Ask any student here what they think of the rents in College Town, and almost everyone will agree that they are overpriced. While it’s true that the apartments are right next to an Ivy League University, there is not much else to warrant the high prices charged by so many rentals, some of which rival the rent of a New York studio or apartment. This Cafe provided a very interesting point of view on the subject, which is rather personal for all students at Cornell. One interesting fact I found out was that the recent explosion of real estate in college town was approved in order to lower rents, but has so far had the opposite effect. But, when one takes a closer look at the situation, it makes sense. Since a majority of the real estate is owned by a small amount of owners, the normal rules of competition do not apply.  Hopefully sometime in the near future there will be a solution to this problem that’ll benefit both students and landowners.

In addition, Cornell is also part to blame for the exorbitant prices of living in College Town. The first reason being how expense its own living costs are. While this cost does cover both lodging and food, it is still rather steep. Due to this, landlords know that they only need to charge a tiny bit less than Cornell does, and they’ll be able to sell to students looking for somewhere bigger than a single room. The second problem lies with how much taxes Cornell pays. None. Yet it’s still being serviced by the surrounding area, so the rest of the county needs to make up for the revenue lost from the University. If Cornell could somehow find a reasonable solution to these problems, perhaps students trying to live in college town will have an easier time finding an affordable home.