Prompt:
The following appeared as part of an article in a national business publication:
My Essay:
The position taken by the national business publication's concern over the decline in rent and home values in Oak City's due to the opening of a 4-year university incorrectly draws a conclusion from a single example, with shaky similarities. In addition, due to this incorrect analogy, the article incorrectly makes inferences about the supply and demand factors of the real estate market, and fails to provide specific statistics in one of its examples. These combine make a flawed argument, which draws upon incorrect parallelisms to make an improper conclusion.
The biggest and most obvious flaw in the publication's article is founded in the parallelism draw between the two cities of Oak City and Mapleton. The argument of the article is primarily draw upon these "similarities', when in fact the difference between a 4-year university opening (as in the case of Oak City), and a community college opening (as in the case of Mapleton) is vast. The difference between a 4 year university and a community college is striking, especially in regards to the geographical representation of each school's student bodies. Typically 4 year universities draw students from a much larger region, while community colleges draw students from either the local city or close regional proximity. This difference makes the impact to the local real estate market very different, and consequently, proves to be the largest flaw in the article.
Secondly, the flawed parallelism drawn between Oak City and Mapleton leads the author to improperly predict the impact of the 4 year university opening in Oak City on the basis of the principles of supply and demand. Since 4 year universities draw a large range of student from various geographic regions, their need for housing, more often than not typically raises the rental prices for properties. This is due to the fact that university students typically have short term housing needs, and have not built the wealth to purchase a home, thus making rent an imperative for them to rent. In addition, the university will also require that professors and administrative staff move to Oak City. Subsequently this increase in population will increase the demand for home purchases, since professors and administrative professionals are typically home buyers. This will raise, not lower, the values of homes in Oak City which is the complete opposite conclusion that the author.
In conclusion, in order to fix the argument the author should draw upon a different, more parallel example, or change their argument completely. The conclusion of the article is that home and rental prices in the town of Oak City will fall due to the opening of a university. However, as stated above the laws of supply and demand typically behave in an opposite manner in towns with 4 year universities. This is driven by the regional diversity that a 4 year university's students bring, and their subsequent need for rental housing. Additionally, the university's staff provide additional potential home buyers into the market, and thereby causing demand to shift upward, and prices to ultimately rise.
The following appeared as part of an article in a national business publication:
Discuss how reasoned... etc."In order to prevent a decline of Oak City's property values and in rents that Oak City property owners can command, the residents of Oak City must speak out against the approval of a new four-year private college in their town. After all, in the nearby town of Mapleton the average rent for apartments has decreased by ten percent since its new community college opened last year, while the average value of Mapleton's single-family homes has declined by an even greater percentage over the same time period."
My Essay:
The position taken by the national business publication's concern over the decline in rent and home values in Oak City's due to the opening of a 4-year university incorrectly draws a conclusion from a single example, with shaky similarities. In addition, due to this incorrect analogy, the article incorrectly makes inferences about the supply and demand factors of the real estate market, and fails to provide specific statistics in one of its examples. These combine make a flawed argument, which draws upon incorrect parallelisms to make an improper conclusion.
The biggest and most obvious flaw in the publication's article is founded in the parallelism draw between the two cities of Oak City and Mapleton. The argument of the article is primarily draw upon these "similarities', when in fact the difference between a 4-year university opening (as in the case of Oak City), and a community college opening (as in the case of Mapleton) is vast. The difference between a 4 year university and a community college is striking, especially in regards to the geographical representation of each school's student bodies. Typically 4 year universities draw students from a much larger region, while community colleges draw students from either the local city or close regional proximity. This difference makes the impact to the local real estate market very different, and consequently, proves to be the largest flaw in the article.
Secondly, the flawed parallelism drawn between Oak City and Mapleton leads the author to improperly predict the impact of the 4 year university opening in Oak City on the basis of the principles of supply and demand. Since 4 year universities draw a large range of student from various geographic regions, their need for housing, more often than not typically raises the rental prices for properties. This is due to the fact that university students typically have short term housing needs, and have not built the wealth to purchase a home, thus making rent an imperative for them to rent. In addition, the university will also require that professors and administrative staff move to Oak City. Subsequently this increase in population will increase the demand for home purchases, since professors and administrative professionals are typically home buyers. This will raise, not lower, the values of homes in Oak City which is the complete opposite conclusion that the author.
In conclusion, in order to fix the argument the author should draw upon a different, more parallel example, or change their argument completely. The conclusion of the article is that home and rental prices in the town of Oak City will fall due to the opening of a university. However, as stated above the laws of supply and demand typically behave in an opposite manner in towns with 4 year universities. This is driven by the regional diversity that a 4 year university's students bring, and their subsequent need for rental housing. Additionally, the university's staff provide additional potential home buyers into the market, and thereby causing demand to shift upward, and prices to ultimately rise.
