Jason Koski/University Photography

David Cutter speaks on design aspects during a Town Hall - Embracing a Shared Community hosted at eHub in Collegetown.

More than 50 students, Cornell staff, area residents and City of Ithaca officials came together at a town hall meeting Nov. 15 to discuss Cornell’s housing master plan with respect to on-campus housing and housing in the Collegetown community.

At the meeting, held in Collegetown’s recently renovated eHub space, Marty Rauker, senior director of strategic initiatives in Cornell’s Student and Campus Life division, outlined the housing master plan, which aims to provide adequate and appropriate housing for freshmen and sophomores. He also discussed the need to renovate existing Cornell housing.

“Deferred maintenance is an enormous challenge for us,” Rauker said. “We have, as you know, a lot of aging buildings that are in need of attention, and that became a real driving force for the rest of our decisions about the master plan. Students are very aware of the disparities in our housing stock … and that is the source of some dissatisfaction.”

JoAnn Cornish, Ithaca’s director of planning and economic development, discussed ongoing construction and potential housing projects in Collegetown, as well as her desire to bring students and local residents together in the formation of a “vibrant Collegetown experience.” Additionally, Cornish highlighted the necessity of improving rental rates in Collegetown while still protecting landlords and Ithaca’s permanent residents.

Cornell landscape architect David Cutter talked about remodeling opportunities for Cornell’s Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, underlining the potential to transfigure the Schwartz’s outdoor spaces into areas more readily accessible to the public.

Ithaca Police Sgt. Kevin Slattery stressed the need for a conscientious public, particularly in areas where construction is occurring. Slattery said: “Crime is a matter of opportunity. If we can decrease those opportunities, we may be able to decrease crime overall.”

Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 spoke about his experiences with housing as a Cornell student, and the need for safe, affordable housing on campus and in Collegetown. Myrick also said Ithaca would remain a safe haven for immigrants as well as other minority populations.

“No matter what [President-elect Donald Trump] does, those of you who have had reason in the past in America to be afraid … who have not had full legal protections under the law, the full protection of civil rights … have no reason to fear as long as my administration is inside City Hall,” Myrick said.

Jason Koski/University Photography

Ithaca Police Sgt. Kevin Slattery speaks at the meeting.

The meeting was opened up to questions from the audience, whose inquiries ranged from the safety of undocumented persons in Ithaca to the city’s influence over local housing contracts. One audience member asked if the city had the ability to help tenants break leases whose move-in date had been greatly exaggerated. Myrick said that although the city generally does not possess such authority, it has been making efforts to protect tenants where it can.

The meeting was sponsored by the Student Assembly’s City and Local Affairs Committee, which seeks to better unify Cornell’s student population and the local Ithaca community, and the Collegetown Neighborhood Council.

Teagan Todd ’20 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.