I became a part of CiLo this year when the Student Assembly committee was formed by a great friend of mine, Milicent Kastenbaum. We do things to better community relations between Ithacans and Cornellians, and to try to kind of gray that very bolded line by doing events like this one. Most Cornellians barely even think about the City they live in, but it really is an astonishingly vibrant community and great place to live.
That said, it does have its issues. And there are issues that pertain to students, and there are issues that pertain to the community at large. Our group wanted to aim for a student based discussion, but at the same time acknowledge the big changes that are coming (Related to the new drug program here).
The panel was great. Plenty of great questions were asked and plenty of even better answers were given. It seems a big step to try to prove to students that the government is actually trying to help fix the housing market, or to help boost the economy in the area, or to give incentive to landlords to renovate their homes.
The best part about these events however, is that after they’re over, you can actually reach out to the community to get a sense on their situation, and how they feel about anything mentioned in the talk. There are always two sides to these issues, and there is a huge population in Ithaca that some people barely know about.
This post speaks to anyone trying to find off-campus housing because it definitely seems like no one has the students’ best interests in mind. I’ve never liked the atmosphere of housing in Collegetown as most of the houses seem rundown with landlords who don’t care. Fostering discussions between students, the Ithaca community, and the local government seems like an effective way to come to agreements on what should be done here.
This post is very interesting because it speaks to an interesting point. Many students, while they uses the shops and facilities of Collegetown, rarely take the time to appreciate the historical and architectural value of the property. Also, many students feel very abandoned when looking for housing in Collegetown because the process is unfamiliar and competitive. I think the work of CiLo could truly help to alleviate these issues.