"There is a definite part-time student presence here," she continues. "A lot of the people are younger, in college or right out of college, and that definitely contributes to its feel. It would be a very different place if everyone was out of school, working."

Student renters such as Kalendarski have a definite impact on neighborhood character, says Capuano aide Lenicheck.

"There is no question that undergraduates have a very different lifestyle than people 10 or 15 years older," Lenicheck says. "And to some extent, [the student influence] is very evident."

Kelly L. Desmarais, 22, is a Tufts senior and rents an apartment in Somerville with three other students.

She says her neighborhood has a handful of students, but that it is comprised primarily of working families. Regardless of driving up rents, she says, students have a definite effect on the atmosphere in the area.

"Neighborhoods with a lot of students are a lot more social," she says.

Sometimes, though, the students have little say in whether they live off-campus or not.

Although Harvard guarantees housing for four years to its undergraduates, a small percentage chooses to live off campus. In addition, several hundred Harvard graduate students rent apartments and houses in the area.