(ERIN KILLINGER | The Miami Student)
Recently released data from the 2010 census revealed what may otherwise have been masked by crowded streets and the ubiquitous trend of renting a house during the school year: the city of Oxford has experienced a slight decrease in population and corresponding increase in housing vacancies since the last census a decade ago.
As the past population began to increase in Oxford, so did the need for housing. According to the housing characteristics of Oxford provided by the 2000 census, there had been a steady increase of occupancy in housing units by approximately 6.25 percent every 10 years since 1969.
However, in 1995, the steady growth in housing trends suddenly skyrocketed from 7.9 percent to 28 percent. In March 2000, demographics documented that the number had then proceeded to go from 28 percent to 47 percent.
"It was from these statistics, that it was assumed the city of Oxford was to expected to follow its increasing population trends," director of Oxford's Building and Zoning development, Jung-Han Chen said. "The population increases by about 1 percent a year."
Based on those trends, more houses were built with the expectation of increasing demand. However, due to unprecedented factors, the population had started to diminish.
Miami University geography professor James Rubenstein said there are two main factors that caused Oxford's population to decline.
The first reason was the outward migration of non-students from the city to surrounding rural areas.
"While the city lost population," Rubenstein said, "the surrounding rural areas, such as Oxford Township and Milford Township grew by 9 percent during the past decade."
The second reason was the lack of growth at Miami.
"Miami's enrollment and employment have been stable for a long time," Rubenstein said. "The census is a once-a-decade snapshot, so may inaccurately show a decline between two points rather than a long-term stability, which is the more accurate trend."
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As houses available for student rental remain abandoned, perhaps another reason is the housing trend condensing uptown.
"In the last five years (2007), city charter voters had approved the building of three-unit apartments (in the) uptown district," Chen said.
Now that places like the upper floors of Chipotle and the former location of Coldstone are most desirable, the outskirts of the campus continue to resemble a ghost town more and more, Chen said.
"Older houses in the Mile Square that were in poor condition are no longer attractive as student rentals," Rubenstein said.
Sophomore Jennifer Dibert confirmed Rubenstein's hypothesis.
"I would prefer to stay uptown over living in the city any day," Dibert said. "It's closer, more convenient, and I am not going to have a car. I would be saving a lot of precious time."
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