In a historic Pennsylvania neighborhood once marked by its serene, tree-lined streets and a sense of security where families left doors unlocked, late-night disturbances are now causing unrest.
Residents are expressing frustration over a surge in noise and disorderly behavior, attributing it to off-campus student renters from nearby Villanova University. Weekends in the community have turned into chaotic scenes filled with loud parties and rowdy behavior.
Mount Pleasant Avenue in Tredyffrin Township, located roughly 21 miles from Philadelphia, has seen its tranquil environment disrupted by loud partygoers, reckless driving, and public disturbances that persist into the early hours.
For those who have lived in the neighborhood for years, the shift has been unsettling.
“They’re speeding. There are Ubers everywhere. They’re shouting. Drunken students are roaming the street, vomiting, and someone even urinated on my car a few weeks ago,” resident Rosalynn Simmons reported to WPVI.
The complaints come from a historically Black neighborhood, home to multigenerational families, elderly residents, and young children, who are now grappling with these overnight disruptions.
Locals say they once felt in the neighborhood they rarely locked their doors.
‘Around here, we never had to worry about locking our doors, but now we do because you’ve got drunk kids wandering into people’s homes,’ resident Danielle Galloway told 6ABC.
The problems are centered around homes being rented out to Villanova students near the university campus, where parties can stretch from daylight hours into the next morning.
Residents along Mount Pleasant Avenue say weekends now bring waves traffic as partygoers pour into student rental homes near Villanova University
Locals say parties sometimes begin during the afternoon and continue deep into the early morning hours. Pictured, Villanova students are seen in an unrelated photo
Township officials confirmed that several homes along Mount Pleasant Avenue are rented to rotating groups of Villanova students
According to township police records cited by local media, officers have repeatedly been called to the neighborhood over noise complaints, disputes, and other disturbances tied to off-campus student housing.
One incident described by authorities involved officers responding to a home blasting Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York shortly after 3am.
But neighbors insist the official complaints only tell part of the story.
People living on the block say they routinely wake up to beer cans strewn across yards, vomit left on private property and drunk students wandering through the area after parties.
‘I’ve seen plenty of fights in the middle of the night, just a lot of kids walking up and down the street, yelling, screaming,’ Galloway said.
Tom Traun, 77, who has lived in the neighborhood for half a century, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that things spiral whenever parties erupt.
‘When it comes time to party, there is no control,’ Traun said.
He described students urinating outside and loud gatherings carrying on late into the night.
Join the discussion
How should communities handle student renters when partying turns neighborhoods upside down?
Families who have lived in the neighborhood for generations say they no longer feel comfortable leaving doors unlocked because of intoxicated students roaming the area
Some neighbors say exhaustion has set in after years of repeated disturbances, with certain incidents no longer even being reported to police
Residents told local media they have witnessed fights breaking out in the middle of the night outside student rental properties. Pictured, the Villanova Wildcat’s mascot is seen here
‘How were they raised?’ he asked in desperation.
Residents say the neighborhood has changed dramatically over the last two decades as more homes were converted into student rentals.
While earlier generations of renters caused fewer issues, many locals believe behavior has worsened in recent years.
‘This current generation, they’re the party ones, which is fine, but when it gets to be out of hand, that’s the problem,’ Galloway said.
‘We don’t mind that they party, but be respectful of the neighbors.’
The tension has intensified ahead of Villanova’s planned opening of its new Cabrini campus at the former site of Cabrini University, a move residents fear could bring even more student activity closer to the already strained neighborhood.
Locals say rideshare traffic now tears through the narrow residential streets as guests flood parties that sometimes begin in the afternoon and continue into the early hours.
Families who have lived there for generations say they no longer feel comfortable allowing children to freely play outside the way they once did.
Galloway, whose extended family has deep roots on the block and whose 80-year-old mother still lives there, said she worries about her 9-year-old grandson.
Danielle Galloway said she has witnessed late-night fights, screaming students and intoxicated partygoers wandering through the neighborhood
Rosalynn Simmons said the once-peaceful street is now plagued by speeding cars, nonstop Uber traffic and drunken students yelling outside homes
Residents say the aftermath of student parties often leaves Mount Pleasant Avenue littered with beer cans, trash and even vomit smeared across cars, porches and front yards
She told the Inquirer she wants stricter accountability for landlords renting homes to students.
‘The ordinance needs to be rewritten,’ she said. ‘The homeowners need to take responsibility of who they’re renting to.’
Township officials have acknowledged the growing frustration.
Police Captain Tyler Moyer, who has served on the force for more than two decades, said officers have spent years responding to complaints in the area.
He told the Inquirer that police began proactively visiting student rental houses at the start of the school year to warn residents about potential citations tied to noise violations and underage drinking.
Authorities said multiple noise citations have already been issued during the current academic year.
Still, many residents believe enforcement remains inadequate.
‘On the weekends, they need to patrol more and they don’t,’ Galloway said.
Others say exhaustion has set in after years of dealing with the disturbances.
Some neighbors have reportedly stopped contacting police entirely, believing little changes after complaints are made.
Kevin Stroman, 70, who grew up in the neighborhood and now runs a mentoring program at the historic Carr School/Mount Pleasant Chapel near one of the student houses, said he has personally tried to intervene by speaking directly to student renters.
Residents say the tree-lined block once felt so safe that many homeowners rarely bothered locking their doors at night
The historically black neighborhood is filled with longtime residents, aging seniors and families whose roots on the street stretch back decades
‘When the parents aren’t getting on them, the college is not getting on them, the police are not getting on them, and then you got the neighbors,’ Stroman told the Inquirer. ‘All we can do is make a little fuss, but there’s not a lot we can do.’
At a recent township meeting, supervisor Carlotta Johnson-Pugh said some residents felt they were not receiving the same treatment as other communities in Tredyffrin.
‘I don’t know what more can be done to stop – I’m just going to say – the madness of kids,’ Johnson-Pugh said. ‘But they seem to just be out of hand.’
Villanova University says it is aware of the complaints and insists students remain subject to disciplinary rules whether they live on campus or off campus.
In a statement, Villanova spokesperson Krissy Woods said the university is ‘committed to working with its students to recognize the importance of being a good neighbor.’
The statement added that the university communicates regularly with township officials and follows up on reports received from local municipalities.
But for many residents, patience is wearing thin.
Simmons said neighbors often feel dismissed whenever concerns are raised.
‘No one is really willing to come down here and talk to us,’ she said. ‘It’s like, “Oh, they’re just young, let them have their fun.”‘
