The housing system at Cornell is really fascinating. As someone who transferred from another university, I was shocked by the lack of housing intended for students both on and off campus. At my previous university, the oldest dorms were built in the 1970s, and most people lived off-campus, either in relatively new apartments built to meet student demand or in old apartments build in the heyday of the 1890s. I took a housing policy class last semester that was a great introduction to the complex factors that shape Ithaca’s housing market. Because of that background, it was interesting to hear about the historical factors that led to Cornell having such limited student housing. Namely, the interesting fact that student housing was intentionally not built to avoid having a sequestered, out-of-touch student population like those found at other universities at the time.

It was also cool to hear about the rush of building west campus right before the crash. I knew Rose was opened in 2008, but never really connected that with the expense of building supplies before the crash. It’s also really interesting to consider the gothics

Here’s a picture from wikipedia of the original plan for west campus from the 1920s. Apparently, a full pamphlet is available in Koch Library.