Students - Welcome back to Allston and Brighton!

BostonHerald.com - Local & Regional: Tenants gripe 'Trashford' not fit digs “It’s not Ashford, it’s Trashford,” said Thomas Demmel, 21, a foreign student from Germany who has lived in an Ashford Street apartment for the past year. Demmel, a junior at Boston University, will now be shacking up in a swankier North End apartment, despite its distance from campus. Rats! City is a ‘pigsty’ Hub gets pre-school scrubbing The Dumpster behind 15A Linden St. was overflowing with trash, so much that Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the inspectors had to walk gingerly through the back lot, where two refrigerators and a mattress were dumped. And then they saw the rat - first one, and then another, both dead. Yesterday, the mayor kicked off his annual Student Turnover Campaign, leading a small army of city workers as they fanned out across Allston and Brighton. In addition to keeping buildings clean and sanitary, landlords must keep front doors locked and install carbon monoxide and smoke detectors in every unit and hallway, Timberlake said. Tenants whose buildings don’t meet those standards should request an inspection by calling (617) 635-4500. Landlords Who Take Advantage Of Students Targeted As thousands of college students descend on Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino promised to crack down on landlords who take advantage of students. On Thursday, Menino joined an army of inspectors checking out apartments. They didn't have to look hard for violations. "We're concerned about the understructure of the porch. It is buckling on the second floor," Menino said of one Allston apartment. At one Allston apartment rented by five students for $2,800 a month, violations were being corrected before the city enforcers showed up. But two blocks away, violations, like the trash, were overflowing. Dead rats were also found at the apartment. "It's one of the worst (apartments) I've seen, especially for a neighborhood," said Edward Kennedy, of Boston Inspectional Services. "There is definitely a rat infestation here as well."