Landlords in Columbia, Missouri are drastically reducing rents and offering all manner of incentives to entice student renters as a result of the ongoing and steep enrollment decline at the University of Missouri. The university itself has closed seven residence halls and declined to replace the now condemned1 University Village on campus apartment complex.
Numerous other businesses have closed with Strange Donuts blaming their departure on fallout from the unrest, and this suggests a substantial fall in retail and commercial rents may be looming as well or already happening quietly.
The one bright spot in Columbia is Mizzou's basketball recruiting class, which is ranked 6th nationally. Last season the basketball team was tied for last place in their conference with an 8-23 record, and they finished last in their conference for three consecutive years.
Meanwhile, plans at the University of Michigan to renovate the student union have clashed against opposition to preserving the building's historic wood panelling as allegedly students find its quiet presence too imposing and masculine.
The complex had allegedly been recommended for demolition in 2008, and after a small collapse killed a fireman, ambitious plans to replace the complex with a higher capacity one were circulated. Further talk of rebuilding anything at all on the prime location has disappeared. ↩