Being that this is my first semester at Cornell, I had to take a walk through the area with my family during orientation week. While walking around, we noticed a mix of older buildings, with more renovated/modern student apartments. What I found unique, was college-town seemed ‘confused’ and didn’t truly have an identity the deeper into it I went. meaning that due to the mixture of structures, there was no true feel to it, rather a mishmash of houses and apartments.

Now being here for 2 months, I have realized why there is this ‘mess’: there are too many students and not enough space. Rather than someone deicing to simply renovate older buildings, these new ones are coming in to help fix this population issue. These newer buildings seem like mountains compared compaed to the older ones but were built in hopes to solve this issue. It seems to make sense why these newer buildings are also more modern, as they will attract current students due the amenities they provide, and the aesthetic appeal.

Rather than spreading out, architects are noticing tricks and loopholes in zoning that allows extra rooms, and even floors. Making sure a basement is a liveable place is a perfect example of this. If a basement has the proper dimensions to it, it becomes a liveable space- thus, it can add extra people and rooms. But, if the dimensions are off just by inches, it will be deemed un-liveable and a waste of funding. Learning small aspects of the zoning and codes of Ithaca was quite interesting, and I was really impressed how people were still able to get around them.