Communities aren’t building enough housing to keep up with demand. Underlying the mismatch are zoning restrictions, developers’ profitable preference for expensive homes and luxury condos over modest units, and resistance to multi-family housing from residents.

“Our goal is to immerse the students in the uniqueness and essence of Ipswich as best we can, while also providing enough distance for them to still bring an objective point of view with out-of-the-box thinking,” said Chase Delano, executive director of the Ipswich Partnership, which helped bring the students to Ipswich.

IPSWICH — For an organization that was on the cusp on closing down, turning around to raise almost $100,000 was no mean feat.