Seeing as the majority of our editorial board are living off campus, we feel there is an issue which needs to be discussed.

The Odle family, who own and operate Brookside student apartments and townhomes, recently announced their decision to not build any more student housing complexes in Columbia. The decision came after a [14-page report](https://www.scribd.com/doc/241266801/University-of-Missouri-Columbia-Student-Housing-Analysis) published by the Columbia Heart Beat showed there are too many student housing complexes in Columbia. The report found an oversupply of 902 beds in fall 2013 and estimated an oversupply of 2,270 beds this fall. The report also states while MU may grow to 38,000 students, that does not necessarily mean there will be an increase in demand for student housing.

First of all, we want to applaud the Odles in making this decision. Columbia already has enough, if not too much, student housing and we appreciate the fact that they are able to recognize this. We think they are making the right decision for local developers and for Columbia.

We think the rest of Columbia’s student housing developers (and national developers looking to come to Columbia) need to follow Brookside’s lead.

The rate at which new student housing complexes are being built is alarming to say the least. With too many unoccupied beds in Columbia, the housing bubble is set to burst very soon. The businesses who have built these student housing complexes would lose business and could potentially go bankrupt. Instead of constantly building new apartment complexes for students, why not fill all of the empty beds we have now?

What many developers have failed to understand is the majority of students on this campus do not care about the fancy amenities included in some of these complexes. Many students don’t care about swimming pools, tanning beds or huge, luxurious rooms. Many students simply want housing that is both close to campus and inexpensive. By adding all of these unnecessary additions, the price is driven up and students are less likely to sign leases for these apartments.

Where we have a surplus of student housing complexes, we have a limited amount of residence halls on campus. So few, in fact, that some freshmen cannot even live in the residence halls their first year at MU. Instead, some freshmen are forced to live off campus. Freshmen need to be able to live on campus so that they can form a sense of community in their residence halls and be close enough to campus to be able to explore it. The fact is that this problem would not exist if we had more housing on campus.

Due to this oversight, student housing complexes aimed at sophomores, juniors and seniors continue to spring up around campus and the downtown area. Our freshmen class, the class with the most potential to grow, is left out of the equation.

We do realize that a new residence hall, Virginia Avenue South, is in the process of being built. But we also know that Laws, Jones and Lathrop halls are planned [to be torn down and replaced by two buildings](http://reslife.missouri.edu/rlmp/projects/dobbs-replacement), according to the Residential Life Master Plan. The two residential halls will have 1,350 beds, 350 more than the three halls have right now, said Frankie Minor, director of the Department of Residential Life, in a [November 2013 Maneater article](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/11/6/expansions-renovations-isolate-certain-parts-mu-ca/).

Although this is a small improvement, 350 new beds will not be enough if our freshmen classes continue to grow in size year after year. We want to see a change that is more beneficial to our students.

If we want to prevent this housing bubble from bursting, it’s time we focused on what’s important to students: affordability and proximity to campus. We can solve this problem, but it needs to start now and it needs to start with MU.