College town

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A college town or university town is a community (often literally a town, but possibly a small city or in some cases neighborhood or district of a city) which is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smaller institutions such as liberal arts colleges clustered, or the residential population may be small, but college towns in all cases are so dubbed because the educational institution(s) presence pervades economic and social life. Many local residents may be employed by the university, many businesses cater primarily to the university, and indeed the students population may outnumber the local population outright.

Besides a highly educated and largely transient population, a stereotypical college town often features a high number of people living non-traditional lifestyles and subcultures ("college town hippies") and high tolerance for unconventionality in general, an unusually active musical or cultural scene, and unusually left-wing politics. While relatively absent of heavy industry, many have become centers of technological research.

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Town-Gown relations

As in the case of a company town, the large and transient population attracted to the university may come into conflict with longstanding natives. Students may come from outside the area, and thus represent a different—sometimes radically different—culture. Furthermore, students are concentrated in a small, young age group, whose living habits may not be agreeable in general to older members of society.

Economically, the high spending power of the university and of its students in aggregate may inflate the cost of living above that of the region. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find that many university employees commute in from surrounding areas, finding the cost of living in town too expensive.

Studentification, in which a growing student population move in large numbers to traditionally non-student neighborhoods, may be perceived as a form of invasion or gentrification. The phenomenon has several causes, including university enrollment expanding far beyond the capacity of on-campus housing, inadequate zoning enforcement and student culture. At the same time as neighborhood associations work to limit conversion of family homes to student rentals, some local residents may oppose the construction of large on-campus dormitories or expansion of fraternity and sorority houses, forcing a growing enrollment to seek housing in town. Moreover, a single family home can be converted into several smaller rental units, or shared by a number of students whose combined resources exceed those of a typical single family rental—a strong incentive for absentee landlords to cater to students.

In the US, educational institutions are often exempted from paying local taxes, so in the absence of a system for Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT), the university population will disproportionately burden the local public infrastructure such as roads or law enforcement. When a university expands its facilities, the potential loss of tax revenue is thus a concern in addition to local desire to preserve open space or historic neighborhoods.

As a result, members of the local population may resent the university, especially its students. The students, in turn, may refer to regular inhabitants as townies, a term with somewhat derogatory connotations.

This "town and gown" dichotomy notwithstanding, students and the outside community typically find a peaceful (even friendly) coexistence, with the town receiving a significant economic and cultural benefits from the university, and the students often adapting themselves to the culture of the town.

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Settlement in college towns

While noise, traffic, and other quality of life issues have not been resolved, some advocates of New Urbanism have led the development of neighborhoods in college towns specifically capitalizing on their proximity to university life. For instance, some universities have developed properties to allow faculty and staff members to walk to work, reducing demand for limited on-campus parking; Duke University's Trinity Heights development is a key example. In many cases, developers have built communities where access to the university (even if not directly adjacent) is promoted as an advantage.

One notable development is the surge in popularity of retiring to college towns, since the 1990s. Besides nostalgia for one's younger days, retirees are attracted by presence of cultural and educational opportunities, athletic events, good medical facilities, and often pedestrian- or transit-friendly development pattern. Several development companies now specialize in constructing retirement communities in college towns, and in some cases the communities have developed formal relationships with the local institution.

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List of college towns

College towns are most common in the United States. By reputation, university founders sought to avoid the noise—and sin—of major cities, but the history is more complex. Civic leaders in new settlements or small towns often lobbied heavily for them, to secure the population base as well as for the economic investment. As new institutions are founded to serve growing student populations, however, the phenomenon of the college town is recognizable worldwide.

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United States

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Canada

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Africa

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Europe

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See also

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References

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External links

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