Diverse WWU students are needed to grow our economy. But where will they live?

It seems that no matter where I go, the topic of student enrollment and housing at Western Washington University comes up. And that’s understandable as housing and rental prices have been steadily increasing statewide. According to the city of Bellingham, over the past 15 years the median home value has increased 137 percent, while median rent has gone up 72 percent. And in 2015, the fraction of homes for rent that were unoccupied was a slim 1.82 percent in Bellingham. Nationally, that number was nearly six percent.