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The rise in student demand for homes prompts families to move for 2 reasons. (1) Student behavior makes their block less attractive, and (2) their block becomes less multi-generational as group home landlords can pay more for the portion of homes that would have turned over anyway. That's because the homes are worth more in the short run as group home rentals when students would otherwise have to pay the 2nd highest housing rate in the nation.

This is a slow process. There's simply no way that the increase in off-campus undergrads from 1970-1990 could have been absorbed with rentals around campus. As the number of off-campus students rose from 1970 on, it seems that many of them had to have lived further from campus than they wanted to. But the slow turnover of homes to absentee landlords identifying the new demand for group homes close to campus played out over a couple decades.

Are there some Georgetowners who moved close to campus recently who are complaining about a situation they should have know was present? Yes. Does this invalidate the argument I've made above? No.

I'm not against density, it's just that I'm pro-development as well, as are most urbanists and smart growth activists. Notice that I haven't endorsed caps on undergrad or grad enrollment. Honestly, I think undergrad enrollment could even go higher - as long as the University developed to support density and reap its benefits.

by Ken Archer on Jan 21, 2011 7:50 pm • link • report