’s difficult to focus on studying when staring out the window is heavenly. I got lucky enough to be on the 12th floor, with a view of Tamiami Park and the city. Personally, this is preferable to a view of FIU which I can see every day from places like the Green Library and Academic Health buildings. 

If you’re willing to pay $4,600 a semester for a lounge with a beautiful view, then that’s totally acceptable. But don’t expect much more from that. 

Tamiami Hall is not as glamorous as it seems. Parking is a hassle, dorm rooms are the same layout and you’re only paying for a view. I feel like I am living in a lifeless hotel and I much rather feel like I live at home like the University Apartments.

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

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