I attended the lecture from Lisa Nicholas today about the growth of Ithaca, and how difficult it can be to find a balance between growth and integrity of a community. Some of the many things she touched on were goals of people moving into any community, and advancements made to Ithaca as a whole.

According to Lisa, people moving into cities want less people in their home (it used to be 2.5 people per household, but now is nearing 1.5 or 1), more densely packed areas, and more storefronts. Communities really aim to have growth of their population, but need to be careful not to overwhelm their resources and town feel. For Ithaca, Nicholas told us about how there was to be an 11-story housing building put up by the Commons, but the idea was stuck down after people felt it would overwhelm the Commons. Secondly, for Ithaca, our rental vacancy rate is around .5% when it should be around 5%. This means that while people may want to move in, there is nowhere to go.

I never realized how much planning went into planning a town as small as Ithaca, but Nicholas exuded passion about the subject. Visiting the newly completed Commons, I can see why. Compared to the construction I saw last year (I am only a sophomore so I never saw it before then) the Commons looks great now. It’s a very unique space to gather with really interesting buildings. I’m glad there are people like Lisa making sure people like me have a place to go in Ithaca.