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The notion of a Greek housing area is not altogether a bad idea. Having Greek houses scattered about the residential areas surrounding a campus may seem like a neat idea, but trying to balance good relations with the neighborhood against the needs of a fraternity house is sometimes an insurmountable task.
Parking is an issue as is noise. Trying to get permits and possible zoning changes may make the dream of a house impossible. We find this to be an acute problem in California. I live in Orange, the home of Chapman University, and the city may be getting ready to lower the boom on college kids. In fact, a friend of mine that knew I was a greek and currently active, asked me how to go about getting a fraternity booted from Chapman and BANNED from the city. BTW, he retired and that fraternity is still in town. Neighborhood issues remain the key to obtaining and keeping Greek housaing in a residential area.
If the land is available and suitable financing can be obtained, then a Greek neighborhood may not be such a bad idea. It wouldn't work at Berkeley, for example, because there is no vacant land, but at other campuses it may be a good solution. The university has to be supportive of the idea and can't use the notion of an exclusive Greek enclave to 'muscle' the Greeks off campus with excessive development fees and impossible to pass archetectural and design reviews.
If the only way to overcome neighborhood and/or city obstacles is to 'cluster' Greek housing then it is an idea that must be considered and explored.
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