[Vision2020] Moscow Better off w/o UI??

Donovan Arnold donovanarnold@hotmail.com
Sun, 03 Aug 2003 04:27:25 -0700


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<P>Some people in here think that without UI Moscow would dry up an blow away. While I don't believe that Moscow would necessarily be better off, would it be all the more worse off? I am not talking just about the individual people, but the city itself.</P>
<P>Let us pretend that UI announces that all classes will end and that it will only being doing research here that can't be done else where in the state. This would mean two things. About 1/2 the staff, all the students, and about $60 million of the $120 million budget would be gone.</P></DIV>
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<P>So about 1,000 people of the highest paid would still be here. Naturally, many people would move, and some businesses would close and the housing industry would implode.</P>
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<P>But what would happen next would not be that Moscow becomes a ghost town, in fact the opposite.</P>
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<P>WSU is just eight miles away. Students and staff would move over here as housing prices went down. Why pay $700 a month over there when you can drive just 8 miles and pay $500 a month for a bigger place. You also would have people in Troy, Deary, Genesee, and even Lewiston come over here for cheaper prices.</P>
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<P>Next, you would have Naylor Farms come in to provide jobs through the valuable clay we have in the hills. Businesses in Moscow would liven up as the students and staff of WSU settled here. Rent would be cheaper for leasing businesses and students would go to bars and grocery stores locally rather than in Pullman. </P>
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<P>Meanwhile, in Boise thousands of students would be stuffed into classrooms and over populating the limited housing, driving prices up. People would retire up here because it is cheap, clean, and has moderate weather.</P>
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<P>I am not saying this would all make up for the job loses in Moscow. But, what I am saying is that Moscow would still survive, and not shrink as much as people think it would. Moscow might drop in population from 22,000 to 13,000 for a few years, but I think it would go back up nearly 20,000. </P>
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<P>I also think that while the population might be less, it would not necessarily mean we would be&nbsp;worse off. It would be very disruptive to the students, faculty and staff&nbsp; that rely on the University for a pay check, but I don't think that it would mean an end to Moscow without the University. People have been living here since the 1860's, two decades before the University. The city continued to grow even when the University was just a building or two with a handful of students. I also think it would&nbsp;continue without the University</P>
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<P>Just a thought :)</P>
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<P>Donovan J Arnold<BR><BR></P>
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