Last Wednesday in the weekly Rose Cafe series, Lisa Nicholas gave a presentation on the past, current, and future developments in Ithaca. As someone who lives outside of Ithaca, it was fascinating to learn about past developments, such as the most recent new Commons. She also shed some light on the city planning process, starting from gathering information about demand and availability to the unveiling of the finished project. I learned that some project proposals get rejected if, among other reasons, the proposed finished project doesn’t fit the culture and/or atmosphere of the local area. These days, we see so many projects of silver, shiny new buildings going up in areas of more old style and, while I think the contrast can be interesting, I also think it’s important to maintain and be proud of the certain old air of a given area. Old buildings represent the past and in many regards are essential to the local identity. If I were a city planner, I would aim to create a clear balance between old and new architecture so that the new would nicely complement the old.

She also mentioned future developments in Ithaca that mainly consist of hotels and student housing in and around the Commons and Collegetown. Because Ithaca is growing, they’ve seen clear demand for more of both. So much so, that there will be, if I remember correctly, a total of four hotels right around the Commons after all projects are completed. There is also a very high amount of commuters who travel in and out of Ithaca everyday for their jobs. Ms. Nicholas mentioned that there’s a desire to increase overall housing availability in the city so that these commuters don’t have to travel so far every day. I personally think this would be a good use of land because more housing in the local area would reduce CO2 emissions by reducing the amount of cars driving in and out of the city every day. I think it’s great that there are many student housing projects occurring in Collegetown and the Commons because, as student population increases, the need for housing will logically also increase. Taking a proactive approach instead of a late one to increase student housing will increase efficiency and decrease stress for students. I’m very glad to be a part of the growing community of Ithaca and look forward to seeing what’s next in its development.