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The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is 
published every Thursday during the 
spring and summer terms by students 
at the University of Michigan. One copy 
is available free of charge to all readers. 
Additional copies may be picked up at the 
Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall 
term, starting in September, via U.S. mail 
are $110. Winter term (January through 
April) is $115, yearlong (September 
through April) is $195. University affiliates 
are subject to a reduced subscription rate. 
On-campus subscriptions for fall term 
are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 
The Michigan Daily is a member of The 
Associated Press and The Associated 
Collegiate Press. 

2

Thursday, June 22, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS

Increasing affordable housing options 
remains top concern for students, city

In 2016, 599 students 
listed an Ypsilanti 
zip code as their home 
or permanent address

By KAELA THEUT

Summer Daily News Editor

Rather than merely walking 

across the Diag to get to class, 
Music, Theatre & Dance senior 
Mackenzie Larrance’s morning 
routine consists of fighting traffic 
during her daily commute across 
town from her Ypsilanti residence.

Her reasoning behind renting 

an apartment so far from central 
campus? The rapidly rising cost of 
living for both students and Ann 
Arbor residents.

“I decided to live outside of 

Ann Arbor for two reasons: I had 
a car, and it was less expensive,” 
Larrance said. “I’m also in a 
serious relationship where my 
boyfriend and I have been dating 
for almost 5 years. He and I can’t 
afford an apartment in downtown 
Ann Arbor without getting a full 
time job. It’s also difficult finding 
other couples like ourselves who 

would want to split the costs of 
living.”

Larrance further noted her 

expenses for living in Ypsilanti 
are almost a thousand dollars 
cheaper than if she were to rent an 
apartment in Ann Arbor.

“I’d say on average, I pay 

approximately $1,400 a month 
when living in Ypsilanti,” she 
said. “This includes rent, food, 
gas and other college expenses. 
For a single room apartment in 
Ann Arbor, that’s about $1,200 
which is $400 more than my 
apartment in Ypsilanti. Then 
once you add my other expenses, 
I would be paying $2,200 a 
month. I took out gas in that 
calculation too.”

According to the U.S. Census 

Bureau, the median rate for rent 
in Ann Arbor has increased 14 
percent from 2010 to 2015 and 
now sits at approximately $1,075 
per month — despite the amount 
of high-density housing areas 
also rising by 32 percent. It is 
important to note this number 
accounts for the entire city, so it 
may not reflect the experiences 
of students living in areas such 
as Kerrytown or South Campus.

However, 
rent 
prices 
are 

high enough that in 2016, 599 
students, 
such 
as 
Larrance, 

listed an Ypsilanti zip code as 
either their permanent or local 
address — a number troubling to 
urban planners.

A 2015 study, commissioned 

by the Washtenaw County Office 
of Community and Economic 
Development and prepared by czb 
L.L.C., a Virginia-based urban 
planning 
and 
neighborhood 

development 
consulting 
firm, 

stated the increasing economic 
inequality between the two cities 
will negatively affect the county.

Unless policies are changed, 

the report states Ann Arbor 
will only continue to become 
more expensive, while Ypsilanti 
property values will plummet due 
to high turnover rate.

“The result will be a county 

decreasingly 
affordable 
and 

out of balance and, eventually, 
unsustainable, as some parts 
of the county possibly degrade 
beyond a point of no return, 
and 
others 
grow 
in 
value 

beyond a point that’s ever again 
affordable,” the report reads. 
“The 
imbalance 
in 
income, 

education 
and 
opportunity 

between 
the 
jurisdictions, 

along with the socioeconomic 
segregation that goes with it, will 
hamper the regional economic 
growth potential of the area.”

As a result of this report, in 

2015, Ann Arbor City Council 
members voted 10-1 to adopt 
affordable housing goals such 
as creating nearly 2,800 new 

affordably priced rental units by 
2035. They also hope to augment 
demand for housing in Ypsilanti 
by 4,187 units through measures 
such 
as 
increasing 
energy 

efficiency 
and 
tearing 
down 

vacant buildings.

In 
a 
Central 
Student 

Government 
2016 
fall 
panel, 

Councilmember 
Zachary 

Ackerman (D–Ward 3), who is 
a recent University graduate, 
and then-County Commissioner 
Yousef Rabhi, who is now an 
Ann Arbor state representative, 
expressed concern that increased 
housing costs would continue to 
lower socioeconomic diversity 
within Ann Arbor as students 
move elsewhere in search of 
cheaper rent.

“(Ann Arbor’s) diversity is 

slowly escaping us,” Rabhi said. 
“If we don’t work hard and make 
sure we have our full options on 
where to live, not only will our 
student body become less diverse, 
our community will become less 
diverse.”

Yet, despite the commitment 

by city officials to work towards 
increasing housing diversity in 
Washtenaw County, the issue 
remains at the forefront of the 
minds of both University students 
and city residents — especially in 
regards to the influx of luxury 
housing being constructed in 
downtown Ann Arbor.

 
 
 
 
 DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

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