Andy talked about how many of the older areas and construction sites in Ithaca are doing things that unintentionally arm harming the Finger Lakes. This was very surprising to me because I expected our town of motivated college students and environmentally conscious individuals to do something about this. I’m glad that we have people like Andy who are making that effort to change things from the past that we need to fix for the future. He also mentioned that in particular Ithaca likes to think that it is very green, but really it still has some problems with floods carrying waste into the water. I might have similar issues on a personal level. I like to think that I care a lot about the environment, but I still do things like keep electronics on or forget to recycle. Maybe I should start reevaluating my own choices first.

This was such an interesting podcast! I really didn’t take into account how intricate city planning is, especially in Ithaca. It never came to mind how water can be such an issue with the building process. I also found it interesting that many of the staff that helps run Cornell don’t live in Ithaca but live about 20-30 miles away due to the affordable housing crisis within Ithaca. It definitely opens my eyes and makes me appreciate the staff even more.  Lastly, I enjoyed learning a little more about Balch Hall. I lived there during my freshman year and the building is so unique! I didn’t know they were going under renovation and I definitely didn’t know they’re going to have to close it for over a year for that renovation. Quite an insightful talk!

I learned a lot about Ithaca during the interview with Garrick Blalock and Andy Zepp. The history of Collegetown as well as housing in Cornell was interesting to hear about. However, I was most fascinated by the new developments. I was pretty excited about the new development that will hopefully come to collegetown. Considering how high prices are in Collegetown, maybe this will help increase the amount of housing and maybe affordability however this is probably a high expectation. The new developments on the waterfront were also very interesting. I have only been to the waterfront once during my time here and it seems like there is so much potential to develop. However, Garrick and Andy did bring up many problems like how Ithaca is sitting in a flood plain and much of the ground near the waterfront is made up of material that is not preferable.

On week 8 of Rose House Scholars, I attended my first Rose Buzz podcast. Garrick Black and Andy Zepp’s commitment to Cornell and the Ithaca was very interesting to learn about, especially since this is my first semester experiencing Ithaca as a student. I was particularly interested in the new housing developments being considered in Collegetown as well as the history of Cornell’s relationship to Ithaca. Although Garrick Black and Andy Zepp have different backgrounds, it was nice to know that they are both very passionate about community and targeting key issues faced in Ithaca, such as the flood plain and high priced real estate.