Madison is a college town with reasonably priced and well-maintained rentals which are managed by caring and cooperative landlords. Ha! If anything, campus area rentals are overpriced, poorly maintained and those who manage them are so confident their product will sell that they don’t even bother doing their job properly.

Yet it seems that the Madison City Council values the conservation of Langdon area “viewscapes” more than providing students with diverse and improved housing options. This is evidenced by the council’s recent decision to turn down the proposal to build a new apartment complex on the Acacia fraternity property.

This isn’t to say that there weren’t some legitimate concerns regarding density planning and the size of the building itself, but I couldn’t help but notice that the majority of the objections brought forth by Council members and Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. were about the effects the building would have on the “feel” of the area and whether a new apartment building would disturb the “charm” of the street as a whole. Now, forgive my apathy toward these so called concerns, but they are hypocritical at best. I live on the west side of campus, in a bright green and orange building surrounded by houses and apartment buildings of various sizes and colors. Hence, I wonder what theme the city planners were going for when they authorized all these projects — the hallucinations of a depressed pothead perhaps.

Instead of worrying about the intangible charm and feel of the city, the City Council should take into consideration the direct effects of increasing campus area housing options. Rental prices in Madison are substantially high when compared to other cities with a large student population. For example, both the cities of Columbus, Ohio, and Salt Lake City, Utah, have universities with over 30,000 students and both cities have rental rates much lower than Madison’s. I lived in Salt Lake City for a year, and I paid two-thirds of my current rent, for an apartment that was twice as big.

This difference in rental rates is not mystical — it is a simple result of supply and demand. Yet those who oppose new projects point to the increasing vacancy rate in Madison as proof that there are more than enough housing options. Not only do they ignore the fact that most the vacant units referenced are not viable for student use either due to their distance from campus or that they are for sale, but they also ignore the fact that almost every viable option for student housing in the city is at, or near full capacity. Hence, the city council should encourage new real estate projects in order to satisfy the ever-present demand for student housing and force rentals rates down.

Not only will this help solve the problem of high rentals rates, but it can also lower demand on parking with the construction of underground parking lots. As it is, one would think he was in Chicago or New York, due to parking hovering at over $100 a month in the downtown area, and with over a six-month waiting list for public ramps.

In the debate over the expansion and development of our city, the aversion to the gentrification of student life and the fear of losing the charm of a school town should always take a back seat to the more pressing and tangible issues of high rental rates and lacking competition due to high demand. Not only would the encouragement of new developments ease demand, but it will also increase the quality of the services provided due to the increased competition over the business students provide. Only when these issues are resolved can City Council go back to worrying about what vibe a building gives off and whether it gels with the overall Feng Shui of a neighborhood.

Ammar Al-MArzouqi ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in computer science.