Some residential Buffalo beautification may be in order
Students who find a job in Buffalo and want to make the move from renting apartments to owning a house may be out of luck.
According to The Buffalo News, home sales in the region fell nine percent from January last year. Conversely, the prices of houses on the market increased eight percent.
What this means for all the students coming to the region through UB 2020 is that they may not have an affordable place to stay after graduation. Yet all the while, students keep hearing, "Stay in Buffalo after you graduate."
Many students may want to settle down in the same area where they went to school, but they'll struggle with the increasing real estate prices. The local economy won't be stimulated if students visit for four years and then leave, since college students by nature are frugal creatures. Buffalo will lose out on many talented young men and women if help can't be found to obtain affordable housing.
Relief is on the way. The newly passed economic stimulus package puts caps on loan rates, which will help prospective homeowners in good standing make down payments on mortgages, according to CNNMoney.com.
However, the problem remains; a great deal of the student population is already in debt either from loans or credit card debt, which will make it harder to get a loan in the first place.
Programs like the University Heights Collaborative have advocated cleaning up the neighborhoods graduates want to live in. The heightened police presence helps keep it peaceful.
But little has changed for the better yet, with prices on the rise and some residences in shoddy condition or located in dangerous neighborhoods.
If America's next generation can't live here, they'll just live somewhere else. For Buffalo's sake, let's invest in the future by encouraging students to stay after graduation; with housing projects, beautification, and real estate pricing that matches the property.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
