After this week’s very delicious house dinner (my favorite house dinner so far!), I went to my first rose cafe event. John Schroder came prepared with detailed handouts about how Ithaca looked before all the recent development. I think it is very important to know the history behind the land we stand on and the buildings we learn in everyday. The cafe was not focused much about Cornell university, but more about Ithaca as a whole. We learned about the evolution of housing for college students, the urbanization of Ithaca, and issues related to real estate and preservation. One of the most talked about topics was taxes; Cornell isn’t paying taxes and it is hurting not only Ithaca, but it’s students also. By not paying property tax (which would be many millions I assume), Cornell is withholding so many resources that the city would benefit from. This in turns makes the people who live in Ithaca have to increase their own prices in order to meet the cost of living here. Students can all agree that housing is too expensive. Cornell is aware of this problem, but not enough is being done in my opinion. There should be more university housing and Cornell should be contributing to the community. Ithaca does so much for Cornell and yet they aren’t giving back to them. However, I can see the flip side of this argument where Cornell is a big tourist site and attracts many people to the area. Without Cornell, Ithaca would likely be a still rural area. I am still conflicted about how Cornell should address the housing problem, what are your thoughts?