LOS ANGELES-Located just south of central Los Angeles at the southern tip of the Figueroa Corridor, squeezed between Exposition and Jefferson Boulevard, the University of Southern California is dotted with tall palm trees and Spanish-style architecture. Students dart past, backpacks in tow; some lounge in the grass. Students groups hand-out fliers for various events and a local radio station blares music from a tent off the main walkway. Most seem oblivious to the gorgeous, sunny weather for which southern California is famous. Barring the palm trees, this could be any college campus- but like many other campuses, USC has been experiencing some tough issues when it comes to neighborhood relations and development.A tall wrought-iron fence separates the squeaky clean USC campus from a surrounding community that is 70 percent Latino. Beyond the two-story student apartment homes and the University Village shopping plaza that line the campus border stretches a vast tract of square, one-story homes with small fenced yards. Colorful Catholic murals adorn the sides of neighborhood stores and restaurants. Young, dark-skinned boys, all in white shirts and blue shorts, play on cement schoolyards circled by tall chain-link fences. Most billboards and signs are in Spanish. By erecting a brick and iron barrier, the university has set itself apart physically from its neighbors- and some community groups would say ideologically. Speaking on the relations between USC and its neighbors, A. Bingham Cherrie, associate vice president of Planning and Business Affairs, denied any major gap between the two, but acknowledged a problem may exist because the “community feels they’re not a part of our (USC) environment.”It is a distant relationship that makes the context for a struggle for land that involves sometimes conflicting university and community interests.In the great urban sprawl that is Los Angeles, land is becoming an extremely valuable commodity. To the north and south, mountains loom in the bluish, smoggy haze that hangs over the city. To the west, beyond Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and Venice, is the cold water of the Pacific Ocean. The city presses tightly against its natural boundaries. The pressure created by limited expansion opportunities extends to the Figueroa Corridor, the area which connects downtown Los Angeles and the Staples Center (place of the 2000 Democratic Convention) with the USC campus- an area which has drawn great commercial interest recently. Any move by the university to redevelop or expand outwardly could mean displacement for any number of the 200,000 Latino and black residents in the area, creating an uncertain future for those searching for affordable housing elsewhere, according to the Figueroa Corridor Coalition for Economic Justice, a group comprising 19 community organizations. For a cramped university this is a daunting dilemma, and for a working-class community this is a ominous possibility.”We are an urban university and do not have a lot of room to expand,” Cherrie said. USC campus occupies 154 acres of land, according to Business Affairs- far smaller than other universities such as Ohio State, which claims a 1,705 acre campus. Despite claims by the USC that the current space will be utilized by building upward, and no outward expansion is being planned, some residents remain leery as to USC’s actual intentions.”We know the university has needs to develop. Our concern is that planning needs to be done jointly,” said Sandra McNeil, organizer for Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, a Figueroa Corridor community interest group.The history of redevelopment in the Figueroa and university area goes back to 1948 when the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency was created. The CRA, which works closely with USC today, began its first major project in 1966: The Hoover Redevelopment Project. Nearly a decade of urban renewal ensued, during which time the university expanded its northern border. Using traditional urban renewal methods and eminent domain, a long strip of community businesses and housing was bulldozed under along Jefferson Boulevard to the north. Although the university promised to allow the businesses back to the area, the lot remained vacant for five years, and local businesses were unable to make the move, according to McNeil. A photo page titled “Wasteland” displaying images of the area was published in a 1972 issue of the Daily Trojan, USC’s student newspaper. The photos showed piles of stone and rubble and desolate fields were businesses and homes used to be. After being pressured by community groups, the CRA and City Council implemented projects to renew some resources lost by the community after the north campus redevelopment. In 1975, a hotel complex was erected along with University Village, a shopping plaza near campus, according to the FCCEJ.In September 1999, USC purchased the University Village, which had a 20 percent vacancy rate and had been refinanced in 1998. The university also purchased the Radisson hotel this summer- its second major land purchase this year. With 109 properties in the area, USC is now the largest land owner and employer in the area, according to the FCCEJ.Cherrie commented on the university’s need to purchase the hotel saying, “it had not been maintained as a first-class facility.” Such acquisitions though present a major concern for McNeil, who claims the university’s actions are causing gentrification of the area. By purchasing and creating higher priced rental property for students, the university is creating community housing which working-class or low income residents cannot afford.”The entire character of the neighborhood is changing,” McNeil said. “The people who service this part of town are loosing the ability to live here.”Cherrie said that it is in the university’s best interest to maintain property in the surrounding area and “enhancing and replacement of housing stock will continue for a long time.” Yet USC is not primarily a developer and has no long-term development plan, according to Cherrie.”If students were not coming, we would still be dependent on tuition income,” Cherrie said. “USC is not a developer, but if students don’t come- then yes.”USC has found a way to contribute to the community. The university has adopted five area schools and gives grants through faculty and staff community outreach programs, Cherrie said. The often tense relationship between USC and FCCEJ is not a war. Rather these are two interests trying hard for a mutually beneficial existence. With the possibility of explosive commercial development around the Staples Center just to the north, USC and central Los Angeles businesses may have much to gain by giving the neighborhood a facelift, thereby giving the “feeling that these are safe places to go,” Cherrie said. But many community groups are asking where the residents fit in to a prosperous, consumer and student oriented view of the future.”We are not saying we want USC to go away,” said McNeil, citing the resources and investment students bring to the area. “We feel very strongly that USC has a responsibility to consider the impact on the community.”