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Presenter: Dylan Podlinski

Faculty Sponsor: Heesoo Jang

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Journalism

Session: Poster Session 5, 3:15 PM - 4:00 PM, Auditorium, A80

ABSTRACT

A problem that has persisted both in and around the University of Massachusetts Amherst for some time now is housing. This problem has been talked about at length in both student newspapers and local newspapers, by students, faculty and more. Despite all this talking, many people seem to be unaware at the various aspects and restrictions that affect the situation for UMass, the Town of Amherst and even the community at large. UMass has long avoided talking about it, or even referring to it as a ‘crisis,’ despite students, faculty, residents, and parents describing it as such, and Student Government Association senators, trustees and even presidents seemingly throw around "solutions" that seem impossible to actually implement with the power they have. The focus of this research is to explore the housing situation as a whole; its causes, effects, both at the university and local levels, the university’s continued deflection and denial of its status as a crisis and the student and community attitude towards it as a whole. The lack of housing and soaring cost of rent have pushed out residents and made it nearly impossible for students to find affordable housing anywhere near the university, while the university struggles with commonwealth-wide directives that force it to work with developers. The ultimate aim of this presentation is to demonstrate the reality of the housing market and make a central document that can answer as many questions as possible and possibly even offer some solutions that are doable.