Ithaca to me seems like only an effervescent locality in my life, a land where after four years I will not be stepping on. In my schema, when I think of Ithaca I think of Collegetown, the gorges, and Cornell Campus. Other than that I can only think of the New England style houses. I seldom gave thought to Ithaca the city, the place where many people call home.

During this talk I learned that Ithaca is a city that draws more than commuters from more than 14 different surrounding counties. I learned that Ithaca is actually a magnet for both workers as well as people who would like to call it their permanent home. However, there is a problem for the city in terms of allocating new housing in the city, where it is already reaching its maximum capacity and has little to no room left. This makes the cost of living very high, and so naturally the percentage of people in Tompkins county who live in Ithaca has decreased from 50% to 30%. The city needs to make Ithaca an attractive place to live.

Part of the solution to attraction is to make room for housing near the plazas where Wegmans is. This would allow more people to move into Ithaca. Another factor to consider is the makeover of this plaza, transforming it from a not-so-aesthetic place to a more attractive plaza. This brings me to the point that in Collegetown, the cost of living has been rising because of high rent. This is something that affects the rest of Ithaca. This is something that shapes the landscape of Ithaca. I had not realized how much we constantly need to adjust for the changes in infrastructure.

My awareness has grown so much since I attended this event. I have realized that Ithaca is always and constantly changing. We must accommodate for all of the incomers who want to enjoy the city with the highest number of waterfalls in a ten mile radius.

During Lisa Nicholas’s talk last week, I learned quite a lot about future plans for the city of Ithaca. Personally, I really liked the projects that called for building more hotels downtown; my boyfriend graduated last year and his parents ended up having to stay 45 minutes away from campus because they couldn’t find anywhere closer, and I’m sure a lot of families had to go through the same ordeal! I also think that the plans for future development of Collegetown are really important, because honestly, parts of Collegetown are pretty ugly. I think future developments in the Collegetown area should be modeled in part after the commons, because that area is really nice-looking for an urban area. I only wish I could live here long enough to see these projects come to light!

This talk also opened my eyes to many parts of Ithaca that I have not yet explored. What stood out to me in particular was the bike trail around Lake Cayuga that Ms. Nicholas talked about. It made me realize that I should really try to take advantage of the beautiful nature around here, particularly the lake. It’s easy to live in a “Cornell bubble” and just spend all your days on campus. One weekend in the near future I want to take a break from my schoolwork and ride a bike around the lake!

At last Wednesday’s Rose Cafe, I got to listen to Lisa Nicholas, Regional Planner for the city of Ithaca, speak to us about some of the local projects going on in the greater Ithaca area. She addressed how a majority of the development projects going on right now are made to benefit the majority of Ithaca’s populations — as of right now, the county of Ithaca has grown 30% in population since the 1950s, with many people coming to study as well as commute to work. As a result of this growth, the planning for the city has to accomodate this rising population while embracing the existing character of the neighborhood, which I found to be sweet. The small and quirky neighborhood in Ithaca is just what drew me to come to school here; if it changed to accomodate more people by basically becoming another metropolis, it would’nt have the same magic.

Nicholas introduced the concept of compact mixed use developments, which would be used to attract larger populations, building more dense development, as well as accomodate the local population already existing. She showed us some of the areas and projects that the committee intended to focus on in the following few years, such as building compact development in the rural Southwest area of Ithaca where Wegmans currently is, and the arrival of two new hotels in the Downtown Ithaca area near the Commons.

One particularly interesting part of her talk about future developments was an 11 story development for Downtown Ithaca that was planned for student housing. This project was eventually shut down by the community, as it was believed that the complex would be too imposing on the downtown architecture. While I agree that it would have not been the right place for student housing, it got me thinking that maybe there could be another conversation to discuss where exactly more student housing is needed. Cornell campus barely has enough campus housing for half of its students and it has proven to be fairly difficult to secure a place off campus. Perhaps a smaller residence downtown or in Cayuga Heights would be beneficial to students. In addition, I liked Nicholas’s point that there needs to be more places in Ithaca accessible by bike, foot, or bus, as it can be difficult for many students without cars to get where they need to go off campus.

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.

The Rose Cafe series last week focused on urban development in the city of Ithaca. Lisa Nicholas discussed past projects and future plans for construction in Ithaca, focusing mostly on the Commons. The renovation of the Commons was an interesting topic, as she mentioned that the pedestrian block is an uncommon feature in many towns. The only other one that I am aware of is in Boulder, Colorado. While I think the new Commons project was very successful and the project was very well done, I still do not think it is perfect; although the design itself is fantastic, I think the shops along the pedestrian block do not perfectly reflect the atmosphere of the new project. I think some small, unique restaurants and a high-quality pub would do very well in place of some of the stores that sit on this newly renovated walkway. I can concede that these might take away from the original feel of the Commons, but I do not think it would be an enormous change on top of the changes that have already been implemented. Also, with the construction of new hotels at the end of the block (no matter how small and cozy), the face of the Commons is, in fact, changing. These changes to the Commons have already been so drastic, they could warrant a new nickname for the area: New Ithaca.

Last Wednesday, I had attended a talk led by Lisa Nicholas about the development of economic trends in Ithaca. She specifically talked about the reconstruction of the commons and how planning went about when deciding the exterior design and placement of buildings to better fit the community. One of the most interesting points that she talked about was the future completion of a new Marriot hotel.

I’ve only been to Ithaca Commons several times, but the environment really reminds me of South Street Seaport in New York City. That being said, the ambiance is comforting and evokes thoughts of a cozy, tight knit community. One of the issues that Lisa emphasized was how to blend in a hotel into a communal environment? While a lot of big name companies propose to the county of Ithaca about hotel plans, the hotels often look to minimize costs in construction. This would typically result in a metallic looking building that stands right near the friendly, cozy-looking Commons. Consequently, a lot of negotiating has to be done because the prospect of a hotel would in fact benefit the economy of Ithaca.

Though I haven’t had the time to fully explore the commons, or I may not even have time until I graduate, the fact that there is going to be a hotel makes the possibility of visiting Ithaca after my education a lot easier! As Lisa also mentioned, Ithaca is one of the top-ranked places in the United States to spend retirement or vacation, and I think it would certainly be wonderful to bring my parents up here for a week-long vacation!

Last week’s Rose Café was very informative to me because I don’t really know anything about Ithaca. Since I’ve mostly been trapped in the “Cornell bubble”, Lisa Nicholas’ talk was kind of eye opening and I learned lots of interesting facts. Ithaca is one of the best places to live in but it’s quickly turning into one of the most expensive. About $15 million were spent in rebuilding the Commons. There is controversy about building a new hotel since there are already 3 downtown. when it’s time for graduation and families want to come to Ithaca, hotel rooms are around $500 per night.  College town is mostly building student housing and “it would be interesting to see a hotel proposal there”. overall, I thought that the talk was great and I really liked how Google Maps was incorporated into the presentation in order to help visualize the city of Ithaca.

Lisa Nicholas’s talk on Wednesday was nice because rather than focusing on the big, grand issues that people at Cornell usually do, it made us think about the changes that are undergoing our local community.  A lot of people consider themselves to be residents of Ithaca while students here, but at the same time don’t really take a minute to pay attention to what is going on in our city.  That is, until the conversation turns to the lack of student housing, which was conveniently a centerpiece of Ms. Nicholas’s discussion.

Another benefit was that the talk actually explained the questions that I had about what was going on in the Commons (side note: the number of people who haven’t been to the Commons is astonishing; I don’t know how you could go more than a few weeks at Cornell and not take a trip down there).  I think that injecting a dose of commercialism into the area will actually be great for it–while we might lose some small-town feel, the vivacity that follows should be great.  Right now, I feel that the businesses down there don’t have enough appeal to turn the area into a lively district.

Lisa Nicholas was kind enough to be our guest speaker at the Rose Cafe last week and talk about the new innovations that are happening in our very own Ithaca Commons. Very soon there will be two new hotels, a Marriot and a Hilton, on either side of the Commons and not surprisingly this is causing the local Ithaca community to worry about the impact they will have.

When the Commons was first created, the Mayor of Ithaca had many local business owners and family members stand along the length of a long red ribbon and share in cutting it as a symbol of community. There are not many large food or clothes shops in the area, but overall it is a nice place within walking distance to stroll through with friends, family, and loved ones. The idea that locals interact with one another on a daily basis and college students spend time there to separate themselves from campus for a little bit demonstrates that the place offers a unifying  experience.

With the new construction of hotels, and the cost of staying in one for a night, there may be a dynamic change in regards to the feeling one gets when being in the Commons. Also, there is not a lot of room in terms of sidewalk space and seating areas, so a new influx of people may cause there to be a sense of overcrowding during the weekends or on breaks. On a more positive note, it will be good for the local businesses in that they will receive more customers. It will also provide for more lodging in terms of families that wish to visit their children in college during the year. Only time will tell how this new innovation in Ithaca will affect its residents and ambiance. For now, it is safe to say that the community is very strong and interconnected, so the fear of loosing that sense of integration will thus allow it to remain firm as time progresses.

On Wednesday February 10, I had the opportunity to hear Lisa Nicholas from City Planning of Ithaca, talk about developments around the city. As a student who enjoys the Ithaca Commons and the natural beauty of Ithaca, I was interested in what the future may hold.  The last time I visited the Commons, I learnt about the construction of the new hotel. However, I was unaware of the plans to build a new hotel in a fairly small plot, near the entrance of the Commons. Although I was aware of what city planners do, I did not have a deep knowledge of how they make decisions. The Rose Cafe series was very helpful in broadening my knowledge about city planning.

I have to admit, I do not take as much time to roam around and enjoy Ithaca as much as I would like to. After going to this event, I learnt about the long stretch of pedestrian path along the water. In addition we have the wonderful Commons which is one of the few completely pedestrian roads still left in the country. There is a lot of effort into making sure that the personality of the Commons is consistent. We learnt about how a project to build a new apartment building near the Commons was not accepted. The original plans tired to fill the entire lot without giving much space for pedestrians. While it may have had more apartments, the building itself would take away from the personality of the Commons. It would take away from the welcoming nature of the Commons. The city planners try to balance both the prospects of having more apartments and making Ithaca a beautiful city. Overall, this Rose Cafe Series was very informative about the improvements made across Ithaca.

We were fortunate that Lisa Nicholas, a city planner of Ithaca, was able to come to the Rose Cafe and talk to us about city planning and development in Ithaca. She began the session by stating how despite the recent population growth of Tompkins County, Ithaca’s population size has been relatively stagnant. I found this to be somewhat surprising, given that Ithaca’s academic environment seems to make it an ideal place to live. However, she explained to us that the main problem with population growth lies in the costs of housing. Specifically, the limited amount of housing and low vacancy rate inevitably makes housing an expensive aspect of living in Ithaca. Thus, she described how several of the recent construction projects have been targeted towards creating residential spaces.

What I also found surprising were the recent developments in and around the Commons. Recently, the Commons was revamped, and it has already lead to a more vibrant atmosphere in this part of Ithaca. In addition, plans of building a new luxury hotel in this area definitely seems like a cool development. I imagine that the members of the city planning group of Ithaca are attempting to illustrate that despite being known for its incredible academic environment, the city is also a pretty special tourist destination in its own right. Indeed, the natural scenery and beauty of Ithaca is too often forgotten, especially as Cornell students because we have the fortune to experience it with every step on campus.

Ithaca has been my second home for the last 2 years. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of this unique and cultural college town that allows its students to be a part of the community. Through my various excursions to the commons and participation in into the streets, I noticed that Ithaca always seemed to have some form of attraction for everyone living in it. Therefore, when I attended the talk by Lisa Nicholas, I wasn’t surprised when she told us that Ithaca had one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country. After all, the booming education industry and great retirement facilities attracted people of all different ages to move here. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough houses and buildings to meet the demands of the Ithaca’s growing population. Lisa emphasized that the new construction projects in Ithaca, which included the development of a Marriott and Hilton Hotel, were passed as a result of accommodating more tourists and college families in Ithaca. I know how hard it is for my parents to find a hotel room that is conveniently located near Cornell, so I hope that these new hotels allow more families and tourists to be closer to the heart of Ithaca.

Additionally, Lisa described how construction projects were approved in Ithaca. Since the commons have a very open and unique layout, with small story buildings and quaint shops, the presence of a new building should not disrupt the aura of downtown. Therefore, the new projects must be situated in an area that adds to the beauty of Ithaca. When a student inquired about the shutting down of a multi story student building in Ithaca, Lisa stated that the building planners did not have a feasible plan to use a small plot of land to build their building; therefore, the project had to be shelved, so that the planners could revise their projects. After attending the talk, I was surprised to see the large rate of building and planning that had been present in Ithaca for the last 10 years. I was lucky enough to be living in a safe and comfortable environment at Cornell, but I couldn’t imagine what some families, tourists, and other students had to go through to find a home in Ithaca. I hope that in the next ten years, the number of living spaces in Ithaca match up to its flourishing population.

Last Wednesday, we were lucky to have Ithaca’s city planner Lisa Nicholas at Rose Cafe and talked about things that were going on behind Ithaca’s development. Although we live right here in Ithaca, it is so interesting to learn about some facts that we even don’t know about.

Lisa Nicholas began her talk with an overall introduction of Ithaca land plan and use.  She pointed out that comprehensive city plan and land use are determined by community goals. We are pleased to see that Ithaca has become one of the most popular places for retirement or spending vacations. While this brings opportunities for city growth, as more and more people are settled down in Ithaca, the challenge of balancing the demand and supply in the housing market could be obvious. These years, rental housing prices keep rising and Ithaca has a house vacancy rate of only 0.5%. Therefore, new houses should be built. The goal is to create opportunities while preserving and enhancing the characters of the existing. A mode of dense compact can be considered for the city plan.

There are some other interesting facts. Such as, there are 54% people living in Ithaca choosing to go to work by foot or by public transportations. This high percentage is rare among cities. I think it is because of the unique lifestyle that is shared among residents in this small city. At the end, house professor Garrick Blalock showed us two hotel projects are on the go, which will probably reduce the pressure of accommodation demand during the graduation season.

I am so exciting to see changes made in Ithaca and Ithaca will always be home to Cornellians.

I was quite excited to hear about the development plans for Ithaca. Being such a busy area with many people coming to visit, I think it is great that there are many plans to expand housing. I was surprised to hear that Ithaca’s vacancy rate is less than 0.5%. I did not know much about vacancy rates before this talk, but after the talk I now see that this is truly an issue. As Lisa told us, an ideal vacancy rate is around 5%. The low value of Ithaca’s vacancy is contributing to high housing costs. To improve the vacancy rate, there are a number of projects going on. I was also surprised at how little land Ithaca has vacant. Almost every inch of Ithaca is occupied to some extent which means building something new takes a great deal of creativity.

When Lisa discussed the plans for the new hotels near the commons, I was intrigued. I thought it was so cool how the companies had taken such small slivers of land and proposed an idea that not only meshed well with the feel of the commons but also created more rooms for visitors to stay in. I think it is really important for people to be aware of what is going on in their cities. This was very informative and honestly it was more interesting than I thought it would be! I am very glad I attended this event.

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of listening to Senior Planner of the city of Ithaca, Lisa Nicholas, talk about the development of Ithaca as a major hub of growth in the region.  I was very naïve about the development occurring in Ithaca and mainly thought most of its business came from the college students during the school semesters.  In fact, the population of Ithaca is linearly increasing compared to the population growth in Tompkins City. Unfortunately, the unexpected growth in Ithaca brought rising housing demand and associated problems with low property turnovers and low vacancy rates.  This can be seen in the high rents found across Ithaca housing.

Our speaker, being an urban planner, described how her department is trying to resolve the near term housing problems while trying to balance the longer term needs of the Ithacan community.  Ms. Nicholas plans to create more compact and dense housing to meet this demand in addition to designing more sustainable projects.  However, she also wants to maintain Ithaca’s culture and architecture and not work against housing and commercial projects currently under development.

Overall, Ms. Nicholas’ job is to optimize the town’s space in order to create the most value for everyone by bringing the community closer and providing a variety of uses to businesses.  It was impressive to learn how she designed certain parts of Ithaca such as the Commons to fulfill her ideals of the city while keeping her perspective on the future needs of the community.  One of the biggest projects I look forward to is the completion of the Marriott and Hilton hotels!

Lisa Nicholas, an urban planner for Ithaca, spoke at the last Rose Cafe about the various districts of the city and their potential for development. Ithaca is split into regions according to land use and the intention for improvement. Because Ithaca is a job hub with thousands of people migrating into the city for work every day, new housing and more sustainable development is a huge focus for the city’s planners. Various residential areas are being renovated and expanded, while other more commercial areas, such as that where Wegman’s is located, are being considered for new housing. According to Nicholas, the big box stores that are visually unappealing and create a poor sense of neighborhood are vital to Ithaca’s economic well-being. One major flaw in Ithaca’s design is the fact that this commercial area seems to be geographically inaccessible by foot relative to the Commons, even though in reality it’s only about a five minute walk. I was surprised to hear this, as I was also under the misconception that stores such as Wegman’s seemed much further than they really are.

In addition to improving residential areas, the construction in the Commons has recently come to an end. The result is a much more spacious, cohesive common area that maintains its historic roots for all the residents of Ithaca to enjoy. I learned that two new hotels are also being built at one end of the Commons. Although I understand that the need for additional hotels is dire in Ithaca, particularly around graduation, I found it surprising that two are being built almost simultaneously and in such close proximity to each other. It will be interesting to see whether the demand will be met when these hotels are complete.

I enjoyed this talk and the opportunity to gain some insight about the future of Ithaca. It’s exciting to know that Ithaca is continually improving and striving to meet the needs of its citizens. I look forward to the developments in Collegetown and the Commons, even though I most likely won’t be a student at Cornell anymore by the time the changes are complete.

On Wednesday at Rose Café, Lisa Nicholas came to speak about housing and infrastructure in Ithaca. What struck me the most was the percentage of Ithaca employees that commute-over 80%. This is most likely due to the very expensive housing options available in Ithaca, as well as the shortage of housing options available. While permeant housing is the real issue, the city of Ithaca seems to only be working on hotel developments. While the new hotels will bring more visitors to Ithaca, it will not help the people of Ithaca dramatically, as there is still only a 0.5% vacancy rate. The people of Ithaca, including the students, need new affordable housing options; however the plans to build a new apartment building were rejected and hotels are being built instead.

Personally, I have seen the issues with student housing in Ithaca. My friends and I spent countless hours trying to find affordable housing in a decent location. This process took up countless hours of our time. We finally found one of the cheapest options in Collegetown, but it still had a high price tag per month, plus utilities and other fees. The apartment is old and has no natural lighting, with six bedrooms and one bathroom. I have friends at other colleges who rent new 4 bedroom apartments with two bathrooms for almost half the price of this Ithaca apartment, which was the cheapest option available. Because of the high demand for student housing, realtors can charge insane prices for average apartments. The rents charged in Ithaca are very close to the rents charged in New York City, which seems extremely unreasonable. Something needs to be done to fix the rent issue, as students and Ithaca citizens are all suffering.

On Wednesday, I had the privilege of attending urban planner Lisa Nicholas’s talk on the past, present, and future of Ithaca’s infrastructure. I had been looking forward to this talk because of my past project research on Ithaca’s expensive housing market. Ithaca’s low supply of housing is the primary barrier to affordability. More than 50 percent of income goes to housing for the majority of renters. Because of the severe shortage of housing, many people who work in Ithaca commute; there are 16,000 employed in Ithaca and ~13,000 are commuters. Not only do Ithaca residents suffer, but also students are affected as well. Finding affordable, optimal housing at Cornell has been difficult for everyone. Even though I have lived on-campus since freshman year, I frequently hear stories from friends about the exorbitant rents they pay in Collegetown. Rents have increased each year and are almost on par with those in Manhattan. We all hope to lower rent, but the lack of available places to build suggests that prices in the future might not decrease.

I also learned about some interesting facts from Lisa Nicholas. She described the steps involved in the construction of a new building and the importance of how the projects fits with the community. Moreover, the planning board modifies projects such as lowering a building to improve residents’ life quality and the city’s landscape. Also, I learned that a Marriott hotel is being built in the Commons. Despite its high housing costs, Ithaca has a good future ahead because of many peoples’ constant efforts to better its community.

Lisa Nicholas led a discussion about economic development in Ithaca and it was an insightful look into civic engagement and policies that are important to the growth of an area. I was surprised with some of the statistics that she relayed to, particularly that Tompkins County was the only region in  upstate NY that had an increase in population and yet the City of Ithaca didn’t experience any growth. From a Urban planning perspective, it was evident that the 0.5% vacancy rate and high rental costs explain the lack of corresponding growth. A region is always evolving, especially for an employment hub like Ithaca, and important decisions with housing, infrastructure and public areas are made to preserve the identity of the city.

Even though there was a need for more student housing, it was interesting to see the residents reject the proposal on the basis that it would be unsightly and inappropriate when considering the architecture of its surroundings. The role of the local citizens is crucial in maintaining the characteristics that make Ithaca, Ithaca. This makes urban planning all the more complex and increase the need to be open-minded. It must take into account many different factors, from sustainability to preserving natural and cultural establishments. This was evident when two new hotels were opening in the Commons but because people didn’t want change the identity of the Commons from being an open, public area (especially when considering the Commons is a pedestrian mall, a rare occurrence in the US), they specifically will be designing the ground floor/lobby to be open to all Ithaca residents.

The use of compact development might be an intelligent way to introduce more housing in an already cramped, developed area. The amalgamation of smart urban planning, an engaged public in the development process and a commitment to an overarching vision of what Ithaca should be is an excellent model of civic engagement and I hope to contribute to the development of Ithaca myself, how seemingly little or insignificant my role may be, for my stay at Ithaca and also in my local neighborhood. Do you engage in your local community?

This week Lisa Nichols was the guest speaker after house dinner. She is a city planner for Ithaca. She told us about some of the projects that the town is working on to provide more housing to accommodate everyone from students to commuter employees. There are about 13,000 people that come into Ithaca every day for work and a portion of those people would probably like to live in Ithaca. Currently, there is not enough housing to accommodate the demand and because the demand is so high real estate and rent is extremely expensive. Ithaca is a great place that many people want to live in because it has been on top ten lists for best places to retire, however it is also one of the most expensive places to live. There is a plan to move towards urban housing where everything is more centralized and easier to get to. This is a general trend because most millennials are choosing not to own cars for sustainability reasons. I think this is really great that they are planning the town around the needs of all the people that are coming into Ithaca for work, school, families, or retirement. Ithaca has so many beautiful places and a small town feel to it that brings people together.

Last Wednesday at Rose Cafe, Lisa Nicholas came to talk about trends in Ithaca’s economic development. As a Cornelian, I feel that it is important to stay informed about the challenges facing our community.

I was amazed to hear that recently, Tompkins country was the only county in upstate New York reporting a gain in population, and that Tompkins’ population trends have been steadily rising since 1950. However, the City of Ithaca’s population has stayed the same, and that was puzzling. The 0.5% vacancy rate and high rental costs explain why: it definitely explains Collegetown’s expensive apartments. I learned that because there is a shortage of housing, Ithaca will need to focus on compact development in order to sustain growth. In addition, within the next year, Ithaca will have a new Hilton and Marriott Hotel.

With development and growth also comes uncertainty and resistance: residents opposed a proposal for a large building meant for student housing on the grounds that it would overwhelm the Commons, and expressed concerns over what a new Marriott Hotel meant for the Commons as a community center for its residents. However, Ithaca’s rapid growth demands changes, and with careful planning, Ithaca can only grow to be an even more vibrant city.

This talk was very insightful for me because previously, I never imagined Ithaca to be a rapidly growing, developing city. Day in, day out, it feels like I am living in a Cornell bubble, and I realize that I want to spend more time exploring the commons and Ithaca city life. Ithaca is a beautiful city, and I want to enjoy it as much as I can as a student.

As a computer science major, I’ve rarely thought about urban planning or the development of a city.  On the rare occasions when the topic crossed my mind, I oversimplified the process.  I had thought that if there is a need, say for example student housing, then that niche would be quickly filled by a developer building apartments or dormitories.  I did not consider or even imagine the implications and conversations that occur between the city’s council and the developer.  And while I now realize the importance of spacial configurations, building materials, etc., part of me feels that – if you own the property – then you should be allowed to build whatever you want on it.  I was born and raised in suburban Maryland.  My next door neighbor is a horse pasture, and five minutes down the road is a cow farm.  The people in my town can paint their house any color that they want, and use whatever building materials they want to use – as I believe is their right as a property owner.  As a result, I find it difficulty to believe that a trivial detail like building materials, size, or even color would prevent a property owner from building on his or her land.  I realize that buildings must pass certain safety and wellness regulations, and I haven’t lived in a city for any significant amount of time, but I am disturbed – and perhaps this is a result of my upbringing in suburbia – that a group of people not living on your property can influence and control what you can and cannot build on it simply because it does not fit the image that they want their city to project.

• Living as a student on Cornell Campus, I seem to live in a bubble and know actually little about the population and the locations in Ithaca. Lisa Nicholas provided great and informative to learn more about the city we live in. It was incredible to hear that Ithaca is an employment hub and in fact people travel to Ithaca for their work. Ithaca is developing now and in fact are working towards a more diverse housing. Most are still student housing but we are working towards more affordable and manageable housing. It was interesting to learn that even though Ithaca is a small city and more spacious in the country type area, more younger students are living in the urban areas. Thus, they do not have cars and the car ownership decreases with the younger population. The improvement in aesthetics of Ithaca commons was shown and in fact brought the memories of my summer when the construction was going on. The commons indeed has a rich culture for Ithaca where many different types of people, including the residential citizens and students, enjoy the many activities that Ithaca had to offer. She shared with us an upbeat music event that showed the diverse population of Ithaca that attended it and the overall sense of community in the city. A very exciting news that has made Ithaca buzzing is the construction of a new boutique Hilton hotel in the downtown Ithaca. It is amazing that Ithaca is now having so many popular chains of hotels and indeed shows Ithaca as a more visited destination for many people. However, the people are a little concerned about how the hotel will fit and change the feeling of downtown in that they hope it will not change to like the lifelessness in downtown Atlanta. At the same time, the boutique hotel will fit in more with the quaint, small-town environment vibe around downtown Ithaca. The fitting of a new building is important to the acceptance of a construction project and thus people did not like the 11-story housing due to its imposing style in the massive area it would accommodate. Also, I had no idea about the Waterfront Trail and Lisa gave me an idea to go for a bike ride or walk there. Overall, the talk was very engaging and helpful in learning more about Ithaca and how beautifully it is developing.

The Rose Café about the City of Ithaca development plans made me realize how separate the Cornell campus is from the broader community of Ithaca. Especially in the winter weather, I almost never get into downtown Ithaca. For this reason, I was happy to learn about different projects taking place within the city.

I think the city has to proceed carefully in order to maintain the qualities that make Ithaca special. In my opinion, one example of development projects diminishing the quality of Ithaca is the Lowe’s on Route 13. This big box store may be necessary for the local economy; however, I really don’t enjoy seeing it after hiking up Buttermilk Falls. It seems like this project diminished the natural beauty of Ithaca.

I was happy to hear that the city planning board pushed back against plans to build a high rise apartment building next to the Commons. It seems like this would have made the Commons feel very urban and unwelcoming.

After talking about the new hotels being constructed downtown I made sure to look for them on my recent trip. I was suppressed that the Marriott is so far along in the construction process. I hope it is able to blend in with the rest of the Commons.

Learning about the happenings of Ithaca is always useful, considering that I live there for the majority of the year. I am looking forward to seeing all of the projects once they are completed.

On Wednesday I attended the Cafe Series, and heard Lisa Nicholas describe the city of Ithaca from an Urban planning perspective. I’ve never seen a city through this viewpoint, so it was an interesting and thought-provoking perspective. How do you create a city that honors the traditions and culture of the area, is sustainably designed, is pleasant and convenient to live in, and promotes growth? It’s not an easy task, but one that must be successfully completed for a city to grow and be healthy.

For example, Ithaca is filled with environmentally minded people, has good public transit, a nice park, and a welcoming, unique down-town. However, it’s population has been stagnant for the past 100 years or so. How to facilitate growth in the City without building huge apartment buildings that ruin its personal feel? The design of multi-use public areas could be a good choice for Ithaca, providing new residential space while facilitating commerce and community interaction. It remains to be seen whether this idea will take off, but it seems promising!

Personally, I’d be interested to explore ways to connect Ithaca with the Cornell and Ithaca College communities. Generally, I get the feeling that Cornell and downtown Ithaca are two very separate spheres, but with the potential for interaction. Both have fantastic places for people to connect and mingle: Ithaca’s beautiful pedestrian downtown and Cornell’s grassy quads. What steps can be taken to connect these communities? Maybe more advertisement of events such as the farmers market and chili fest, or promoting the public concerts at Bailey Hall?

This week’s Rose cafe was focused on housing conditions and availability in Ithaca. I knew, of course, that housing prices in Ithaca are unusually high, but I always just assumed it was due to excessive student demand, not a fundamental lack of housing in Ithaca. One interesting statistic that was mentioned is that the housing vacancy rate in Ithaca is less than 0.5 percent, while 5 percent is considered a healthy level. Ithaca also has 13,000 commuters daily. I never realized just how extreme the housing rate in Ithaca is. The obvious response to this is to simply build more housing complexes, but Lisa Nicholas explained that it’s a little more complicated than that.

Ithaca is trying to strike a delicate balance between historical architecture and new growth. Projects like the Commons had to incorporate old, aesthetically pleasing buildings. There is a very complicated process for proposing a new building, and a committee carefully weighs whether it will fit in with the existing neighborhood and what it will add to the area. I really liked learning that, because I think it’s great that Ithaca isn’t just opting for maximum profit and efficiency and is instead looking to cultivate culture and history. I’m glad to hear that the town is striving to maintain its roots while moving towards the future.

This week at the Rose cafe, our guest was Lisa Nichols, a planner who works with the City of Ithaca.  She started her talk off by telling us about what urban planners are and what they do.  I had had a vague idea of what the job was before, so getting a better grasp on it was good.  Planning has to do with how places have a tendency to grow and change, and planning helps shape the growing and changing to a vision put forth by the people.

The City of Ithaca recently put forth a comprehensive plan — a plan for the city that includes everything, but nothing in a lot of depth.  From this comprehensive plan, smaller, more detailed plans can be formed and worked on.  The overall vision can be detailed in the comprehensive plan, after speaking with the people in the city and getting an idea of where they see the city going.  And then after getting the vision of the people, the plan can be made for more specific parts of the comprehensive plan.

An important thing to look at for Ithaca planning is the Ithaca population trends.  We saw that the population of Tompkins county has increased drastically in the last several years, while the population of the city of Ithaca has not increased as much.  The population of the city isn’t growing at a similar rate to the county because of housing: an extremely low vacancy rate, joined with very high rental costs and people wanting to live in smaller households, causes the population size to stay relatively stable.  Additionally, Ithaca is an employment hub, with approximately 16,000 jobs, but with approximately 13,000 of the people working those jobs commuting into Ithaca for them.  The city wants to attract more people into the city, which means that some planning needs to be done.

To attract a larger population, Ithaca needs to build more dense, compact development.  This helps a lot because it follows national trends, it is more sustainable, many residents already use public transportation rather than driving, and it encourages a competitive housing market.  Not to mention helping get some of those 13,000 commuters into the city.

One interesting thing we spoke about at this talk was the recent renovation of the commons.  The idea was to make it more open and flexible, which could be seen by the numbers of people able to attend a concert series soon after the commons reopened.  But there is a conflict within the city of Ithaca, regarding the commons.  People want to live down there, because it is a place with so much character, but locals also don’t want to have the commons ruined because of its local flavor.  This meant that the talk of the hotels that will soon be built in the commons was careful.

I thought it was very interesting that two new chain hotels will be opening in downtown, despite the fact that both are trying to be more local-friendly.  It has been notoriously difficult to find hotel rooms when coming up to Ithaca for drop-off weekend or during pick-up weekend, and don’t even get me started on graduation.  I hope these hotels fill the need for IC and Cornell parents, as well as making the locals happy about the tourist influx, without ruining the local flavor of downtown.

The end of the talk mentioned how most of the projects planned for Collegetown were with regards to student housing, responding to the need from students.  I thought this was great, but I’m still a bit skeptical, because the prices of housing in Collegetown is still less than ideal, especially considering that there is sometimes no where else to go.  But I’m hopeful, even though the houses won’t be completed until I have graduated.

Overall this was a very interesting talk.  I learned a lot about the planning that went into Ithaca, and I appreciate it.  Ithaca is a lovely place, and it wouldn’t be the same without the amount of thought that went into creating it in this way.

Lisa Nicholas gave me a fresh perspective not only on Ithaca, but on planning and development as well. To be honest, when I feel like I’m constantly passing construction sites in a place that I live, I often think, “Can’t we just leave it alone for a little while”? Of course some areas need to be improved, but with my limited knowledge it often looks like a relentless drive to make perfectly good things newer and better – and implementing changes is expensive and exhausting for a community. Listening to Lisa talk, however, made it very obvious that this perception was wrong. She clearly loves Ithaca, and she loves her job because of what these projects mean for the community.

I love Ithaca too, and I’ve come to see it as a second home. I’ve tried to get off of campus and down into Ithaca regularly in the year and a half that I’ve lived here, and that’s made me feel some ownership and connection to the town. Because of this, hearing the reasoning behind each project and what Lisa hopes the community will gain from them was really interesting. I also liked hearing about some of the future projects, like the possible conversion of the old chain factory into living and working spaces. I enjoyed getting to hear Lisa speak, and I’ll be looking at construction around Ithaca differently.

This past Wednesday, Lisa Nicholas, a senior city planner, shared the developmental history and future expectations for Ithaca, New York. Ithaca’s rental vacancy rate is 0.5%; that’s really, really low. This lack of availability in the city has made Ithaca one of the most expensive places to live. She also talked about Ithaca as an employment hub and the commutes that more than 13,000 employees make everyday from other counties. Nicholas mentioned that Ithacans and researchers alike have expressed interest in compact, mixed-use development, where vertical construction would allow residents to live in apartments and studios on top of stores and restaurants.

I have been at Cornell for three semesters, and I am confident in saying that Ithaca has something special about it. The Commons, for example, is so old-fashioned and community-based- something I was not accustomed to, since I am from suburban Arizona. Svante Myrick, the mayor of Ithaca, dubbed The Commons, “Everybody’s Neighborhood,” and though I am not a ‘townie’, I would attest to this. It’s a gathering place for city residents and commuters alike, and I am glad that Nicholas and other city planners are devoted to making sure Ithaca maintains it’s personality in light of growth and expansion.

At last night’s Rose Cafe, Lisa Nicholas spoke about city planning in Ithaca. She began her talk by presenting charts of population growth over the last several decades, comparing the city of Ithaca versus Tompkins County. I was surprised to see that while Tompkins County’s population has been steadily growing, Ithaca’s population has not. Ms. Nicholas attributed this discrepancy largely to Ithaca’s lack of vacant rentals and high rental fees. I learned tonight that only 13,000 of Ithaca’s 16,000 workers actually live in surrounding cities. It is no wonder that city planners like Ms. Nichols are putting their heads together to create more housing options.

One solution that Ms. Nicholas proposed was constructing apartments over stores in the commons. Additionally, I learned that there are plans in place to create more hotels in Ithaca; in a few years, there will be four hotels within half a mile of the commons.

I was very excited to imagine the possibility of Ithaca and its commons expanding. However, I am slightly concerned about maintaining the unique environment that exists on the commons. One thing that I love best about this area is that the number of stores is not overwhelming and the town never feels over-crowded. I worry that if the number of residents, tourists, and stores all increase on and around the commons, we might lose our small-town vibe. Is it possible to maintain the integrity of a small town’s culture as it undergoes transformation?

Tonight I had the chance to attend a great talk by Lisa Nicholas on economic development in Ithaca. She spoke a lot about the importance of compact, mixed use development – compact meaning everything is within walking distance, and mixed use meaning that there is a combination of businesses and residences. I definitely think that compact development is a good idea. As a student who does not have a car and has to rely on the TCAT to get places, being located close to businesses makes a huge difference (especially during the winter when it is blizzarding and below zero degrees outside). As Nicholas pointed out, the southern part of Ithaca where Wegmans, Wal-Mart, and Chipotle are located seems like a huge trek to people without a car. Even though distance-wise it is only a few miles, it takes over an hour to get there by bus from Cornell’s campus. Nicholas talked about how they are currently trying to make the Wegmans area more accessible, which I think is a great idea. For the students who aren’t on a dining plan, Cornell is something of a food desert – places like Target, Wegmans, Wal-Mart, and Tops are all a long bus ride away. Even if students do decide to take the bus, they can only buy as much food as they can carry in two hands.

Nicholas also talked about the high rent issue in Ithaca. Nicholas explained that there is a very low housing vacancy rate, which means high demand and low supply – hence the high prices. Even though I have lived in a dorm for all three of my years at Cornell, I am still incredibly interested in all of the problems with the Ithaca housing market, since I have so many friends who are paying exorbitant prices for run-down apartments.

Today at the Rose Cafe, Lisa Nicholas, a senior planner for the city of Ithaca gave us an overview of Ithaca’s new comprehensive plan for Ithaca. She provided some background for us about where we live and I learned some very interesting facts, such as that the city of Ithaca is the location of 13,000 jobs, but only 1/6th of those job holders actually live within the city. Since the amount of housing hasn’t changed and the population of Tompkins county is increasing, the percentage of the population that lives in Ithaca City is decreasing.

To address this issue, Mrs. Nicholas spoke of building “dense, compact housing”, which sounds like an a nice way of saying apartment buildings with small rooms. As someone from a very large city, apartment complexes seem like a logical development for an area where there is a high demand for housing and very limited space for housing. However, I was surprised that she mentioned that there is little to no focus on developing Collegetown. Although these few blocks are already filled with residential and commercial sites, there are vacant lots as well. Providing an incentive to build housing complexes in these areas would likely help lower the extremely high rent rates by increasing supply. Moreover, this would certainly have a positive effect on the lives of Cornell students, who would be less stressed about finding a place to live during the junior and senior years of their undergraduate career.

In terms of new commercial construction projects, we heard about and discussed a few new hotel developments that will be part of the downtown landscape within a few years. These new additions will definitely alleviate the strain that visitors (such as parents) face when searching for a place to stay overnight during high seasons, such as graduation and move-in days. However, it is important to consider the externalities of new development, such as the limitations they will create on available parking. I hope that Mariott and Hilton have included plans for underground and/or roof parking lots so that visitors or locals who choose to drive down to the Commons for an evening of entertaining or dining will have a place to leave their car.

There are exciting things in store for Ithaca and it seems very clear that change is in the air. It is great that we have planners such as Lisa Nicholas working to make the city the best it can be!

Tonight at the Rose Café, I had the pleasure to attend a talk by Lisa Nicholas, a senior planner for the City of Ithaca. During her talk she mentioned that Ithaca is thriving in many areas, except in the area of living costs.

When thinking of cities likely to have the least affordable rental housing, New York City is a good bet. It only makes sense that the financial capital of the United States would be an expensive place to live. So I thought it was very surprising that Ithaca would rank to be one of the top cities where rents are highest relative to median gross income. 

The simplest explanation that Lisa Nicholas gave for why Ithaca’s rental housing market is skewed is supply and demand.

One of things that makes rentals expensive in Ithaca is that the supply of rental units is really limited. Thanks to a constant stream of renters supplied by Ithaca College and Cornell University students, landlords in Ithaca find themselves with very few vacancies. Nicholas stated that the current rental market in Ithaca has a vacancy rate of less than 1 percent. A desirable vacancy rate in a real estate market is typically 5 percent. In addition to increasing rent, a housing market that prioritizes a student population leaves the rest of Ithaca’s rental market in the dark. 

Not only is the presence of Ithaca College and Cornell University dictating the city’s housing trends, the institutions also create jobs. This brings new faces to Ithaca looking for a place to live, and Nicholas shared that the majority of people that work in Ithaca, commute, because of the limited housing. It would be more beneficial for the city if they lived in Ithaca, and she predicted that many would if they had the means.

Overall, it was a very interesting talk about something that everyone at Cornell could relate to.

Tonight at the Rose Café, I attended a talk by Lisa Nicholas, a senior planner for the City of Ithaca. Ms. Nicholas began by giving a general overview of what is involved in city planning, and then focused on specific examples of how Ithaca is developing and growing as a city.

While I knew going into this lecture that living downtown is expensive, I was not aware that Ithaca has in fact been on Top Ten lists for the most expensive housing in the country. Ms. Nicholas explained that these high rental and real estate costs are due to a severe housing shortage in the city, which is motivating the construction of multiple new housing projects.

For me, one of the most interesting parts of the talk was Ms. Nicholas’s discussion of the Commons area downtown, which she described as “everybody’s neighborhood” and a key part of the city’s environment and history. She noted, however, that the Commons has been a source of conflict in city planning, as many people have been concerned that constructing new hotels and apartment buildings nearby undermines the character of the area. For this reason, she explained that new housing projects have to be carefully approved to ensure that they blend into the environment in which they are situated.

I feel that this lecture gave me a much better appreciation for the work that goes into sustaining a growing and vibrant community like Ithaca.

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.

Today at the weekly Rose cafe I have to admit I was more distracted than ever.  This was simply because the Guiding Eyes dog that I am a sitter for was there and was very energetic today.  My attention was split between paying attention to the speaker and making sure she didn’t get up and walk around or bark in the middle of the talk.  Her presence was known by everyone there as when our house dog Pepper walked in and walked around, my dog got up to go play with her.  Unfortunately for Pepper she started barking and had to leave.

While I was more distracted the talk was incredibly interesting.  The speaker was talking about the planning of Ithaca and why spaces were the way they were.  It was interesting to hear about the expansion of the city outside of Cornell and the many opportunities and different spaces we have here.  It also made me think of how Cornell was expanding and what our school would do to expand, how it would look, and how it would affect Ithaca.  It was also interesting to hear about the events that happen in Ithaca Commons and how special the layout of the commons is.  I really enjoy spending time in the Commons because of its unique design and was also impressed with the video of the concerts held there.

It was also interesting that the area where Wegmans is, is something that the people of Ithaca were against.  When I am up here at Cornell I go to that area to get a lot of the things I need or want.  I go shopping at Wegmans, pick up pet supplies at Pet Smart, and grab lunch at one of the many food places available.  I will run over to Barnes and Nobles to grab a book or go to Walmart for things I need.  It surprised me that Ithaca doesn’t want a commercial place like this in their city.