COVID-19 Has Many College Towns on Life Support
I’m looking forward to getting back to my studies this fall, but COVID-19 has already drastically changed our way of life in my college town.
Ithaca, N.Y., is a small city — home to Cornell University and my school, Ithaca College. The town’s 26,000 students contribute massively to the local economy. It’s one of many college towns across the nation that depend on the yearly influx of students to support local businesses, from restaurants to hair salons to bookstores. Ithaca’s economy took a hit in early March when COVID-19 forced both schools to send students home. Lacking customers, some businesses have closed their doors for good.
With its colleges temporarily closed, Ithaca made the news across New York State and beyond. I experienced the bad news first-hand. My off-campus restaurant job suffered from the shutdown, and I have no idea when — or if — I’ll be returning to work. Several of my friends have picked up delivery jobs, driving around town to make tips and help small businesses survive.
The Ithaca Common Council is trying to help, too. It recently passed a resolution, asking the state for the authority to cancel rent debt from the last three months, both for tenants and small businesses. Ithaca is the first U.S. city to propose a #CancelTheRents measure. New York and other states temporarily banned evictions, but Ithaca’s measure goes further to defray outstanding rent when the ban ends.
A slow reopening
In some ways, things are starting to look up. Ithaca County has entered Phase 3 of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to reopen the economy, so people can now sit inside restaurants and visit nail salons. A street in downtown Ithaca known as “restaurant row” will be closed to traffic to allow restaurants to place tables a socially-distanced 6 feet apart.
And, with summer in full swing, tourists are starting to visit the area’s stunning waterfalls and gorges. But those numbers may drop, now that Cuomo announced a two-week quarantine for travelers coming to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut from pandemic “hot spot” states in the South and West.
Lots of uncertainty
For me, too, uncertainty persists — about housing, classes, and safety. Ithaca College decided to reopen for in-person classes starting Oct. 5. Of course, classes will revert to online if we see a second wave of COVID-19 this fall. In the meantime, many students still in town are riding out leases that usually end in July. Because of high demand for off-campus housing, leases are often signed nearly a year in advance. So, students will have to decide whether to move back to Ithaca in August and try to find jobs, even though classes won’t start until October.
For Cornell students, the future is even more uncertain, as the university continues to debate its reopening plan.
No one can predict how many students will return to Ithaca in the coming months, how many more businesses will close for good, or how our town’s economy will respond. One thing is certain: I would really miss our beloved local haunts if health and economic crises continue to devastate our picturesque college town.
[Kara Bowen is a summer intern in communications for Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. Stay tuned to follow Kara’s summer intern journey.]
