By Bailey Moonsage
The new below-ground housing project for students, faculty, and staff came about as Western’s
leadership cited decades-long issues building above-ground campus housing. Various difficulties include disturbing prime sage-grouse hunting grounds, problems securing viable plots of land, the usual Western financial struggles, and a pronounced sentiment of Not in My Backyardism (One local resident remarked: “I’m from Texas and can do what I want with my God-given American soil, so you’re gonna have to come and take it”).
The new housing will take the form of secure underground “pods”, as part of a newly forged partnership with Earthbnb. Pod residents will sleep upside down in cooling, restorative chambers that are expected to improve the health of residents.
The school will begin by building 300 pod units underneath Taylor Lawn, with the possibility of further expansion if the project is deemed a success. The pods will be connected via a
complex network of underground tunnels linking the three height classes: miniature, incredibly
average, and jumbo. Ladder systems will connect the pod units to the lawn’s surface.
Western’s administration believes that the pods, while controversial, are the best way to alleviate
Gunnison’s housing crisis in short order. Western leaders cited plans to build a new planned community in Hartman Rocks in the near future, perfect for the particularly crunchy among us.