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Interesting viewpoint that universities and colleges may be able to take up vacated commercial space in cities, increasing vibrancy and spending by visitors in downtowns.
It can work. University Campuses using up old downtown building isn't really new
The University of Houston -Downtown campus has been in Houston's old Merchant and Manufacturers building for 50 years. There are other examples, including medical and law schools occupying old office buildings.
I would imagine that vibrancy would go through the roof if office towers get converted into dorms.
Lots of universities and colleges are in financial trouble today............
There are more universities than Taco Bell franchises in this country. You have to ask yourself, if half of these universities went away, would they be missed? Or lawyers for that matter. On the other hand, if you severed half the truck drivers, plumbers and electricians in this country, would they be missed? The answer is a quick yes.
If universities don't produce a skill that's in line with tangibility of today's current employment market, and the skill necessary, they will cease to exist. I don't think academia is saving downtowns, unless they adjust to the skills needed and desired by employers in the year 2023-2024.
We're seeing some of that in DTLA. Besides the UCLA lease mentioned in the article, USC has long been a major tenant. Arizona State leased the entirety of a rehabbed historic building for a new journalism school and then also bought the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise a few blocks away. I think that NYU film school and one of the Boston unis are there as well.
Interesting viewpoint that universities and colleges may be able to take up vacated commercial space in cities, increasing vibrancy and spending by visitors in downtowns.
On the other hand, properties used for education are usually exempt from paying taxes so cities could lose huge chunks of potentially valuable land from their tax base forever. A parking lot might still be more valuable since it could always turn into a for-profit commercial, retail or residential property that actually paid taxes in the future.
Having a University downtown isn’t going to do squat to draw the suburban residents in. Without that support “downtowns” are going continue to decay. Most of us just don’t care if they thrive or die.
There are more universities than Taco Bell franchises in this country. You have to ask yourself, if half of these universities went away, would they be missed? Or lawyers for that matter. On the other hand, if you severed half the truck drivers, plumbers and electricians in this country, would they be missed? The answer is a quick yes.
If universities don't produce a skill that's in line with tangibility of today's current employment market, and the skill necessary, they will cease to exist. I don't think academia is saving downtowns, unless they adjust to the skills needed and desired by employers in the year 2023-2024.
Yes, the colleges and universities thought the baby boom would never end.
Where is the money going to come from to pay the rent? Student loans? tax payers? we do not need more universities shutting down a location to move is not a money saving action. The cities problems are best left alone man is not smart enough to fix his messes.
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