US campuses urged to be better neighbours

[Excerpt from article by Paul Basken, April 20, 2023]

“Universities clearly do provide major financial benefits to the areas where they are based, said one expert, Mark Abraham, the executive director of DataHaven, a non-profit organisation in the state of Connecticut that helps local communities assess their performance. […]

DataHaven is based just off the Yale University campus, and Mr Abraham noted the recent sale of a less-than-one-acre parcel of land in New Haven for $11 million (£9 million) – for the construction of a $220 million life sciences real estate venture on behalf of the UK-based pension and insurance fund Legal & General – as a typical example of the great economic power of US higher education.

“However, beyond some point, economic growth is not correlated to well-being. The distribution of resources and the structure of society is more important to quality of life than whether GDP is rising quickly or not.”