<p>Colleges spending money on building communities near campus in order to create more urban friendly environments.</p>
<p>We had an interesting conversation going a while ago that touched on this building trend and the New Urbanist movement- including the construction plans at Hendrix and UConn.</p>
<p>The retirement community on campus is a great idea, but it also made me giggle. It will definitely benefit the retirees --- I know my parents love to go to Augusta College's concerts, etc. But the benefit to the college? Hmmm.... wonder if they may be hoping for a mention in a will or two?! Just kidding!! :)</p>
<p>I think there has been an upscale retirement community adjacent to the Williams campus for years. I don't know whether Williams had anything to do with its development, or whether it was just some developer's entrepreneurial idea, but it was marketed extensively to Williams alumni, and I think it has been fairly successful.</p>
<p>Rochester Institute of Technology's "College Town":</p>
<p>"This proposal calls for the development of a 90-acre parcel on the northeast corner of RIT's campus at Jefferson Road and John Street. Plans call for 70,000 to 90,000 square feet of retail space, along with townhouses and apartments for about 800 residents at an estimated cost of $50 million."</p>
<p>What's ironic about that is RIT moved out of downtown Rochester to the boonies and is now trying to build a town?!</p>
<p>Binghamton University recently completed a student housing/commercial development project. I am not sure if it was developed by the college or private development company.</p>
<p>Ohio State recently completed the South Campus-High Street project which seems to be a nice success. Alas it did lead to the demise of the "South Berg" watering hole. And being in the basement it was a hole.</p>
<p>This is such an important development, actually, one which directly affects college admissions trends. There are some great colleges out there which environmentally speaking are in the "Podunk" category even if not intellectually so. (Grinnell comes to mind.) There is so much admissions pressure surrounding the current population centers & commercial centers, for a variety of reasons <em>not</em> related to prestige. That's in addition to the visibility & prestige factors. </p>
<p>I am actually not overly convinced that after the last Echo-Boomers have matriculated, there will be a dramatic drop-off in admissions pressure. There will continue to be immigration, geographic mobility, and economic mobility keeping application numbers fairly high, i.m.o.</p>
<p>It's valid to want/need a commercial center & some access to entertainment other than a beer can, wine bottle. I'm happy to see this & believe it's way overdue. There will always be students who prefer the high desert of St. John's NM, or a college in the mountains, but they seem to be in the minority.</p>